Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Dash removal

Hi keitha,
I am restoring a 1985 4/4 so your car could well be similar.
Removing the dash is tricky so unless you are experienced i would not remove it.
Removing the windscreen has hidden pitfalls,I ended up damaging my windscreen and having to buy another.
In short do as much as you can with everything in place.
Sorry but that is my experience.....
philb

If it's anything like the 4/4 of an earlier vintage from memory it goes something like this:

For the dashboard:

Remove the steering wheel then unscrew the oil line to the pressure gauge and the speedo drive. Undo the two screws at either end of the dashboard. Gently lift the dashboard over the steering column. You may need to open the doors to achieve this. Although the dashboard will still be attached via the electrics it should be possible to rest it on the seats.

For the windscreen:

Remove the three bolts from the pillars either side of the windscreen and remove it. If you need to undo the bolts that retain the pillars to the body and remove them.

It's probably an idea to have an assistant handy for both jobs although I've done both by myself many times.

When I did this on the Sprint Car we labelled everything both ends, then took a lot of photo's for reference.

these pics may help:

Thanks for the tips. I probably only need to move the dash away from the leather top and mask it. I let everyone know how i get on.

Cheers

A watch point when removing the windscreen. The two bolts securing the windscreen to each upright are of different lengths. The lower one is longer, refit them the wrong way round and you will crack the screen.

If you decide to remove the brackets completely (I don't think it is needed for what you want to do) take care as it is easy to cross thread into the very soft ali. After some thought I decided to Helicoil all of mine.

Brian

Just a warning for owners of circa 1984 4/4s with twin cortina column control stalks . The dashboard will not just lift out after removing the two screws. Mine was jammed in by the column stalks . These must be removed first so dashboard can be lifted out. Two screws to the right of the column release the left hand stalk. This reveals two allen key bolts on teh left which hold the rhd stalk

Another watch point with the dash is that if you have a glovebox, it may not be sufficient to just undo the end screws on the dash. My glovebox is supported at the rear by a plate screwed to the scuttle, and has three small screws holding the glovebox to the rear of the dash panel.

The dash removal sequence on my 1986 car is:

1. Remove steering wheel
2. Remove speedo
3. undo 3 screws holding column shroud to dash
4. Undo 2 bolts holding upper steering column to scuttle
5. Undo 3 screws holding glovebox to rear of dash
6. Undo the end screws
7. Pull the dash forward and disconnect the remaining instruments

My dash top roll was very knackered, and about 12 years ago I took it off to refurbish it. Once it was off, I decided the car looked better without it, so I never bothered to replace it.