To get the instrument panel out first take out the screws holding on the outer trim piece that also holds the gauge brightness and wiper speed dials. Then shimmy it out a little bit and disattach the wiring from those dials. Pull that piece all the way out (I took off the plastic on top of my steering wheel column around the hazard flasher too). Then you have 4 screws that take off the actual instrument panel. Shimmy it out a little bit and reach behind to unhook the speedo cable. It should just pull off. Then pinch or pry the tab off the wiring and disconnect that from the instrument panel. Last but not least is the hose to the boost gauge, that I had to pry off with a screwdriver.
My cars a 1988, so I have the gas anti-slosh board. Thats what that board on the top left is with all the wires. Some people take it off if their gas gauge isn't working very well, and have reported that it helps. Other's put in new capacitors. It's held on with velcro. Mine works fine, so I left it.
1) Remove the 5 perimeter screws and loosen two of the bolts circled in green. These hold the tach/boost gauge panel to the rest of the instrument panel. Then hold the tach panel as you undo the last bolt. If you're using the slosh board, make sure you remember where the wire went to.
2) Pick off your needles and remember where they were. Be careful, they come off hard and I wouldn't pry them with anything because you might bend the teeny shaft. Be smart.
3)You'll want to take off the two screws circled in red. These hold the face of the panel. Then undo the bolt holding on the boost thingy.
4)This photo doesnt really show it but this board is held in by three tabs. I took it out by gently prying on one of the upper tabs at a time with a screwdriver and lifting the board up at the same time.
5)Flipping the board over look for any loose connections. It seems like the most common one is this red wire, as you can see in the picture. All I did was hit it with a soldering iron and added a little bit of solder and voila. Good as new.
Reverse is the opposite of assembly. Just remember to put your needles where they were.
Also, I believe this is the potentiometer many people have talked about giving them success with their tachometer. Some say to work it back and forth a little bit, then set it back to its original setting. Mine had some kind of weird glue on it.
After doing this I had full function of my tach back. All you need is a soldering iron and a little solder on hand just to be safe. I touched up some of the other connections while I was in there too.
Comparing the stock tach to my Autometer, when it is perfectly calibrated they are dead equal while cruising/slowly accelerating, but if I rev it fast or floor it the stock tach will spike a lot higher than the Autometer, and it won't return as fast. So the stock tach is fine for cruising but I'm still going to keep my Autometer around.
Feel free to post back with any other tach/boost gauge/instrument panel info, or if I made any errors, but please keep it on topic!!
