Hotrodjimmy

Hi guys. So, I spent the better part of the weekend attempting to remove the dash from this 72 Cutlass. Thanks to some help from some members here, I got over my largest hurdle in the headlight switch. A few observations from a person half the age of the car, and with 0 experience with this stuff (everything I do, I'm trying blindly for the first time).

First of all, engineers of these cars should be shot. I am not a large man, and I found it so cramped in there, with so many hidden/random bolts/screws/studs etc that you swear they were screwing with you. I can't imagine if this car had AC how much more cramped it would be.

For starters, when we got the car we tried to start it up. It didn't turn over at all, but we had lights, so I assumed a starter, disconnected the battery and put it back in my truck, and went on disassembling it. Only when I went to dissemble the dash did I find tucked up underneath it seems to be some sort of anti-theft device the the PO rigged up in there, which was spliced into some wire in the dash harness (i'd have to check the manual to be sure which). I wish I had known about this before I took a ton of stuff off (like the steering wheel) but oh well. I'll try to start it tomorrow regardless.

Supposedly the dash 'pad' is supposed to come off seperate from the rest of the dash or something? At least thats what the manual seemed to suggest. I took it all off in one piece. When GM made this chassis manual, they did not create it with the laymen in mind. Sometimes I was completely guessing on what to remove, and what X or Y even was. They also don't mention how to take off ***** on heater controls etc on most pages where they tell you to do that; i found it by accident, and had to run to Autozone to buy a small enough allen wrench.

Here are some pictures; my 'workspace' is quite comical...I really wish we had a garage. I had probably 100 tools in the car's interior by the time the day was done. It's fustrating, but mostly a lot of fun, trying to do all this stuff basically on a wing and a prayer. I have no clue what I'm doing; but the fact that it's not 'my' car, but the 72, gives me a much more cavalier attitude and less fear of breaking something, which is helping a lot.

Here's some pictures; I have a bunch more, but I couldn't upload to CO for some reason, so I put them on flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19416773@N08/

svnt442

You just have to link to them. Here are some of them for you.

bil

I have a 71 dash and pad,I can't see how they come apart! I think the padding and cover are made right on the plastic dash panel.Does anyone know if it really comes off? Nice start on the project! ---bil

2blu442

Bill, the panel that holds the headlight switch, heater controls and radio will unbolt from the pad. If you have it out of the car look closely, I think it's small fasteners like sheetmetal screws that hold the two together. John

jaunty75

I think your problem might be that the chassis manual is exactly that. Your car's interior is part of the body, and for that you need the Fisher Body Manual for your year. That was a separate manual in those days, and it's about as vital as the chassis manual. Get that, and I think your removal of these parts would no longer be guesswork.

Here's just what you need for $21 plus $6 shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972-...sQ5fLiterature

Hotrodjimmy

Jaunty,

I actually have the fisher body manual, but I believe I leafed through it and did not find any thing on the dash. I could be wrong; but my thought process told me to check there first, and finding nothing, I checked the chassis manual. Because the dash is all about actually removing 'components' like gauges etc. I think it was put into the chassis manual, because the dash is really just a protection layer to keep the electronics and mechanical pieces behind it safe. I appreciate the help though!

-Jimmy

edit: Also, thanks for showing me how to get pictures to work, svnt442

jaunty75

Well, you didn't say that initially, so we can only guess. I have often found that things that I expect to be in the chassis manual turn out to be in the body manual, and things that I expect to be in the body manual turn out to be in the chassis manual, so you really need both.

Allan R

Jimmy,
You might want to invest in a 1972 Assembly manual. It has a lot of the little detail items you seem to be looking for.

Heres a link to one of the suppliers. You can search the web and pick whoever you want to buy from.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/1972-Oldsmobile-C...item5ad2ed24a3

Good luck with your project. BTW, I have one of these manuals and it does have a lot of good info. The pages are all photocopied so the quality isn't as high as a first run publication but it gives me what I need in pretty straight forward terms. LOTS of pictures

jensenracing77

pulling and replacing the dash is no fun at all for me. in 1999 i done a frame off, when i got to the interior i took a week off work to try to finish this car and it took almost the entire week to just put the dash and wire harness in the car. it was my first dash i did, i could do it faster now but don't want to do it again anytime soon.

Hotrodjimmy

Wow. I didn't even know that one existed. I just bought one...and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival already. Thanks!

bil

Actually,I think the dash is there to protect US from hitting all those gadgets they put under it! I see how it comes apart now,it isn't like the 64-67 style,where the pad itself is one item,and the panel and components another. Thanks. ---bil

Hotrodjimmy

After getting it off and finally looking at it in the daylight today, I realized that there are some studs in the pad (that were shown in the manual) that should allow the pad to come off from the rest of the 'dash.' I don't know if or how that is possible while still attached to the car, and I still only see the backside of the screws, which means I still don't know how to get it off, but no matter. I didn't want to pick at it and crack something, considering I want it anyway.

bgoble

Anybody know where you can get some of those studs? Please let me know if you do.

Allan R

You'd probably have to make them out of a bolt or screw and washer. Cut the bolt or screw head off, tack weld the washer in place and epoxy the assembly into your dash pad. I don't think you'll find these as replacement parts; they're not all that much in demand to tool up for production.