Additional Dash resto tasks - '66 A/C Coupe

[Alex Gilmour]

I'm getting set to pull the dash panel out to replace the inoperative fuel and temp guages. I also plan on polishing the glass while I have the panel disassembled. The rest of the panel is in great condition, so minor work is required.

I have read the archives but was wondering if there were any gotchas due to this being an A/C coupe. I will be pulling the clock out to send of for restoration, and will probably replace the heater core while I'm in there as well.

Would this be a good time to tackle my inoperative wipers? I suspect a faulty motor. Or is this something that one could do from the engine compartment? ie, anything I need to disassemble from the dash side?

Thanks, Alex

'66 A/C Coupe

[Gary Schisler]

Re: Additional Dash resto tasks - '66 A/C Coupe

If you are planning on pulling the dash anyhow, then by all means work on your wiper motor. This motor is most easily accessed from the passenger side, through the glove box door opening. Since your whole dash is out, your task will be extremely easy. The motor is held in by three bolts and is removed in an obvious manner. As a suggestion, once your wiper motor is out, clean and lube up the linkage for the wiper arms. In addition, the arms pivot on two shafts. Clean and lube those up too. There are several services offered in the Driveline that will repair/rebuild your wiper motor. Before you do this, if you are only looking for a driver-quality wiper (not one that is also re-cad plated) this is a job that I did myself. It was not that difficult. My main problem was a motor that had grease in the mechanism that was so old that the motor heated up, and then shut down, because of overheating. I cleaned out the old, almost tar-like grease, put in new, and in general just cleaned everything up cosmetically. My motor was in good shape from an appearance point of view so re-plating wasn't necessary. As a final point, the main reason that my 66 wiper didn't work initially was that the ground going to it had been broken or was missing. Once I replaced that and cleaned it as described above, it worked like a champ. Good luck, Gary

[Jack H.]

Re: Additional Dash resto tasks - '66 A/C Coupe

Excellent advice!