I was wondering if anyone can give me a quick tutorial on how easy or difficult it is to take out the instrument cluster on my 69 road runner. I had the speedometer and complete cluster rebuilt about 10 years ago and the speedometer never worked right from the day i got it back. After taking to the place in Florida that did the work the only thing they could tell me was to send it back and I really did not want to send it back after waiting 6 months way back then. Now i want to address it so i can get it and the odometer working again. I think the speedometer head is the issue and i want to get it out to see if it's something i can do on my own to fix it. When it was hooked up again today by the shop that is doing the motor install and the mechanic said it started running backwards. So he wants to take out the cluster and see what he can do to fix it. He had a new cable made to fit the 4L60 trans so he knows it not the cable.

Thank you for any advice.

Stu

Its no easy task. The best way in my opinion is to take out the drivers front seat so you can lay on the floor.
disconnect all the switches
unscrew the switch panel from the front
unbolt the lower dash pad and remove it and the switch panel
now you can access the cluster screws (there are two at the top)

When you reinstall everything, getting the switch panel in is virtually impossible with the switches installed. This means installing the lower pad, installing the panel then installing the switches from the back - fun, fun, fun. You might want to pull out the steering column !!

Oh crap............

I'll politely disagree, Not that bad depending on ones size and flexibility. In my younger days 10- 15 minutes with a bit of practice. I'll agree having the seat out helps

OK, myself I would first try to identify whether the issue is with the Speedometer / head or the Cable / Routing.
Easily accomplished with a short test cable and drill motor hooked up to the head. FYI a 1000 RPM should = 60 MPH.



The mechanicals are like a garage door STU, IMPOSSIBLE unless the ???

Pull the column ?? B-------t, loosen and lower it, yes

He did that with an electric drill and came up with the idea the head is bad, as when he tested the spedo with a drill he had to have the drill in Reverse to make the needle move correctly. That's the confusing part of this whole thing. I am picking up the car tomorrow afternoon so i will see if he made any more progress during the day. Thank you for the advice.

IIRC it spins backwards

Oh so than that is correct that the the spedo cable needs to run in reverse to push the needle forward?

Yepper

Thank you!!!

There is a speedometer place in Old Town Portland OR... You might try them for a quicker turn around??? Good people.. I will try to find the name... maybe Bee knows em???

Thank you for any links to that.

Lets hope this pastes...

http://www.speedometerserviceportland.com/

Got it thank you!!!

Stu,

might give these guys a call as they are close to you,

http://www.paspeedo.com

Thank you, that's right in my area!

Got the car back and so far so good! Just have to use my GPS to track the millage and speed now.

Being from SMOG JOSE I knew they were

Used to go there years ago

Hello Stu, it's been awhile, I been real busy sharpening drill bits for the CIA. I ain't sure how you would go about knowing the drill speed to calculate that so what I would do is spin your current speedo and another one as fast as the drill will go & see if they (both) read the same (drill in reverse as said). If there is a way to know drill speed (I might call the mfr) as I preoiled a 360 a few days ago & only got 35 psi & the "crank" RPM is gonna be double that of the drill speed (which don't look good for enough psi at this point.)

Hummnn???