Hi, I have a 74 Dart and I am trying to replace the dashlight bulbs that backlight the gauges. I was hoping I would not have to take apart the dash panel too much to do this. From the look of things, boy was I wrong Will I have to drop the steering column as well? Its a column automatic. Any tricky things to look out for before I break them?
Brian

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Flyin' Brian

74 Duster, 225, rear-mounted blow through turbo at 12psi boost, street/strip car
"Sixy Beast"

You should be able to get to them by feel (practice the staring off into space look before doing this). If its like my Satellite, the bulbs (194's) are held in place by sockets that just twist into the back of the cluster. Yeah, they are a pain, literaly. Best to wear short sleeve shirt when doing this so your clothing dosn't get caught up on anything (just your skin will.. )

To remove the cluster you drop your steering colum (no need to take the whole column out, just 3 or 4 bolts will drop the bracket holding the column to the dash), then a few screws on the face of the cluster, then you should be able to pull the cluster out a bit. disconnect the wiper/lightswitch harness, and the speedo cable (speedo cable needs to come out from under the dash) and you should be able to slide it out.

If you're replacing all the lights, its much easier to do it this way. Otherwise, you are stuck feeling your way around the back of the dash which is a royal pain. If you have a youngster with small hands that may be a huge advantage, but warn them of sharp metal edges down there.

From the sound of things, I'll give it a go trying to reach behind first. But I'm pretty sure I'll have to just bite the bullet and remove the frigging dash panel. I took a peek tonight after I posted, and it looks difficult.
Thanks for info guys.
Brian

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Flyin' Brian

74 Duster, 225, rear-mounted blow through turbo at 12psi boost, street/strip car
"Sixy Beast"

Be sure to disconnect the battery first. There is live power to the amp gauge and a few other items any time the battery is connected.

Thanks for the reminder Craig, I sure don't want to see sparks.

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Flyin' Brian

74 Duster, 225, rear-mounted blow through turbo at 12psi boost, street/strip car
"Sixy Beast"

bmim, remember-- the darkness is your ally. use the jedi force. and many a beer.
Break out your FSM and have a quick review. drop the column (like 5 bolts) remove the bezel screws and roll it forward. you should then be able to see the bulbs. thus the contortionist act starts... the reach, twist, attempt to insert. otherwise, it's the dashboard boogie. at least full removal gives you a chance to inspect the wiring and clean up and/or paint anything you deem worthy.
either way it's your time. go nuts homey!

-JYH
master of the dashboard boogie
64 Dart, SoCal

bmim,
Envision yourself looking straight into the cluster from the BACK. Those bulbs have a blade-style end on them which plugs into a separate round plastic socket. This round socket stabs into a hole in the circuit board and turns CLOCKWISE, probably less than a 1/8 turn, not very much. So, if you choose to replace them with the panel in-place, your action will be to reach behind, locate the offending burned-out bulb, and turn COUNTER-CLOCKWISE. Don't forget, when you look at your own hand, palm facing you, COUNTER-CLOCKWISE for the bulb from the back will appear to be CLOCKWISE to your point of view. Dang, I wish I was home right now. I took some good close-up pics of the back of my cluster last weekend, while I was working on the speedometer. I'll post them tonight just for anyone else's benefit who has your same question.

Remember, "Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey" only works from one perspective, otherwise, it's backwards. It wouldn't be a bad idea to use a pencil eraser to "buff" the brass contact points to help with continuity, they tend to tarnish over time. You can also CAREFULLY pry up on the contacts SLIGHTLY to improve their "spring-action grip" on the circuit panel.

Happy hunting,
Jerry

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There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Thanks to everyone on the great advice, this is the reason I coming back to this forum

JYH--I think I'll save the beers until I'm done to sooth my scraped knuckles.

74Sport--great detailed info, many thanks.

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Flyin' Brian

74 Duster, 225, rear-mounted blow through turbo at 12psi boost, street/strip car
"Sixy Beast"

Don't drop the column! It won't have any bad consequences, but it's un-needed. I have a 73 Dart with the same setup, all you need to do is take out the cluster screws and you will have just enough space to get the lights out. It isn't hard, should only take five-ten minutes. And, if I'm wrong, just take the steering column down(though I can telly you fairly confidently that I'm right. You have little sockets that twist out, if your car is like mine have of them will be partially busted

P.S. Thoses they are a great idea to pick up at junkyards because most of the time the junkyards won't charge you for them, and you get the bonus of likely having working bulbs go along with them.

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My car may be slow to sixty, but at least it's been reliably slow to sixty for more than thirty years.

Here ya go, bmimken.
Here's the back of my '74 Sport instrument cluster.



This should help you locate the bulb sockets, if you are working blindly from under the dash.

Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.

Thanks 74Sport! I haven't gotten in there yet, been real busy this week. Tommorrow's D-Day

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Flyin' Brian

74 Duster, 225, rear-mounted blow through turbo at 12psi boost, street/strip car
"Sixy Beast"

Got in there and replaced those bulbs the other day. I just wanted to thank everyone who helped prepare me for task! I ended up removing the dashboard and I had to drop the steering column a little bit to do it. On the downside, I did end up breaking the plastic piece that goes around the column where the dash meets it. I laid it on the bench seat, and forgot it was there. I ended up laying across part of the seat with my head stuck under the dash and crushed it into 3 pieces. Oh, well.
Thanks again, Brian

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Flyin' Brian

74 Duster, 225, rear-mounted blow through turbo at 12psi boost, street/strip car
"Sixy Beast"

I may have a good one off a '76 Duster, color is kind of tan.

Let me know if you are interested,
Jerry

_________________
There's a difference between ignorance and stupidity.
Ignorance is not knowing any better.
Stupidity is knowing, yet doing it anyway.