[SD455DJ]

Got to work on the Formula gauges/tach and heater core swaps today. We needed to take the hood & hinges off to access the both the fuse block below the brake booster and the heater box nuts. Since we were replacing the non-gauge dash harness for one for gauges, we decided it would be easier to do that with the complete dashboard out of the car...not to mention, the removal of the inner heater box as well.

We discovered that the dash and everything underneath was never tampered with all it's life...and discovered interesting assembly 'techniques' as well. Of the 5 intended nuts needed to fasten the dash pad to the core, only 3 were installed and the other 2 had no witness marks of ever having nuts installed, both above the glove box. A couple of the red harness retainer clips were also MIA that hold the wire loom as it routes over the glove box and down the far side...plus the usual half way installed screws and nuts in a variety of places...very interesting to observe and imagine that these cars were assembled quickly and they didn't stop the line because you missed a few screws.

We have the new gauges installed in the dash and are routing the new harness in and around the maze of brackets and controls. The new (old original) dash harness has enough 'memory' in the wires that most of the connectors go where they need to be connected...making it pretty easy for us to figure out. Now we just have to find a new heater control cable (floor/de-ice) which is holding us up temporarily.

Looks like the dash was made by Uniroyal (in Canada) on 4-8-70. We're not sure what the 'B' or the '84/8' chalk mark means...?

Dennis