By Chuck HansonWhen we purchased our '68 Chevelle 300 series, two-door sedan, we did so for a couple of reasons. First, it was a neat car with its L79 engine and unique body style. But, even more importantly, the price was right.
Of course, we also knew that in exchange for its reasonable price, we'd have to invest some of our time performing needed repairs to make the car presentable. Astute readers will recall that in our last issue, we replaced the '68's floorpans.
In this installment, we'll tackle the replacement of both the instrument cluster and dash pad. For reasons that shall forever remain a mystery to us, the previous owner had installed a goofy LED clock in the right-hand instrument pod, where the factory clock should have resided. But, no matter how well-intentioned his modification may have been, we couldn't quite get used to the blinking (especially at night) LED clock. Nor could we accept the notion that every time we disconnected the battery to perform any repairs, the clock would need to be reset. Compounding the problem was the fact that it could not be reset without first removing the entire instrument cluster.
Consequently, justifying the cluster replacement wasn't all that difficult; finding a suitable substitute, however, was. We relied on our friends at Gary's Restoration (6336 Corey St., Riverside, CA 92509 (909) 681-1340) to track down the needed cluster and dash pad. Owner Gary Meyers specializes in locating hard-to-find Chevy parts and rare options. It took him about a month to track down parts he felt were good enough to install, and his prices were surprisingly reasonable. Follow along now as we put our '68 back in "fan-dash-tic" condition!
Begin by disconnecting the battery, then removing all the dash housing assembly retaining screws and fasteners. The steering column should also be loosened and dropped to allow removal of the instrument housing.
Continue by disconnecting any A/C ducting, as well as all electrical connections. We also removed the A/C controls from the instrument housing rather than disconnecting all the cables and vacuum hoses.
Once everything is loose and/or disconnected, you can remove the instrument housing. Remember that almost 30 years of aging have made the plastic fairly fragile; work slowly and carefully.
After removing the mounting screws, the reason for this exercise becomes obvious. We easily replaced the offending gauge cluster face, then remounted it back in the housing.
The previous owner has also repaired the dash pad with a concoction of indoor/outdoor carpet covered with a gray, rubberized coating. Access to the dash pad mounting screws was made from underneath. Gary's Restoration sent us a beautiful replacement.
Putting everything back together is simply a reversal of the disassembly steps. Now is also a good time to replace any burnt out dash bulbs, check the wiring harnesses, and replace any defective A/C ducting.
Our newly refurbished dash looks original again, and almost as good as it did when it first came off the assembly line. It only took us an afternoon to complete, and it was definitely time well spent!
Locating parts for our classic Chevelles is becoming an increasingly difficult proposition. Firsthand experience with our '68 taught us that even the parts that are available may not be in any better condition than the parts you already have. So.... we improvised. DASHBOARD DETAILS
We repaired mounting hole cracks in our instrument housing by "welding" them. A plastic welding kit, such as this one from The Eastwood Company (PO Box 3014, Malvern, PA 19355-0714, (800) 345-1178), can help make your dash whole again.
Once we were satisfied with the integrity of our instrument housing, we detailed the "chrome" trim on it with a silver paint stick, such as this one for model builders, from Testors.
Our 300 series Chevelle was originally a radio delete car, and the broken radio mounts made the decision to reinstate that configuration an easy one. We fabricated our radio block-off plate from an old VHS cassette case. The grain matched that of our dash almost perfectly, and we simply "siliconed" it in place.
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