so basically im pulling my dash out to paint it, its blue (ick.) and im just curious, is it just unscreew everything you see or is there some hidden stuff? (i've never pulled the dash out of an old ford before)

and would you recommend buying a new dash pad or just covering the one i have

everything possible on the inside is going black and chrome with red accent lights

 

You can cover the one you have with decent success if you dont have the funds to buy a new one.

As for removing the dash, youve got a few bolts.. theres some bolts thru the ends of the dash into the cab.. you'll also need to unbolt the steering column support (2 bolts)
Just go slow and take ur time with it and im sure you wont have any problems.

I can try and get some pictures for you tmw if you need.

 

Not sure what you've done so far, but here's what I did on my 78 F150.

First remove the plastic cowl at the bottom of the steering column and unbolt the column. It's only two bolts and it makes the rest a LOT easier.

Remove the headlight **** AND shaft (push button on top of switch), WW **** and unscrew/remove the plastic dash trim. You might have to take the radio ***** and nuts off, too, but I'm not sure (I didn't have a radio)

Remove the headlight/WW switches from the dash.

CAREFULLY remove the gauge cluster and unplug the harness.

Remove the heater controls and radio.

Remove the ignition switch

I don't think you have to remove the glove box, but you need to unclip the light for it. Also unclip the light for the ash tray and disconnect the cig. lighter wire.

There might be some wires clipped to the dash for the GB light and maybe the radio antenna. So check as best you can before you yank it out.

To remove the metal part with the pad, you have the 5 or 6 screws on the top (right in front of the dash pad), one bolt on each side underneath, and 2 bolts by the steering column mount.

I think that's all that's connected to the dash but I might be forgetting something.


As for the pad, you can buy new ones, but they're not cheap. You can re-cover them, but you'd have to do something about the cracks or holes so they don't show through the new covering.

Hope this helps.

Kevin K.

 

follow the instructions from the thread above. I took my dash out of my 77 this past Sunday and it took 35 minutes. The hardest part way trying to unbolt the manual choke bracket from the bottom of the dash that my dad must have installed with loctite, an impact gun, and anything else that would get the screws tighter.

seriously, it was extremely simple to do.

good luck

 

ooo something else, while i have my gauge cluster off, there are LEDs in it right? my gauges dont light up when my headlights are turned on which i have gotton pulled over multiple times for speeding because of it (never gotton a ticket tho) so i thought it might be wiring, but could be mistaken

 

No LEDs in there, just 12v bulbs.

There is a place online that sells LED replacements for all the common automotive bulbs (except headlights). I think Autozone even stocks some of them.

The 3 most common problems with dash lights that I've come across are burnt out bulbs, cracked printed circuit board and broken/corroded bulb sockets.

Kevin K.

 

I took my dash out of my 77 F250 and it went pretty easy. I believe there are a couple of bolts on each outer side that is connected to the cab that are the hardest bolts to get at, but not too bad.

 

Maybe you have a better source, but I bought a dash cover from LMC and was not at all impressed with how it fit, and ended up sending it back and got a whole new dash pad. Just my $.02

 

Dash covers, in my opinion don't work very well at all. I would buy a new dash pad or find a really good used one and just paint it your color. You would be happier in the long run, they are quite expensive though.

 

dash covers always slid off my 90 gmc sierra, but thats gm

im pulling the dash pad off and covering it with a black pleather material and foam so its softer (good place to relieve stress), so you wont beable to see the cracks

 

I may not put the dash pad back on. We don't need no stinkin' dash pads.