Please anybody, if you have removed the speedo from your 308gtb please could any removal tips. Please ( pulling hair out syndrome.) stas
You need to remove the complete instrument panel/cluster. This is done by removing 4 large philips head screws, and to acces these you have to pop out the four light fixtures in the corners of the trapezoid shaped instrument panel. When actually removing the assembly, be careful not to scratch the leather instrument surrounding. You can do all this without removing the steering wheel (this at least is true for the RPM gauge). Once you have the whole cluster moved backwards (careful, lots of wiring attached), it is a straightforward job.
Throw a towel across the steering column, before you begin. You might need to remove the steering wheel....but try without first. If you do, there are six 3mm Allen screws that must be removed...and they are Loctited in, so they can be tough to get out. I buggered up one screw, and had to drill it, and use a screw extractor.
A few tips: Removing the steering wheel makes things much easier. Use an allen head socket and not an allen key to remove the 6 bolts that hold the s-wheel in place. The small allen key flexes too much and will almost certainly 'bugger' up one of the screws. Been there, done that, too. Use dental floss to pry back the 4 lights on the instrument surround. Even the greatest of care with a screwdriver WILL scratch the the surround. While I did not do this, I did spend hours wet sanding my surround before having it re-annodized. I could not stand to look at someone else's butchery. Once the cluster is free from the vinyl housing, everything is visible and straight forward. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN the nuts that hold the instrument to the surround. It will warp it. Welcome to F-chat and FILL OUT YOUR PROFILE!!!!!! It is nice to know a little about who you are offering advice to
10 minutes ago i removed the cluster. I followed James's, (Norwood) instructions and added a few observations of my own: 1) Remove steering wheel, 6 3mm allen screws. (I tapped each one with a punch and hammer to try to losen the screw - not to hard) I bought a new allen wrench for this because mine were ratty. a socket mounted allen is the best way to go. The wheel comes right off, remove the horn wire from the horsie button and tape the wire, so you don't have to listen to the horn when the wire is grounded. 2) Pry out the warning lights at each corner of the dash face. A fingernail sufficed for the task, but the floss sounds like a good idea. Just let them hang out the front and go after the screws, don't worry, the wires are part of the cluster, you do not have to disconnect the lights from the wires. 3) Remove the 4 phillips screws straight back from the previously removed warning lights, (visable with a flashlight). Note, these screws are about an inch and a half behind the panel, all pointing toward the front of the car. Once removed, they promptly fell down inside the dash, so maybe a magnetic screwdriver would be helpfull. Any one got a hot tip?? 4) The panel will slide straight foreward, just stick your fingers in the warning light holes and it will slide out untill it hits the steering wheel hub, The towell idea is good to protect the finishes. 5) Disconnect the white plastic loom connector that has all of the wires going to the instrument you desire removed. 6) Unscrew the two thumb nuts that secure the instrument to the dash panel and slide it on out. there are two aluminum braces that the attaching studs go through, you can expect them to fall off, as well as the two washers that were lurking under the thumb screws. My motivation was to get the tach to norwood so they could do the single distributor upgrade. hth, chris any questions, just pm me.
That floss trick is a great idea. That has to be the most difficult part of this procedure. I have pulled mine out a couple of times and my warning lights just don't go all the way back down against the panel so that helps now.
when i removed my 81 308 dash i loosened the phillips head screws just enough so that i could but one of those four pronged, spring loaded tools they sell in hardware stores over the screw heads and then backed them out fully - worked great. you can also magnetize a screwdriver with an old speaker magnet. as for the steering wheel i got lucky and was able to remove the shaft nut with a vice grips and wrench on the grips. the wheel pulls right off. I cut slots on the nut flats so it's snug in a 12 point socket. wheel removal now takes 20 seconds and no scary work on the rim screws. jon s.
It's also a good time to paint the panel a nice red wrinkle coat to match the intake or apply a carbon fibre overlay. The red is cool as it goes well with the red piping on the MOMO racing seats and red harnesses. Am trying to figure out a place to put a NASCAR sticker! (next to my NRA sticker on the bumper. ) Kidding. Maybe. . .
A little trick: Before removing the panel (or putting it back) smear butter/margarine on the surrounding leather/vinyl so that you reduce the chances of marking/scratching/damaging it. The butter (or whatever) comes off easy.
Thanks folks, these are excellent instructions. I've got a few reasons to pull the panel and perhaps you've got some further advice: I want to remove the top/cowl/binnacle to get the vinyl re-covered. The diagrams in the parts manual show 4 nuts holding down the binnacle. Are they easy to remove once the panel is removed? Any tricks? Also, does anyone have an extra vinyl covering which is in reasonable shape, or know sources to get the right-looking vinyl? The instruments have a foggy deposit of something like Armor-All inside the glass, and apparently moisture which is visible at times, but doesn't seem to bake out in the sun. Is there an easy way to remove the glass without dissassembling the instruments? Does the outer bezel unscrew? Also I'll replace the lights while I'm in there, hopefully with brighter ones! Any advice is greatly appreciated! Art in Virginia 79 308 GTS
No its not. It is illegal to mechanically roll back the odometer with the intention of making the car appear to have less miles than it actually does. There is no law preventing you from repairing a broken speedometer.
Is there an easy way to remove the glass without dissassembling the instruments? Does the outer bezel unscrew? I don't want to force anything, that could result in something breaking...
Not sure what car you have, you may want to fill in your profile as many different variations exist. As for an 1982 GTSi you have to remove the instrument from the dash first. Then a simple disassemble process yield complete accessible to everything.
All the 308's are the same you must remove he whole instrument cluster, then remove the individual instrument, and then open the instrument and remove the glass. There is no shortcut and it is time consuming.
Unless you know what you are doing, breaking the silver bezel is a REAL possibility. Then you have real problems. I use a screw driver that has spring loaded clamps that go around the head after I have loosed the screw a bit. Works fine. The entire cluster is not well made so take your time and BE GENTLE. Breaking off a mounting bracket from the rear side of the face is very easy.
mwr4440-it definitely takes some patience and finesse to get the instruments out of the binnacle. I have mine out now and have used contact cleaner on the numerous connections, some of which hadn't been disturbed since the car left the docks of Italy. The silver bezel around the speedo is metal and seems fairly resilient. But as you say the cluster is not well made and actually a bit heavy to be supported by the thin metal plates and brackets.
Yeah but at least on my old '78 it was all pretty well jammed in there anyway there wasn't hardly enough room for it to move.
Its illegal to roll them back anr that was really only for warranty purposes nothing else. 308s are well past warranty. Even back in 2005 they were Holy smokes old thread back from the dead.
