Instrument Panel Removal

I need to put a new bulb in my alternator idiot light (69 Jeepster Commando) and can’t find a resource for removing the instrument panel to access the back. Unscrew it from the back or pop the trim out from the front or other? I searched the forum already and found information about the dashboard, but not the instrument panel, but I may not have the right search words.
Thanks in advance.

 

The instrument cluster is held in by pressure provided by two metal clips on the top and the bottom (if I remember correctly they are about 1/4 of the way in from each side). If you can reach the bottom ones push them up and then slide it out bottom first. Then you can access the lightbulbs. If your hand is small enough you might be able to reach the back of the bulb socket and turn it then pull out that bulb. Good luck.

 

Thank you. I was able to get the bottom edge up and remove the bulb. I couldn’t easily get the top edge off. Bulb is bad. Hopefully that solves the problem.

 

I used a putty knife with some masking tape on it to sneak in there and pop those clips loose.

 

The bulb was bad. I replaced the bulb and put in a new battery. Obviously started up right away because of new battery, but one very positive thing is that the voltage reading in the cigar lighter now gets up to 13.7 when I give a little gas. It was 11.7 before. The new bulb didn’t come on, but neither did the dash lights or left turn signal.

I think I need to pull out the instrument panel and check the connections in back. I know for sure that one of the bulb sockets is broken.

I also think the instrument panel dimmer is bad. I took it out and couldn’t get any resistance across the two connections. I jumped the two wires attached at the back of the dimmer and it still didn’t work. Head scratcher…

 

To tell you the truth, I was rebuilding the original cluster in mine so much that I finally removed the clips and built up thin strips of gorilla tape on the top and bottom so that I could work it into place. Then pull on the speedometer cable on the engine side of the firewall to seat the cluster. I've replaced the circuit board, new wiring pigtail, rebuilt the speedo a couple of time (needle would bounce wildly above 20 mph) and repainted the face of it. I finally scored an NOS speedometer section that was still in the box, it is in KPH (Canadian version) and I left it like that.

Yes there is an overlay in MPH I could put on it but the "mileage" would still be in kilometers. I just have to remember to times the first number (or 2) of the speed by 6 to get my MPH (20 KPH= 12 MPH, 100 KPH= 60 MPH), it's not like I'm going to outrun anyone in it anyway. When my friend drove it the other day to a show while I drove my CJ5 as soon as we got there he couldn't apologize enough because he thought he was doing 100 mph on the short stretch of freeway we were on. I was laughing my *** off until I told him what was up.

 

I did the same thing on mine, bought a NOS speedo in KPH. I put the new mph face on it.

 

When I drove it home from the beach, I had no instrument lights, so i used tire noise to estimate speed!

 

As long as I keep up with traffic I really don't look at my speed.

 

Just to wrap up the thread, getting the instrument panel out was a little bit of a pain because last 1-2 tabs got more difficult to clear after I released the first 2-4 tabs. Ultimately, I got it out. The pin to the instrument panel lights was broken and the left turn signal pin had been broken and was repaired, but loose.

I read about how to repair the circuit board, but $50 for a new one seemed like a good deal, and probably an upgrade in quality. The rebuild was about 8 minutes.

It was a little tough to reinstall the wire harness. I really wanted to make sure I didn’t break a pin!

I recommend that you buy all new sockets or at least have several new ones on hand when you rebuild the instrument panel. The ones from Napa that say they work with a 67 jeepster do NOT fit.

 

I corrected the typo.
I’m not sure what other pic you want? This shows the clips at the top of the cluster. There is a matching pair on the bottom.

edit: I just got the joke!

 

Yes, it is a PIA. Thankfully my speedometer and temperature gauges and all lights work. Fuel auge is another issue, when I rewire the entire rig I'll figure that one out. If my cluster ever craps out again I'm just going to get this one from Dakota Digital (it looks like a modern take on the stock cluster): https://www.dakotadigital.com/index...id=1330/category_id=410/mode=prod/prd1330.htm

 

That looks nice but holy $$$$$$$$

 

Yes, it ain't cheap but I look at it as having gauges for everything: oil pressure, volts, tach and not just idiot lights.

 

That's a serious piece of equipment, a lot more than the speedhut speedo I was considering for my CJ5. The dakota has a speedo up to 120 MPH, tach up to 8K, and a computer that will calculate 0-60 time, 1/4 mile time, etc.

I personally like the look of the sweep speedo in the commando. If I were to add more instruments I would probably sneak them down below the dash where an AC would go.

 

Personally, I don't even want to know those figures for my Jeep, but to each their own.

I s'pose there a lot of engine-swapped Jeeps out there that won't be utterly disappoint their drivers when it comes to speed...

Not that I'm complaining about my Dauntless, mind you. I absolutely love this engine, I just don't want concrete evidence of how slow it is.