The dash is complete

I finally finished the dash this weekend. I repainted the top of dash, and began putting the thing back together and I got to thinking: when will I have this dash apart this much again?

I decided I had better top-coat the rest while I was this far in. I removed the rest of the dash parts and wiring and cleaned the front pad with lacquer thinner. I also wiped the glove box cover down, but don't use lacquer thinner for this, it is made of ABS and the thinner will attack it. I used hot soapy water for this. I sprayed it with a vinyl paint. A couple of light coats was all it took. I am really happy with how it turned out.


While I had the rest of the instrument panel out, I decided to fix the crack in the top pad as well.  I had a leather/vinyl patch kit from long ago, so I thought I would give it a shot.  First I cleaned the top pad with lacquer thinner and let it dry thoroughly.  Then I patched it up according to the instructions.  It looked pretty good.  I then put a top coat on this pad as well.  This made the glosses even and also made it match the rest of the newly painted dash parts.  It's not perfect, but it sure looks better than that nasty looking crack/split.  I am sure if one was willing to put in several hours to make it really perfect, it would be possible to make it look even better.  It's good enough for now.

 I re-installed everything I took apart and cleaned under the dash as well. Even the back side of the dash parts are clean now!
I re-glued the cracks I had in the fiber/wood glove box and that will be reinstalled as soon as it dries. Maybe tonight.
After a quick ride to be sure everything was working correctly, I decided it was time to pull that engine to check torques and completeness of re-assembly (see previous post) I put it up on jack stands and removed the rear bumper and battery so far. Let the engine work begin.

Washer Hose Replacement

Test

I spent an hour or so removing the top of dash from the bus tonight.  I needed to replace the hoses that feed the windshield washers.  They were old and cracked and were leaking water all over the fuse block!  I could not figure out how I was going to do this without removing the dash, so I just gave up and started removing parts.  There were 8 screws along the windshield that were covered with plastic caps, There were 6 nuts along the rear edge of the top of dash panel, There were two additional nuts holding the grab handle in place.  To get to these screws, I had to take out the glove box, loosen the instrument cluster and lay it against the steering wheel, I then had to remove the sheet metal heater tube covers on both sides.  this let me remove the heat/demist ducts that feed the outer top vents.  This let me get to the two nuts on the outboard edge of the top of dash panel.  It's hard to see these, you just have to feel for them.  I then removed the wiper arms, wiper assy mounting nuts, and the single wiper assy mounting bolt under the dash.  This let me pull the wiper assy rearward so I could get to the hose that feeds the drivers side at the spray nozzle.  This all sounds much worse than it really is.  Not knowing what I was doing, it took about an hour to get everything out.  It will be quite easy to replace the hoses now.  I picked the new hoses up today at Auto Zone for about $15.  that should be enough to do the whole job.  With the top of dash removed, I can sand an repaint the escutcheons and the top of dash also.  They really needed it. 
It may be possible to do this job without removing the top of dash, but I bet it would be a real pain in the butt.

I didn't realize, when I bought the bus, how the windshield washer system worked in a bus.  There is a tank behind the dash panel that you fill with washer fluid.  So far so good.  The deal is that it works best if you fill it just a bit past half full.  The reason for that is that you need to leave room for the air!  Thats right, you need to pump up this little bottle with a tire pump or an air compressor to about 35 lbs ish.   I think is says no more that 43psi or something.  This puts the whole system under pressure and when you push ther wash button, which turns out to be nothing more than a valve, the fluid squirts out onto the glass.   Works great as long as there are no leaks.  My new repair job was still pressurized this morning!  I will keep checking over the next few days to see how long it stays pressurized!