With the days getting shorter one job I’d put off was removing the instrument cluster to clean out 40 years of dust and grime that had accumulated behind the acrylic screen. Also the instrument lighting was so dim it was difficult to see the gauges at night even on the brightest setting.
The unit pulls out as a single unit, there are 5 hex set screws securing it to the dash but before removing them the speedo cable needs to be unscrewed from inside the scuttle.
This entails removing the drivers side scuttle grill and undoing the extended cable securing sleeve / tube. Space is tight and if you can’t get a hand in to undue the sleeve or if it’s on too tight you have to pull as much of the Speedo cable up and into the back of the dash as you pull the instrument binnacle forward and then undue the cable inside the car. It’s all a bit fiddly and hard to do, the later cars have a much simpler split cable design that makes life a whole lot easier.
I replaced all of the ageing bulbs and cleaned up all the contacts with electrical contact cleaner and some very fine Emery paper, the results where worth it.
