Dash woes

[gilbern1]

Hi all. I have a invader II, which was an e-bay purchase last year. As I have 2 small kids I have only just started working on it, and it appears to have made its own tribute to Chernobyl in the loom behind the dash. I am attempting to get the dash out for a better look. Any advice?
Many thanks Alistair

[Greybags]

It will probably look worse than it actually is ...

Mine was a right mess with wires cut and extra switches controlling unknown things, in the end I gave up trying to repair it and just replaced it with my own design, but I'm pretty sure Roger Spares keeps replacement "Gilbern Looms"

From your comments about Chernobyl it's sounds if you have symptons of a melt down. If any of the wires have been affected this way, go for the new loom as old overheated wiring is just waiting to fail, probably big time.

It will all turn out fine in the end ...

Heres how mine started..



When I looked behind it ...



How it all ended up



I have drawn some diagrams of my new wiring, but as it is an HTML for easy viewing, the forum wont allow me to upload it for general viewing.

Have fun

Grahame

[Reddi-Eng]

Grahame, not sure you answered Alistair's question,

I am attempting to get the dash out for a better look. Any advice?

Is the MkII the same as the MkIII in that you unbolt the dimister vents on the top and lift off the top section giving you access to the brackets that hold on the actual facia?

[Admin]

Is the MkII the same as the MkIII in that you unbolt the dimister vents on the top and lif off the top secion giving you access to the brackets that hold on the actual facia?

There are detail differances but yes.
You need to use a right-angle rachet screw-driver device if the windscreen is not removed.
Plus the top, may be jambed under the windscreen rubber and if the rubber has leak the four stays that receive the screws will probablely be rotted.

[Greybags]

Yep .. I can see my error ..I was answering in the general not the specific ..

I did not need to undo the vents as the flexible pipe has enough free movement to pull the dash out and then just unclip it ..

On my Mk11 ( and they may all be different) there was just a sliding connector either end behind the dash with just a single both through each, undo the bolt and the bracket seperates, undo the clamp around the steering columb and it will just slide out enough to get behind to disconnect all the wires, and cables ..

I have modified the top of my dash to fix via tight spring catches, so it is now possible to lift the top of the dash off to get behind it without disturbing the wiring and cables.

Sorry one of the few things I dont appear to have a picture of...

Grahame

[trippdl]

Another bit of advice I picked up along the way, is that it is an awful lot easier to work on the wiring if the windscreen is out as well.

The windscreen bloke who replaced and resealed the windscreen on the Genie happened to remark that they needed to be taken out periodically to be resealed in any case, so you might also be doing yourself a favour in respect of leaks.

Be aware that if you are going to sand off the old paint, that this needs to be done before the windscreen comes out, as the shell is not particularly rigid with the screen out, and over-enthusiastic sanding can cause other problems, like even more broken fiberglass to repair...

[Greybags]

Actually if you look closely at the middle picture, to the right just between the steering wheel and the dash vent hose, just above the bonnet release, directly above the brake pedal, you can see a plate with two holes. That was screwed to the back of the dash and is the front plate. If you follow it back, just under the hose is the bolt that secures it to the back plate.

There is one either end like this, and these, and the one around the steering columb are all that secured my dash to the car.

Undo them and it is quite easy to make room to get behind it ... still helps if you are a contortionist though

Grahame

[gilbern1]

Wow. Wasn't expecting as much feedback.
Thanks to you all for your help.
I will attack it when I get more time to myself and let you know what I find.

[Reddi-Eng]

Wow. Wasn't expecting as much feedback.

The value of the Forum Strikes again.