Satellitecentral

Hi Guys,
been out working on my newly aquired 66 Dynamic 88, an had a few questions , if anyone could help.

The Car it,s self is in pretty good shape for being 42 , so I have been starting slow and just trying to sort out small things one after the other .
I fixed the Blower , the Blower Fan had become detached from the Motor , now blowing well again.

Working on the Cluster , nearly all the warning lamps an bulbs were blown, sorted that temporarily, I have new 6 LED Bulbs ordered , Blue ones for the cluster , I like Blue

The Turn signal lever was laying on the floor board , pulled the aftermarket wheel to check the switch , turned out the Turn Signal Cam was broken in 2 pieces, got one ordered off ebay.

I wanted to pull the Cover / dash Panel that cover,s the Radio an A/C Controls to see if i can get the orig AM Radio to work, speaker connections etc, It light,s up , but I guess the wires are broken ?
Anyway , Does anyone know HOW TO pull the panel/cover to gain access to the radio ?
I diden,t want to start pulling an hacking at the thing an destroying the dash , so If anyone knows the Trick to getting the Panel loose , I would be most Grateful

Next on the agenda , will be getting the A/C sorted out,
It,s a MUST in Georgia in Summer !!!!!!
There Is pressure in the system , prob not a lot but it is there .
The Compressor is working, well operating at least, it is engaging the clutch , when a/c is selected
So maybe it,s not a big fix, but i,ll leave that to our local guy , he,s good an not hard to pay

The Brakes ............
Well that,s another story
Had a Neighbour drive it round the block , he has worked on this car before , for a previous owner, he seems to think the Hydralics are OK, but the Power Brake Assist is not working, the Car just don,t like stopping , can make things , lets say Interesting at the end off the road

Brake Light Switch , is KAPUT, no biggie , one ordered , but I know on the left side the Brake Lights don,t work, bulb,s are good , just changed , so I guess its Ground or a wireing issue

Dimmer Switch on the Headlights , non working again , I removed it an have one on the way .

All in all , I can say I,m haveing a Total Blast working on the Car , best money i,ve spent in years
Besides it looks like an Aircraft Carrier sitting beside the other Cars, in the Yard , Love it

Sorry for my rambelings , but it get carried away sometings .....

Thanks All

Olds64

To check the power assist all you have to do is press the brake pedal all the way down and hold it there while starting the car. Once the car is running the vacuum power assist should pull the brake pedal closer to the floor.

Oldsmaniac

To remove radio you go under dash and remove AC ducting and radio brace then pull radio ***** and bezels. You will see nuts behind bezel to remove radio and it comes out from behind dash.....removing the dash pad is a BIG job and not necessary....also there is a good chance it will break around steering column.

Olds64

Does this happen often? I was considering completely removing my dash to gut the electrical and install a Painless wiring harness.

Oldsmaniac

On the 65 and 66 Full Size, part of the dash pad almost circles the steering column. I suppose that when new the dash pad was flexible enough to spread it there or perhaps the steering column was not yet installed. The dash can be removed with the dash pad as a unit but its a lot of work and quite heavy. I would work from behind the dash if it were me.

Olds64

Well, I am going to have my dashpad restored at some time in the future. It has more cracks in it than a redneck family reunion.

rocketraider

You don't have to pull a 64 dash pad to get behind there either. There are three studs w/ nuts on back side of the speedometer cluster. Remove the nuts, disconnect any wiring that's in the way and pull the speedo/clock/nameplate panel from the front.

Why do you want to install a Painless Wiring harness? My experience is that the 64 dash wiring is pretty sturdy, and I would be very surprised if Painless has the round pin connectors.

Satellite- that AM radio's output transistor is probably toast after all these years, especially if you find the speaker wires unplugged. Speaker itself may be bad, you can get it reconed. Aftermarket 4x10's never fit right. Maniac is correct that it comes out from behind the dash, and it can be tricky getting it past the defroster ducts. I'd bet the A/C flex ducting will fall apart too (we just went thru this whole scenario on a 66 Starfire). If you can do so, taking out the front seat will make this job a lot easier on the old back.

GM taillight sockets from that time are JUNK. You can get replacements at any parts store, but they won't be a whole lot better, and most are now made in China. Check a NAPA or CarQuest, or any old time local parts store for the better quality stuff.

Satellitecentral

Well I went out an pressed the Brake pedal , an then started the Car , It did pull it a tiny amount closer to the floor , but hardly noticeable ,
I,m guessing it,s not working right at all, pulled the vacuum hose off an it is pulling a vacuum .
Any other Ideas?

Went to autozone an picked up a dimmer switch
$3.99 , installed , lights work great again , cheap fix

Brake light Switch , came in the mail, installed, now I have Brake Lights
another little victory .

Waiting on the Blinker Cam in the mail, but I went ahead an tested the switch , by just holing the metal contacts , just to verify I have working switch/blinkers
Worked well

Like I said , i,m just doing a little every day , but so far , it,s all getting done a bit at a time.

Think tomorrow it,s new speaker , an radio/cd install day,
not cutting the dash, i,ll just hang the CD underdash

aliensatemybuick

Sattelite, if you DO decide to remove the dashpad, here is how the factory recommends it be done:



And as you mentioned that your pad is cracked, I actually plan on replacing the dash in my car soon (it has been recovered in vinyl, and the cover is "stitched" together at the edges and also a bit "lumpy" (likley becasue the dash is warped underneath)...it doesn't look too bad, but it is not factory and I am honestly not happy with it) with a nice original one.

Here's what it looks like:



Perhaps you would be interested in it after I remove it. If so, E-mail me at scottfettner@hotmail.com. I'd probably only want $100 for it. I'm sure it cost the prev. owner more than that to have it done. If you are not interested, no hard feeling, as I said it aint my cup of tea!

--Scott

Satellitecentral

Thats an interesting picture, I just noticed , down on the Kick Panel , what looks like speakers?,
I have been looking for kick panel speakers , for my 66 Dynamic 88 4 door with zero success , I dont think anyone makes em for My Car, so it,s back to the drawing board I guess.

Still waiting on parts so no work done yesterday

csstrux

I love it!

rocketraider

Those are kick panel vent grilles on a non-A/C car. I've heard of people mounting speakers in that location, but you lose outside air vent and I'd be wary of water getting to the speakers since that vent is ducted straight to the cowl vent grille.

You have factory A/C so it wouldn't work on the passenger side.

Olds64

If you want speakers in your kick panels but can't find speakers to fit go to an audio shop. I found that my 64 98 has an odd ball 4"x9" cone speaker in the front dash and the only company that makes replacements sells them for over $200 (that is more than I paid for my speakers on my TV).

You can also get adapters that fit in a given space or grill so you can bolt two or three smaller speakers into the space (that is what I will eventually do with that speaker in my dash).

aliensatemybuick

Actually yes, in addition to the vents, those ARE speakers in those kick panels you see...that is an old photo, and I have since replaced the kick panels in my car, as I thought they looked rather "cheesy". Basically, some prev. owner cut holes and mounted very low profile speakers, which essentially looked flush-mounted. I've since discarded the speakers and panels.

rocketraider

Dang- that was a good camo job with those speakers. I had to look at the pic again to see the grille.

I generally have my old car speakers reconed. That way they fit and sound like they're supposed to. Last few I've had done were about $40 + shipping, and you don't have to worry about whether it will fit in available space.

Satellitecentral

Well
I went out in the heat today , decided to see about the radio,
had to take the A/C box off and Hoses.........
As I suspected the Hose to the Driver side was er.......off a crumbley consistence !, basically it,s toast, riipped apart and it,s trash now,
Oh well another Can off worms opened .

I,ve heard you can get A/C Hose at NAPA , anyone got it there ?
Anyway The A/C was not right , the compressor is running , so I decided to try a Re Charge , used 2 cans off r134a , it has seemed to work, it,s not ICE COLD but it is blowing a good bit cooler , Yes the Car had already been converted to 134 .

Getting to the Dash speaker is looking like a total nightmare , I doubt i,ll be doing a replacement,
Thats why I,m looking for alternative sites to mount front speakers .
I,m kinda stumped on this one
It,s Either Door speakers , not keen on that idea to be honest, or custom making a kind off console over the tunnel to mount a couple of 6.5,s .
Well that can wait I suppose, I,m waiting on a Turn Signal Cam to get Blinkers going, and I need to order a Power Brake Booster , brakes are shall we just say Interesting........or the lack off

Ripped the old Head liner out , it was torn , an falling down , it was starting to annoy me .

Spent most off the rest off the day, rubbing down the old faded /oxidised paint,
I dident honestly think how Big this Car was before I started to that !!!!
It,s all good fun though