Wiper, Headlight and Heater Switch Removal

geordie · Jun 19, 2007

I'm stripping down the dash on my '65 Coupe in preparation for installation of a new Painless Wiring harness. Before I install the harness I'll prep and paint the dash.
I've got the ignition switch, the gauge cluster, the fuse box and the old harness out. How do I remove the, wiper switch, headlight switch and heater levers. Thanks in advance.

Dejavu · Jun 19, 2007

I went nuts twisting and pulling them till I found these directions
from another site I needed to use a Flat screwdriver to hold down the button

Headlight switch first, there is a button on the the switch, yes you will need to reach up and under the dash. It will be located on the right side of the switch, push it inand hold it in, while you pull on the knob, it will release the knob and shaft. The switch has a nut on the end of the shaft that goes thru the bezel. A large flat head screw driver will work to loosen it up.
Wiper switch, there is a small set screw holding knob to the shaft of the switch, loosen it and remove the knob. There is a nut that screws on the end of the switch, it goes thru the wiper bezel. Look for a plus sign. I have used both a pair of needle nose pliers and a pair of snap ring pliers to loosen this nut. You need to loosen and remove this nut.

Good luck

suki243 · Jun 19, 2007

OMG! I'm in the same situation, and I've been pulling twisting the whole time every time giving up. Thanks so much. how about the ignition switch? i got the cylinder out but not the rest, how to take the rest out?

btw how are you prepping it for paint? are u sanding the whole thing down or just painting over?

geordie · Jun 19, 2007

Thanks guys. I've just got my whole car back from paint a couple of weeks ago. At the time it was being painted I didn't ask the shop to do the dash because it looked ok and I had no money to replace the wiring. However, during the time it was in the shop I sold a few parts and scraped together enough money to buy the harness. Now I've got the car back, the dash looks tatty in comparison to the rest of the car. I did think about aerosol painting it but I'm too worried about over spray. I think I'm going to try the thinned Rustoleum and roller paint technique, per recent threads.

Any thoughts or comments....

geordie · Jun 19, 2007

suki243, I used the link below to help me with removing the ignition switch. It was easy, just take it easy turning the ignition key mine was a bit fiddly.

www.mustangmonthly.com/howto/173_0310_mustang_ign_switches/

suki243 · Jun 19, 2007

oic! yah i read that article before and tried it but i couldn't get it to work, but i read it again and tried again, but puished a little harder, it worked thanks.
So your using the roller method? I was thinking, to sand it down and i ordered teh 65 red paint from mustangs unlimited and i'm just gonna spray it slowly. I'm kinda scarred about the outside tho, cause I just got the exterior painted as well.

I wasn't able to afford a painless harness, I got an ez wiring harness, its practically teh same minus the connectors.

Did u figure out how to take out the heater switch?

geordie · Jun 19, 2007

suki243,
Sounds like we are both working the same project on our cars.
Tonight I'm going to try and remove the headlight and wiper switches, the glove box and the heater levers. I didn't get any feedback on the heater levers. Do you know how to remove them?

suki243 · Jun 19, 2007

yah it does sound like we're doing the same. Are you also putting in new carpet and sound dampening?

Scraping off the old glue from the carpet and old dampening is proving to be back breaking but i guess its the only way to do it. I'm using a wire brush but recently i learned that paint thinner + wire brush = amazing results. Now that i'm making some progress I believe i have surface rust, nothing super crazy, no holes, the under carriage seems to be ok but i dunno theres a lot of rust colored spots especially under the passenger side, last time i took the car to a car wash i sat inside and i saw water on the carpet I took off the heater core and all the factory insulation today and poured water into the cowl but nothing leaked through, when i looked up at the cowl however there was rust under there, but again only surface rust. Do you have suggestions on taking care of surface rust?

about the heater controls, I'm not sure, but after reading your post and since we're both confused, I put my head under the dash, and pulled myself up, and I found two 3/8 nuts, one on the top right and one behind the bottom middle of the chrome bezel, i'm guessing if you undo those two it'll come off, but i'm not sure i don't have a small enough ratchet to get there, I tried like 15 different sockets and it is a 3/8

Edit: I was able to get the ignition and lighting switch off, not the wiper yet.

Tim65GT · Jun 19, 2007

about the heater controls, I'm not sure, but after reading your post and since we're both confused, I put my head under the dash, and pulled myself up, and I found two 3/8 nuts, one on the top right and one behind the bottom middle of the chrome bezel, i'm guessing if you undo those two it'll come off, but i'm not sure i don't have a small enough ratchet to get there

IIRC I removed the ashtray slide bracket for easier access.

suki243 · Jun 20, 2007

how do u take out ash tray? sorry

DukeGnarley · Jun 20, 2007

you guys should seriously invest the couple extra bucks and get a shop manual reprint.

66 Restomod · Jun 20, 2007

Forget rolling the paint

Spray cans today usually have a nice fan spray nozzle and are quick and easy, for about $8 or less. You can buy a thin 10-12' clear plastic sheet from the hardware store for about $1. I wouldn't roll paint on the dash. Overspray is easy to avoid.

geordie · Jun 20, 2007

I removed the headlight and wiper switches last night per Dejavu's instructions. It's easy when you know how. Thanks.
I also removed the ash tray guides and stripped out the glove box and door. I was able to see the heater control attachment points and will probably remove that tonight.
After that the dash will be ready for prep and paint. Still undecided about spraying. I have done a lot of aerosol spray painting and I'm afraid that I am not convinced that despite the best of care I wont get over spray on my new body paint.

suki243 · Jun 23, 2007

were you able to remove them? i was finally able to remove em all, yah its so much easier when you actually know how to do it. thanks guys.

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