70Tom
Senior Member
OK, I need a bit of help confirming a couple things/best technique to use on my 70 SF interior. Basically, I am restoring the entire interior. There were a ton of mice/rats living in there at some point and it is/was filthy. I have dismantled and cleaned, scraped, painted most of it. Last thing to go in there is under the dreaded dash. It is a mess under/behind there. I have removed the glove box, radio, dash pad, A/C ducts, defroster ducts. I have an assembly manual. My questions are more technique (for the most part).
Here we go:
1) Because it's so filthy under there, would you remove the entire dash (the dash frame or whatever it's called) from the car? I can't tell if this would create way more work or would make things easier. It's always tough to tell due to the amount of wiring and tubing that makes it somewhat daunting. Or should I just leave it in there and remove what I can and clean it?
2) Heater box: It appears that the studs used to mount the engine firewall box are actually affixed to the inner heater box. And then there's the bracket that mounts/holds it to the inside firewall. I basically want to a) remove and check the heater core and probably replace it, and b) clean out the heater box because god knows what's been living in there. What's the best way to do this? Remove the firewall nuts and the inside bracket and remove the whole interior box, or it appears there are bolts that hold the two inside pieces together and just "split it" to remove the core and clean it?
3) Speedo center cluster/steering column: I still need to remove this from the car and thoroughly clean it, replace some switches, do some paint touch up, etc. Even after looking at the assembly manual and seeing what bolts hold the steering column to the dash, and even looking down at the column with the windshield out and the dash pad off, I can't figure what nuts to remove. I remove the ones that seem obvious and it literally doesn't budge more than an inch or so. I undid all bolts to the firewall. What am I missing? Am I removing the wrong nuts from the column? Or do I need to release the column from the pivot joint a the steering gear box?
I think that's all for now. Time is of the essence here due to space/garage issues and the upholsterer awaits and he's fitting me in. I still need to get the windshield column cleaned up of old gasket, dirt and rust. Once that happens I'll patch and paint it. Then onto the issues above.
Here we go:
1) Because it's so filthy under there, would you remove the entire dash (the dash frame or whatever it's called) from the car? I can't tell if this would create way more work or would make things easier. It's always tough to tell due to the amount of wiring and tubing that makes it somewhat daunting. Or should I just leave it in there and remove what I can and clean it?
2) Heater box: It appears that the studs used to mount the engine firewall box are actually affixed to the inner heater box. And then there's the bracket that mounts/holds it to the inside firewall. I basically want to a) remove and check the heater core and probably replace it, and b) clean out the heater box because god knows what's been living in there. What's the best way to do this? Remove the firewall nuts and the inside bracket and remove the whole interior box, or it appears there are bolts that hold the two inside pieces together and just "split it" to remove the core and clean it?
3) Speedo center cluster/steering column: I still need to remove this from the car and thoroughly clean it, replace some switches, do some paint touch up, etc. Even after looking at the assembly manual and seeing what bolts hold the steering column to the dash, and even looking down at the column with the windshield out and the dash pad off, I can't figure what nuts to remove. I remove the ones that seem obvious and it literally doesn't budge more than an inch or so. I undid all bolts to the firewall. What am I missing? Am I removing the wrong nuts from the column? Or do I need to release the column from the pivot joint a the steering gear box?
I think that's all for now. Time is of the essence here due to space/garage issues and the upholsterer awaits and he's fitting me in. I still need to get the windshield column cleaned up of old gasket, dirt and rust. Once that happens I'll patch and paint it. Then onto the issues above.
