Instrument Panel

The instrument panel is a plastic shell reinforced with a metal frame. It consists of three major areas -- the LH instrument panel, the center accessory panel, and the RH instrument panel.

The LH instrument panel houses various driver-operated switches in addition to the instrument cluster and instrument cluster bezel. The fuse panel and a radio speaker grille are located to the left of the steering column.

The center accessory panel contains the heater control panel, radio, cigar lighter, and ashtray.

The RH instrument panel contains the swing-down glove box and a radio speaker grille.


Instrument Panel and Console -- Exploded View

The instrument panel is secured to the dash panel by seven bolts and two nuts. The three bolts at the top and one at each end are concealed behind snap-in trim inserts. The remaining two bolts secure the instrument panel mounting bracket at the center below the ashtray. The two nuts secure the ends of the panel to body brackets welded to the cowl panels. The instrument panel wiring harness terminates with two connectors which join the body wiring harness on the far left side, behind the air discharge louver.

The cigar lighter is located in the center accessory panel, below the radio, to the left of the front ashtray.

In addition to the front ashtray, an ashtray for use by the rear-seat occupants is located in the rear of the parking brake console.

The cigar lighter element has a low-resistance heating coil which operates similarly to the coil in a portable heater. When the cigar lighter is pushed in, an electric circuit is completed and current flows through the cigar lighter coil to ground, generating heat in the coil. The cigar lighter is held in the closed-circuit position by the spring tension of retaining fingers. When the coil heat reaches a preset limit, the expansion of the heating coil overcomes the spring tension of the retaining fingers, and the cigar lighter pops out of the retaining fingers.