dashboard instrument removal

[wildy55]

Hi, it's time to bring the light back to my dash and take off the dull green covers that sit over the instrument light bulbs. How hard is it to get to them (and maybe take the dials out to clean them up a tad as well). Also, the center consul seems tricky to remove. Had a quick go the other day, took the std radio out, got the knobs off the heater panel but couldn't see what was stopping the middle section from coming free? Any help for easy removal appreciated...

[Sirpent]

Centre Floor Console removal

 

There are 5 screws that retain the consloe in place, three are located to the rear of the console in what can be termed the coin basket just behind the ashtray, you may have some felt or carpet material covering it so gently peel it away to expose them, the other 2 are located one either side of the front of the console, to gauge where imagine your left knee hitting the console while in the drivers position, this will give you the relative idea of the location.

 

Gauges.

 

Unless you have very small hands this will be particularly hard, each gauge is retained in place by a locking screw located to the rear underside of each gauge, the Odometer and Tachometer are retained in the same manner, The simplest way to change these globes and generally do an inspection and tidy up of any faults at the same time would be to remove the dash board as a complete unit.

 

This will require you to remove

 

#1 The upper and lower steering column shells around the top of the column.

#2 The steering wheel

#3 The 2 retaining bolts that hold the column in place located just below the wiper and indicator binnacles.

#4 The upper dash heater windscreen garnish held in place by 4 self tapping Phillip's head screws

#5 The 4 M8 bolts located under this garnish

#6 A M8 bolt located on each side of the dash where the side vent controls are located

#7 From memory another 4 M8 bolts one either side of the tunnel area where the radio would normally be.

 

It's not a difficult job and can be handled by one person with some patience, approximate remove and refit time for a first timer 3 hours.

 

Cheers

 

John

[wildy55]

Excellent! Looks like the dash will be coming out then. Is there anything else, maintenance-wise, that I should do if I'm going 'plum-deep' in her while the dash is off?

[Sirpent]

Wildy,

 

Id be checking

 

The heater core, and also the wiring loom to make sure non of the 30+ year old insulation tape has perished

You can now buy LED replacement bulbs in differing colors to replace the old instrumentation bulbs.

 

 

The rest you will be able to check as you look over the internals etc.

 

Cheers

 

John

[GongZ]

Yes - great info John.

 

Just a quick thought - if you fit LEDs to the dash, do they 'dim' correctly using the factory rheostat?

[Sirpent]

Yes - great info John.

 

Just a quick thought - if you fit LEDs to the dash, do they 'dim' correctly using the factory rheostat?

 

As far as I know they are, Ive seen them on Ebay and it states they are direct replecements.

 

I believe they are T5 type replacements from memory

 

Here is just one link on Ebay i found which are direct replacements into a 12V power source socket, looks like they have a built in resistor

 

Cheers

 

John

 

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/10pcs-T5-Wide-Angle-LED-Xenon-White-Dash-Wedge-Bulb-/190499452607?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c5aa6f6bf

 

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/T5-WEDGE-BULBS-10-PCS-1-LED-SPARK-BLUE-37-70-74-L-1075-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4aa8844371QQitemZ320654820209QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

[GongZ]

Thank you John - more great info!

[Zedman240®]

With the heater core also check those nasty little heater hoses near and on the heater tap. A real PITA when it's all back together!

[benny]

any tips on removing the centre facia?? took the knobs off but its still stuck with heater cables... do i just unhook these??

 

Ben

[Sirpent]

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm

 

Are you talking about the heater control knobs?

 

The heater assy will come out with the dash.

[Zedman240®]

With the 240, you have to disconnect the control cables for the heater control panel to come off. They are either clipped on, or clip with a philips head screw. There are four of them.

[Daedalus-Z]

In the 260 I unhooked the cables to remove the heater controls, I'd imagine the 240 would be similar? They have little clips that grip the sheath that are pretty easy to snap on and off. From memory if you undo them and a couple of electrical connectors for the blower and such you can remove the head controls as a unit without removing the actual face off it (i.e. you can leave the nobs on). Mine was full of dusty gunk and the lubricant has solidified into something unpleasant. it was fun to disassemble and clean though

[Zedman240®]

With the 260, the heater controls can stay and just the surround has to come off with 4 countersunk self tappers. On the 240, the heater control cables have to be disconnected for that to come off. First that has to be removed before the dash.

[specialp3]

Hey,

 

Just going back the LED dashlight question, they do dim but you need it to be very dark and look very hard. You will then see a slight change.

 

The LED's you are wanting will be BA9S type globes, I have converted my car and I recommend going with the wide angle units (120 degree) as I originally used 50 degree and they were useless, SMD's are better again. The link below is for a guy I have been happy with.

 

http://www.brightlightautoparts.com/LEDReplacementGlobes.html

 

T7 are what you would you use in the original radio.

 

When I converted all globes to LED I had to solder load resistors into both tail light looms, without these every time I hit the brakes the radio illuminated and 2 of the auxillary gaugers lit up ?

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers,

Aaron

[Ben]

One of the first electric mods I did to my 240Z was to bypass the dimmer...

The old girl needs as much dash light brightness as she can get!