Hello everyone,
Hope all is well in 2026
I wanted to know if someone has documented in photos and such how to remove the dash board parts?
It seems to have 3 sections : glove box- middle electrical hinged section- and the bit around the steering wheel.
I wish to refurbish the wood.
The manual has almost no images of where to find the fasteners. It does have many words!!
No photos as such as it is not the sort of thing you take photos of. I have an S Type but the bolts are basically in the same place. With the S Type you remove the top first which is held on with three 7/16 nuts on long studs. ( Your last drawing basically shows where the nuts are!) One goes up via a hole in the glove box, two you can find when you drop the front panel down and the last under the speedo which you reach with a long/deep 7/16 socket on several extension bars. On the S Type the top dash then lifts off giving you access to the remaining nuts and bolts which are easily found. In the centre you remove the two large bolts which form the hinge for the front panel and this comes off. The speedo section and glove box are held on by nuts or bolts either side on brackets located to the left and right of the centre panel with one bolt either side near the door hinges. The hardest part and most important is disconnecting all the wires whilst labelling them. I used yellow or blue electrical tape which allowed me to write on, describing each connection. Masking tape can be used but it is not so robust as electrical tape. You end up with a spaghetti of wiring and bulbs which if you have not labelled will give you nightmares trying to reassemble. You will find all the colours on the wiring sheaths have faded away so they are no good as a reference. All the gauges come out with each panel once the wiring is removed and I removed them all before taking the wood out.
This is the best photo I can offer showing the nuts and bolts to remove the glove box and speedo facia indicated by arrows and the hinge bolts to remove the front panel in circles. I don't have a clear photo of the side bolts but they are easily found once the top is off.
No the wooden facia is held onto the copper metal plate by the gauges and switches so once these have been removed the wood just comes off the front. I found when I stripped mine that I disconnected the wiring from the back of each gauge then removed the gauge out of the front then reattached it to the wiring and let it hang. I did this with each gauge one at a time so I knew the correct wires were reattached. I then did the same with the switches. The last to come out is the light switch and ignition barrel. The light switch has a small hole in the sleeve which you push into with a piece of wire which releases a sprung clip then the turning part of the switch comes off. There are then two threaded rings one on the switch and one on the ignition barrel. Remove the threaded rings on all the switches and barrel and they all go back through the wood and the wood should just come away.
