Instrument panel removel?

[Hugh Hudson]

I've ordered a Tach to put in the blank hole on my "69.
What is the secret to removing the instrument panel after you remove the 4 screws? The heater controls arm are bent. My '69 Porsche knobs just pull straight out.

[aeromech]

I've done this recently.

1) Remove the steering wheel
2) Remove the fresh air and heat levers. Sometimes they pull straight out and originally they had plastic rivets holding them in place. Remove the rivets if they are there still.
3) Remove four screws
4) Reach up under the dash and remove the speedo cable from the speedo
5) Pull the instrument panel aft. There won't be much slack on the wires so keep an eye for some pulling loose.
6) Remove the two 6mm self tapping screws on the back side of the blanking plate and don't drop the glass.

If you can mark all the various wire locations, it's best to remove the panel from the bus and install the tach into the panel on the bench. There's some wiring that can be done at this time. If you bought the original looking tach it should have come with a retaining plate. The VDO tachs require a seperate retaining plate but the source for those went dry when Bus Boys closed up shop a few years ago. This is also a good time to test all the panel lamps.
_________________
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[Hugh Hudson]

Thanks for the quick reply.
I've had a 912 for 18 years and know just about everything about them ,but I'm new to this VW and having fun.
I ordered the original looking tach with bracket.
I'll also being looking into the lighting as I presently have none.
Will probably go LED as i did in the 912.
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'69 Single cab
'69 Porsche 912
Other vehicles don't matter

[SevenOaks]

I have removed the panel for adding the tach from both my ‘69 and ‘74 without removing the steering wheel. First I disconnected the battery, then removed the speedometer cable and the four screws. Next I removed it far enough to take several pictures of the wiring, used making tape to label each one and then disconnected each one. Installed the tach and then put it all back together in reverse order. I left the wiring labels in place for next time.
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David
1974 9-passenger bus
1969 Single cab
1966 Beetle

[Mispeld]

Yep, unscrew the Speedo cable from the back of the cluster, then remove the 4 screws on the corners. Be careful to catch the clips the screws screw into. They will fall into some black hole and never be seen again. On my 77, the heater knobs pull strait off.

No need to remove steering wheel.
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Tom
1977 Westy. 2.0 Fuel Injected.