I had a fire and need to replace my upper and lower dash on my 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass. I rewired the entire car and am now I am stuck. I am wondering if I should put the lower dash on the car first and then the upper dash or I should put the lower and upper dash together and then put them both in the car at the same time. Please help!

 

I have a 68 and the entire dash is going back in at the same time. It is easier than trying to connect the lower to the upper after separate installation

 

Your 69 might be different but on my 70 it was easier to put both pieces together as well as installing the wire harness first then install as one complete assembly.

 

I've had my '69 dash apart and agree with the others. You will find it MUCH easier to install the gauge pods, assorted pieces and lower panel on a bench or table. This will then all go back in the car as an assembly. I put the light switch, wiper switch, HVAC controls and radio back in AFTER the dash was installed. I did the glovebox after and remember it being a pain in the neck. Consider putting it in place prior to putting the dash in. I think the fact that my car has AC made this harder due to lack of space between the dash and firewall.
Sorry to hear you had a fire. Hopefully, it wasn't too bad and you caught it in time. Every time I see one of the detailed restorations on this site where the guys re-use the original wiring harnesses it makes me nervous. I understand the desire for originality but, in my opinion, this is a recipe for disaster. New harnesses - especially the dash harness - can be expensive but my experience is that if you go with a reputable company, the quality and resemblance to the originals are great. Good luck.

 

Thank you for the advice andwe did not go with the orginal wiring harness we went with American Autowire's Classic update kit!

 

If you don't have a Assembly Manual you should pick one up.

68-69 dashes were completely assembled and then attached as shown below