'78 Instrument panel lighting

The high beam indicator and the right turn signal indicator on my '78 do not illuminate. It get embarassing to have oncoming traffic blast me with their high beams. Does anyone have ay hints for easy access to these little bulbs, if indeed the culprit is burned out bulbs. At 6'2" and 220 lbs it is a pain in the butt to even think of crawling under the dash.

Does anyone have any hints to make access down there easier?

Dave Westerman
Nashville, TN

I'm not sure if the 78 is the same as the 68, but I can take the top dash off & reach my hand down to grab the lights. It's not hard just a few screws & some careful pulling & twisting. Going in from the bottom is almost impossible.
Alan

Just be sure the dash is warm. To remove the top pad requires flexing it a bit. Cold ones will crack.

I just checked and it looks like the top of the '768 dash does not come off, looks to be the complete dash is in one piece... Nuts!! Might just have to live with it...

Dave

Pretty sure you need to go in from the front. Lower the steering column slightly and you need to pull the speedo/tach cluster. Bulb is in the printed circuit.
Dash pads in the 78s up are different from the early years.
Look up tach repair in the forums and I know there are some good explanations for removal, but the hardest part is probably getting to the speedometer cable to release it.
Mike

The 78 instrument panel is all one piece. you have to remove almost everything to get it out. Haynes has a whole page on it in chapter 11 section 12.

Taking the cluster out in a '78 isn't tough...you just have to be careful. Take the small retaining piece out from under the steering column so it can be moved down a bit, take the cluster bezel screws out and remove the clear bezel, then the screws that hold the cluster itself. Pull it carefully out enough to get your hand behind and disconnect the speedometer cable. After that the whole cluster should be able to remove by angling it out from behind the steering wheel.

One suggestion...change all the light bulbs in the back of the cluster...they're all the same age so do it now rather than have to repeat the whole process.

that goes for just about everything on an old Vette,once youve got it apart,replace everything that might go bad.bulbs ,fuses,wires ,screws,cables,bodies,frames,motors,transmissions,ah well ,you get the point.A Corvette is just a bottomless,Fiberglass hole into which you pour endless amounts of money into,just for the thrill of being able too say you have one

Well.... That doesn't sound all that bad, and you can bet I will replace everything that's replaceable.

Thanks for the info!!

Dave