REMOVING THE UPPER INSTRUMENT CLUSTER ON A FC

[John]

Thanks Jeff, Mike, Randy & Tom,

The upper dash right side mounting screw on my 'Bird ended up being
held in by a screw that had a trim button covering it, just below the
short screws that held the CB mike holder in place, it was a very
long screw and the left side was held on by a screw behind the
Accessory toggle switch, which was very hard to remove, as I could
barely get a putty knife in behind the dash to release the tabs on
the switch, so it could be removed, the engineer that designed that,
must have stayed awake for nights trying to figure out how to do that
one.

When I tried to remove the lower dash one of the previous owners had
done some rewiring under there and had not left enough slack in the
wires to allow the dash to be raised, so I had to use a long handled
pair of needle nose pliers to reach under there and remove the wires
from the switches, thankfully they were not screwed on. I haven't had
a chance to check out the tachometer yet, but found that the fuel
gauge does work when grounded, so I will check th sending unit on
that problem now. I did find one of the multi wire plugs had a melted
prong, and I had to pry it apart and then cut that wire and route it
over to the side through a new connection and then plug the
connection back together. So far I have only found that problem with
the wiring and all of the connectors seem to be in good shape after I
pulled them all apart to look for any signs of corrosion.

I noticed that all of the instrument light bulbs were removed from
their plug ins and they don't light up, yet all of the headlight
switch terminals have power when the switch is turned on, less the
one ground wire, so I don't know why the dash instrument lights don't
work, but I'm not concerned with that just wondering about it. I have
added LED lights at the bottom of the lower dash and above the blinds
to light up the dash at night and they work better than what I have
seen of the stock instrument lights.

I think I will save the CLASSIC WHITE STEERING WHEEL, it will
eventually be a collectors item, just like the 'Bird clocks :o)


"REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001"
John Finn
'82 35FCRB
BLUEBIRD WANDERLODGE
TO VISIT THE "FINN'S INN EXPRESS" REMODELING ADVENTURE
GO TO;
http://www.pbase.com/image/24977457
HOPKINS, SOUTH CAROLINA

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Miller"
wrote:
>
> Like Mike said, remove the mic bracket screw for the right side,
> for the left side remove the switch on the upper left for access to
> that screw.
>
> Before I attempt any work on the dash I remove the steering wheel
> and pad the top of the steering column, takes 5minutes and the time
> and frustration savings is immediate. Many steering wheel nuts are
> loose anyway, re-install the nut with loc-tite blue or equivalent.
>
> - Jeff Miller
> in Holland, MI
>
>
>
> --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Hohnstein"
> <MHOHNSTEIN@> wrote:
> >
> > The CB mike mount screws need to be removed.
> > MH
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: John
> > To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2006 5:53 AM
> > Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] REMOVING THE UPPER INSTRUMENT
> CLUSTER ON A FC
> >
> >
> > I'm finally getting around to checking for loose, or broken
> wires
> > that may be causing my tachometer to operate erratically at
> times. I
> > have replaced the tachometer drive on the front of the engine
> and
> > have checked all of the wiring under the doghouse and
everything
> > there appears to be OK, but the tachometer still does not
> operate
> > properly, so I'm removing the dash instrument cluster.
> >
> > I had no problem in loosening the lower dash, so I can raise it
> to
> > look for wire damage, but I can't seem to find all of the
> mounting
> > screws for the upper dash. I found the metal tab at the center
> bottom
> > of the upper dash, but the sides of the upper dash are still
> attached
> > some how. I don't have any trim pieces on the upper dash that
> are
> > similar to the bottom, that may hide screws, as you might be
> able to
> > see in this photo;
> >
> > http://www.pbase.com/iamflagman/image/34374169
> >
> > I have to remove the steering wheel and that may make it easier
> to
> > see any additional mounting screws and I'm being extra careful
> to not
> > raise the dash panels too far, as I can see already that the
> wires
> > going to the switches and gages are very short and stiff, but
> any
> > help in this area will help, thanks in advance.
> >
> >
> > "REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001"
> > John Finn
> > '82 35FCRB
> > BLUEBIRD WANDERLODGE
> > TO VISIT THE "FINN'S INN EXPRESS" REMODELING ADVENTURE
> > GO TO;
> > http://www.pbase.com/image/24977457
> > HOPKINS, SOUTH CAROLINA
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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