Hey I'm pulling out my cracked dashboard (not just the top) and replacing it with a nicer one from low mileage IROC. Anything I should know in pulling out the whole thing? -Tricky stuff - Steering Shaft, etc. Or is it pretty straight forward, just a bunch of bolts?

Thanks!

Camarobuff1

 

Lots of wiring, lots of bolts, lots of time. Its easier without the windshield in the car as well. You don't have to touch the steering column if I recall correctly.

 

remove the dash pad, and on each corner of the shell, you will see one big bolt, and under the shell pointing straight up is two more big bolts, those are the four MAIN bolts that attach the shell to the body, and then of coarse with the dash board removed, you need to remove a whole lotta 10mm bolts in various locations to remove the ac ducting and other junk.
and drop the steering column to make overall removal easier.

 

I just recently got mine all back together. It took me several hours to get it apart, and a few more hours than that to get it all back together, but I did a good, thorough job. It is pretty straight forward, just removing bolts and nuts. Take your time and find all the bolts. It comes apart easily as long as you find all the bolts and nuts holding it on. While you have everything apart replace the heater core. They don't cost much and if yours is old it probably will start leaking before too long. I also replaced all the old foam gasketing on the a/c vents and stuff and sealed everything up good so there aren't any leaks in the vent system. Autozone has foam in various sizes, Wal-Mart and Home Depot has it too.

Use masking tape and a pen to label every single wire you disconnect so you can remember where everything goes later. Do this as you go so you don't forget one. Sort screws, bolts, and nuts in zip-lock bags and label them "left side", "right side", "lower dash", or whatever. You will probably have no idea where all the bolts have disappeared to and where they go back in if you don't do this. The steering column is real easy to lower, just two nuts holding it up from underneath.

 

I am having trouble getting mines to seat properly, I have 2 of them one from an 86 model and the other from an 89 the 89 is cracked badly because the previous owner of the car tried to remove it also. would you have any further advice

 

Is there a detailed write up with pics on dash board removal?