How to remove part of the dashboard off of a 1971 VW Bus Cam

[Lydia]

All the screws are out. The only limitation is not damaging the vent tabs. Is it possible to remove part of the dash without removing the whole dash? I guess it is called the Instrument Panel that I am trying to remove.

[kreemoweet]

What are "vent tabs"? Are you talking about the instrument cluster? That can be pulled out after unscrewing the speedometer cable
and removing the heater/vent control arm extensions. The attached wires will not allow it to come out very far, let alone the
steering wheel. The dash itself is one large chunk that goes from one side of the cab to the other.
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'67 bug: seized by the authorities
'68 bug: seized by the authorities
'71 kombi: not yet seized by the authorities

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[VDubTech]

[Desertbusman]

The tricky part is removing the heat and vent levers. Instructions are in your service manual. Bus Daddy has posted important help on the lever removal quite a few times. Maybe he will do it again.
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71 Superbug
71 Westy

[busdaddy]

[SGKent]

my head and chest hurts. I am going to nap now. Will someone wake me up when the wires are hooked back up correctly?
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"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it." - George Carlin

[brookmp]

I love the small font Busdaddy. You're so funny!
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1968 Westfalia Campmobile
1971 Double Cab Pick-up
1974 Standard Beetle

[Desertbusman]

[bigbore]

you mean like this? I know about pain as of late I just pasted 2 yes count them 2 kidney stones last week and yesterday I think I feel another one coming.

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where its cold and snowy

[bruehoyt]

I realize this thread is old, but I was looking for how to remove the vent tabs as well. So I am perplexed at the responses acting like that is a dumb thing to say. And the responses that say to just push out the plastic pins, read your manual and busdaddy has already answered this - simply are not answers.

They are vent tabs. -the tabs that control the vents
Saying "Where" the plastic pins are would be helpful.
The Bentley manual gives no detail.
Bus daddy's answer didn't come up in a search this did. (you could have linked to it if it was answered) - I appreciate busdaddy's answer.


Why, if you don't have an answer, do you post?


I have completed the task. Here is what you need to know.

1. lay on your back and reach up into the underside of the dash.
move the vent levers up or down to give the best access and get some light up there
2. I used a long slender flat head to get under the head of the off white plastic pins or clips and pried them out.
3. pull the levers out of the front of the dash by pulling the red and blue vent tabs. There is another metal spacer in the channel. keep track of it comes out or loose.

4.unscrew the 4 phillips screws on the dash face. instrument panel is free.

to replace

1. screw in the 4 phillips screws
2. ensure vent arm spacers are in correctly. you may need to old them in place one at a time as you install vent tabs.
3. slide the vent tabs in the same place they came out. I had to push the slots a little to line them up. i also had to hold a couple of the spacers in place as I slid in the tab.
4. feel for the hole to be lined up then reach up and push the pins in. IF you get them lined up, the go in with some thumb force. you may want to reach some tool up there to squeeze them. i was able to do it by hand.

[bigbore]

man talk about digging up the dead just to answer a six year old question? OK I guess.
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where its cold and snowy

[kreemoweet]

The original post was incomprehensible. The responses were very reasonable attempts to get the OP to explain him/herself.
We still don't know what he/she meant by "vent tabs", or what he/she was trying to accomplish, because the OP abandoned the thread he/she started. I guess we now know what member "bruehoyt" means by "vent tabs". No doubt the road to enlightenment
comes in tiny baby steps.
_________________
'67 bug: seized by the authorities
'68 bug: seized by the authorities
'71 kombi: not yet seized by the authorities

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[bigbore]

ya I saw that.As for me there levers.
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[SGKent]

[airschooled]

[Abscate]

If you come to the internet to be spoon fed the answer to your car problem, you are in the wrong place. The wealth of knowledge here doesn't just happen, it was acquired by 10,000 hours of equity, and is shared here on the experts' good graces.

If you don't first look at your problem, get some understanding, learn the names of the pieces, or use good language skills to communicate clearly, your access to the expertise will be limited.

In about ten minutes of reading, you can detect the tone here. Just like entering a party, you don't walk in the door and yell out to everyone you need a job...its called WORKING a room for a reason.
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[busdaddy]

[SGKent]

[airschooled]

Eh, when you lose those clips by changing to a late bus, you are rewarded with the little punk clips that hold the whole cluster into the dash instead of four self-centering screws.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire?
Robbie
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One-on-one tech help for your vintage Volkswagen:

www.airschooled.com

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[bigbore]

DING DING DING we have a WENNER so for posting one more then the original thread YOU asiab3 you win a cookie-----where shall I send it too?
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where its cold and snowy