Remove the instrument panel by undoing the 4 hex head bolts at the corners. Pull the panel forwards and tilt as you go. The instruments can then be easily accessed and removed by unscrewing the knurled nuts that hold the clamps down against the back of the panel. The smaller instruments have one nut, the tacho and speedo have 2. Once you get in there and have a go at it, it is very easy and straightforward. Just take your time so as to avoid scratching the vinyl or leather trim. Dave
Im not trying to contadict Dave, my good friend, but taking my malfunctioning clock out was a nightmare and a half. The edges of the aluminum are razor sharp and will cut the vinyl like butter. The steering wheel has to come off and the hub moved down, the side panel are seperate and they fit together like a rubics cube. The wires are like a bowl of spagetti with no slack, the gauges are held to the fascia by screws that are near impossible to remove. I cant remember how unhooking the clock was, but both my tach and speedo have a haze in them and it were as easy as a GTB I wold remove them and pay to have them serviced. Palo Alto Spedometer did my clock and it was perfectly done. I am not tying to disuade you, just remembering my experience and with time even most bad experiences mellow out, that one never will! I also remembering being upside down in a yoga postion my legs hanging out for hours like lina blair in the exorcist stair scene but that was the fun part! I guess what I am saying is only do it if you have too! Of course you may have a better experience..... Rob
I replaced all the lights on my instrument panel recently. I removed the steering wheel and lowered the steering column. Still a MAJOR PITA. The results of replacing the lights and bypassing the dimmer was in no way worth the effort of removing and replacing all 3 pieces of the instrument panel. Though "while I was there" I repaired the connection to my clock which now works all the time vs. intermittently. Only if a guage breaks will I go back into the dash. I'll live with some haze on a few of my instruments. Why do you need to remove the gauges?
I did mine just a few weeks ago and the memory of it is very fresh in my mind. Afterwards I told myself that I would REMEMBER the phrase, "If it's not broke, don't fix it."
AMEN to that! I've got a couple things on the GT4 that are now broke, but were not before, because I tried to "fix" them! Stupid, stupid me...
Robert.... you're right! - I forgot about the steering wheel and dropping the column.... I guess it's because all those years ago when I did mine some bastard had already stolen the steering wheel and I had lowered the column already to get access to some other wires to repair them. I don't recall having any trouble with the vinyl/leather though. The whole thing just slid out nicely, and the cable lengths weren't an issue either. Then again, my car was a 1980 RHD model, so the harness was certainly different. (s/n 15422) I miss that car Dave
OK since we can't talk you out of it...here are some helpful hints. I hope you haven't started yet. Remove the steering wheel - be careful with the screws as they can snap. Firm gentle pressure will break them loose and they will release with a sudden crack. It will startle you at first. This is a good opportunity to give them a freshening with a dark grey paint. I used a satin black rust oleum and while the color matched the outer part of the horn button, it doesn't quite look original. Pop off the horn button, again a firm gentle tug will do it. Disconnect the lead from the button. Attach a piece of string to the lead with a section of electrical tape. The string will help you thread it through when reassenbling and the tape will keep the connector from making ground with any piece of metal while you are working. A sudden blare from the air horns while doing this kind of work is unsettling to say the least. Or you could disconnect the battery ;-) I prefered keeping the battery connected so when I reassembled the dash I could test the electrical connections before going too much further. Of the three panels that make up the instrument panel, start with the left side by loosening the toggle switch that operates the heater/defrost fan and rotate it 90 degrees so the switch can be moved away from the front panel. This will give you much needed leeway. Remove the trim panel under your steering column and loosen the two bolts that hold the steering wheel angle. Move the steering column down as far as it will go. This will also give you extra room to manouver the front panel out. Remove the four bolts that hold the instrument panel in place. Again you can refinish them while they are out. The right section that holds the climate controls has much less slack in the cables behind the controls so I recommend removing the main panel to the left. Being careful with the edges of the panel work it out towards the left side. You will have to move the main panel out some then work the left panel to male room for the main panel to pass. The main panel has two electrical connections to the harness. They simply pull apart to disconnect. Go ahead and spray some contact cleaner on both sides. Being the rententive dude I am I also wrapped a bit of fine grit sandpaper around a flat head screwdriver and put a fresh face of each connector. I didn't want to have to go back in the dash for electrical reasons. Once the panel is free and the harness disconnected, removing the gauges is a breeze. You will easily see the thumbscrews that hold the retaing arms which keep the guages in place. Since it is out you might as well bypass the dimmer control. I went to Radio Shack and picked up some 3 way spade connectors. I connected the female ends that would have attached to the dimmer control to one of the 3-ways and wrapped the whole in electrical tape. This way returning it to stock condition is a breeze. For the guages that don't get sent off for repair, go ahead and replace the bulbs. All the guages except the speedo take # 3893 commonly found at most auto parts stores. 3893 are usually packaged in twos and made in China or Korea. NAPA has ,however, Wagner Lighting Products # 17053 made in Germany and packaged in boxes of 10, which coincedently is precisely the number it takes to replace all said bulbs in a gt4 dash. Once you get your guages back and replace the panel, you can move the steering column back to a position most comfortable for you. Hope this helps and isn't too late.
that is a great write up! my suggestion is getting some thin towels and having the handy as you pull out the panels you will need to rest them somewhere, mine were very sharp and cut the vinyl, so I would suggest resting the on the towels, while you are trying to unhook the panel. also be careful with the wires, it can be easy to pull too hard and disconnect some. The steering wheel screws are avaialable at TR for cheap, I put white grease on mine so they would not stick. http://www.paspeedo.com/
Another word of warning. When putting the panel back in, be careful not to overtighten the 4 hex bolts. The captive nuts that they screw into are only held in place by plastic which will snap if you try to tighten them too much.
[thanks for the info, you are not too late! I cannot do the work until late next week at the earliest...]
Steering wheel screws are in with blue Locktite OEM.....see "crack" in disassembly recap above! Grease if you want future access.......watch for loosening though...
