Dash Replacement

[54Rich]

My T, short for Turd, needs to have the dash replaced. The dash is cracked and I have a replacment. Right now the interior is out of the car, replaced the headliner last night. Tired of working on this, eveytime I turn around it's somthing else. I want to dirve it.

Anyhow, any idea of how much time it takes to replace the dash? Any advise. Figure since it's apart, got to do it.

I hope to have a nice T, someday

Thanks,

Rich

 

[86 TR]

The entire dashboard??? If your talking about the dash cover around the speakers only that shouldn't take too long. I would talk with Brian at Gbody parts. He should be able to tell you how to do this. Ive never done it but I asked him how long it would take and he said if its your first time it might take about 5-6 hours replacing the whole dashboard.

 

[turbofish38]

Dash removal....got a few ??? - TurboBuicks.com

Here's a thread from the other place with a quick R&R on it. Its not that hard to do. I'd guesstimate about 3 maybe 4 hours the first time around.

 

[54Rich]

Thanks! Here we go......

Rich

 

[54Rich]

Well it's out. Printed these instructions:

Vortex Turbo Buick Performance


However, didn't really follow them:

Remove top speaker grille
Remove trim plates from speedo and radio, remove the speedo cluster, radio and the 2 lower sound baffles with the lower steering column cover.
Remove the screws that hold the HVAC control into the panel. You don't need to unhook it as it will slide through the dash. (A tight squeeze)Its a PITA to remove because of the cables. If you have C68 climate control than unplug and remove the control.
Remove the two nuts holding the steering column up and the 2 bolts holding the reinforcement to the center bracket. (Only one Bolt?) Unhook all of the wire connectors from the steering column. (No reason to do this?)Remove the one bolt holding the engine bay wire harness to the C100 connector by the brake booster. (No reason to do this?)Remove the 2 screws holding the dash side of the fuse panel to the firewall. (No reason to do this?)Disconnect the ECM connectors by the kick panel.
Remove the 4 screws top side by the windshield and there are 4 screws on the bottom side.
Look for other wires that need to be disconnected.
Remove the dash from the car.
Reverse procedure to reinstall.

Lets hope I can get it back together

Thanks,

Rich

 

[turbofish38]

I revised the HVAC control on that tbs thread. On a Regal you have to remove the control.There isn't room to squeeze it through the hole. Okay why wouldn't you remove the wire harness? Its so much easier to handle the dash as an assembly. If you ever saw how they did this on the assembly line than you would remove one from the car the same way. I cant see much time being saved if that is the reason.

 

[54Rich]

I revised the HVAC control on that tbs thread. On a Regal you have to remove the control.There isn't room to squeeze it through the hole. Okay why wouldn't you remove the wire harness? Its so much easier to handle the dash as an assembly. If you ever saw how they did this on the assembly line than you would remove one from the car the same way. I cant see much time being saved if that is the reason.

Well, I got the control through the dash, why? Because the instructions said it would go. I think I broke my vacuum switch in the process, so I'd have to agree with removing it first. It does fit, wouldn't do it again that way.

The harness stayed with the car, really wasn't too bad. Started with the few retaining screws on the pass side, then the screws to the dash cluster. Took 1/2 hour or so to put it back together.

The instructions really helped

Thanks,

Rich