Tackling the dashboard electronics

Today was the first day of real work on the car after I put it in a garage. I couldn't do very much as it's still sandwiched between Anders' and Reijo's cars so I decided to go ahead with the dashboard electronics.

I've tried to take the dash apart before with no luck but this time I had repair manual printouts by my side, something that improved the odds a lot. I still took my time doing things though, this being the first time I disassemble a 35 year old car.

Doing it "by the book" it took me about 3 hours getting the dash and the instrument cluster loose. I ran into problems getting the instrument cluster all the way out though - I'm guessing I need to unhook some tubes that the manual doesn't mention. I'll check with the V8 Buick forum.

Soon after posting this I realised I've read somewhere on the Internet about how to remove the instrument cluster. After a minute's worth of brainstorming I recalled George Nenadovich most excellent instructions on how to do this. George's site is a great resource for Buick newbies like me - he has tons of great info.

Another thing I decided to take care of was the head light switch. The "bolt" that held it to the dash was broken off when I got the car. A member of the V8 Buick forum hooked me up with one free of charge (Hi Steve!) but I haven't had a chance to replace it yet.

Looking at the switch you could tell that it had taken damage from the water that has gotten into the car the past months. So I took it apart and cleaned it up. It turns out that it's a lot easier to keep the switch out of the cluster in order to get the cluster back into the dash so I never did mount it. It should work better now though.

I also took a quick look at the front windshield. Reijo knows a guy who can replace it for me for about $115 (800 Skr) so that's what I'll do - it's a lot better option than having me replacing it, probably making it worse in the process.