first dash removal

[robert j hunt]

I had been looking for a GT for years & have found the one. Got it from a guy that was married to his other 23 cars and felt no remorce selling me his GT so I took it. I sat in and started his A/c cobra, his Ferrari, and admired his three Austins, then I drove away in my 71 GT. I would'nt have even considdered driving away in anything less...........Anyway here is the concern. I am not sure how to take out my entire dash and heater motor set up. I could do a trile and error but I refuse to pull anything off by forcing it. So I am looking for a tech sheet that gives a more detailed extraction of the dash, heater and core. I realy need to know where all the screws and nuts are to get her apart without breaking anything. I have the guage pannel out and have replacement bulbs ready to go in but the heater face plate was broken and the cabels frozen.One thing always leads to another so I bought a good heater assy and intend to have the core rebuilt then put on a new stainless steel tube from OGTS before I will be happy and ready to reassemble the inside of the car. Also my elongated plastic vent toobs that feed air onto the windshield are so brittel I am afraid to touch them. Is it possible to get new ones? I enjoy reading the knowlege that is shared here. Thank you guys for any help you can offer. Rob H. 1st GT

[ungermm]

Rob, I guess you felt compelled to buy the GT after the seller let you play with his other expensive toys. You are taking on one of the hardest tasks of working on a GT right off the bat. I don't know if there is a tech sheet, but, you might want to do a search on this site for dash removal. However, experience is probably the best knowledge for this task. I took one out yesterday, so from what I remember, here are the steps.

Drop the steering wheel by removing the 4 bolts below the steering column. Hopefully, there are 4 bolts. I know I've had to notch a couple bolts on a 70 that didn't have a bolt head.

You need to remove the console around the ashtray, light lever, and shifter. The light lever has a small flat head screw that needs to be loosened and then pull the handle off. There are a couple of screws under the ashtray that need to be removed too. Getting around the shifter boot isn't much trouble, but, you may want to remove the plastic insert around the shifter boot base if it is still there.

The dash cluster insert with all the gauges is taken out by removing the screws (6 of them) around the insert, Then there are two hidden ones on the side that you access by removing the passenger side plug of the dash pad and removing a small panel with 2 screws on the drivers side near the steering wheel. Remove the cluster slowly and carefully. Sometimes wires get caught and you just need to work it out of there. You might also have to watch out for the signal flasher hanging up near the bottom. And you need to reach back and undo the speedometer cable at some point. You don't have to remove the guages.

To remove the dash pad itself, there are 3 small screws on each side near the doors and 4 screws on top near the windshield (not easy to get to). And, don't forget the 2 small screws down near the transmission tunnel. However you need to also remove the hood latch cable from inside the hood. Then loosen the nut behind the hole in the dash at the hood latch handle and pull the cable out.

I think that is all. But, getting the bugger out is still a little tricky since it fits in there pretty tightly. It can take a few hours. It's late here, so forgive me for my inaccuracies. To double check do a search first. Geeze, I should have done one myself instead of writing all of this down. OK, I just did in less than 15 secs I found this thread. So read it first.

http://www.opelgt.com/forums/group-9...e-removal.html

Good luck and congratulations on you new Opel. Jerry

[tomking]

You should buy a factory service manual before going much farther. It will answer many of your questions. Oh I think there is a FSM somewhere on this board also.

[baronbors]

Don't forget to take the windshield glass out- make it much more easier

[jvandyke]

Originally Posted by baronbors Don't forget to take the windshield glass out- make it much more easier

Pulling the dash and fixing the heater core was also my first GT task. (last Feb.) Get a FSM (factory service manual) and search and read here. I finally gave up on the dash screws along the windshield and bit the bullet and popped the windshield out. I'm sure you'll find my posts here on it. Pulling the windshield is no big deal (especially if the gasket is decent or you don't mind putting in a new one). I highly recommend taking the windshield out!!!

PS don't forget the hood release cable. Disconnect to pull dash but DON'T close the hood with it disconnected!!
Fix your clock while you're in there and adjust it out of the car for a week (while you're working on other stuff). Must have working clock.

[ungermm]

Taking the windshield out does make it easier, and I would definitely do that if I was going to do a major restoration which included painting. Removing the windshield and replacing it is a fairly big job in itself. I have taken dashes out without removing the windshield without much difficulty. A long small tip phillips screw driver will usually do the job. If you have a problem reaching the screws, a simple solution is to bend a long screw driver into a slight arc and use 1/4 turns to make it work. A trip to the hardware store for a flex line screw driver would do the trick too. Jerry

[robert j hunt]

Thankyou for all your help. I am most of the way there and thought taking out the windshield might make it easier but thought I might be able to make that a later project but I have the new gasket & chrome insert so doing it all at once will be my excuse to, "be one with my car." I do need a better service manual, I have to replace all the gaskets next. Timing chain cover.Thank you thus far. I will update in a day or two.