Dash Removal On a 77 Continental

[traxxasislife]

Since I already typed this in a PM for ReelXlincoln, I figured I should post this as well to help anyone else attempting to remove the radio on the 77 Continental and other years that use the same dash.

1) Remove the three plastic panels under the lip on the dash pad. Also remove the triangle looking metal pieces on the sides of the dash.

Remove the plastic under the dash pad lip

Left Side

Right Side

2) there are 4 bolts that hold the top dash pad in place. They're gold bolts, 1/4". They're a bit of a pain to remove, just be patient. Also, the controller for the passenger side mirror must be unbolted.

Dash Pad Bolt #1

Dash Pad Bolt #2 and Passenger Mirror Control

Dash Pad Bolt #3

Dash Pad Bolt #4

3) Put the steering wheel all the way down, then pull the dash pad towards you. Just wiggle it off, it's not too difficult. HOWEVER, when you do this, chances are the insulation between the dashboard and the pad is disintegrated. When you pull it out it will get everywhere. It's probably not good to breath it either.

4) Now that you have the Dash Pad out of the car, it is time to remove the section of the dash around the steering wheel. Remove the insert under the steering column first, then undo the 5 bolts on the bottom. There are also two nuts that hold this piece on, located behind the dash on the right side of the piece. After removing all the screws and nuts, it should feel like it can swing away from the dash. It is clipped in at the top so after you remove the screws, just pull it down and out and apply pressure to the top of it and it should pop off.

Steering column

Screws to the left of the steering column

Screws to the right of the steering column (ignore the bass knob)

Location of the screws behind the dash

A better view of the screw locations in relation to the trim piece

5) Now remove the trim piece around the radio. Pull the knobs off of the radio and remover the ash tray. Push down the metal leg of the ashtray so you can pull it all the way out. It helps to remove the inside cover of the ash tray as well. Also remove the inside of the glovebox. There are two nuts holding the piece in from behind like on the driver's side trim. After removing these 2 nuts, and the obvious screws, this piece will come off. Once removed, you are left with the radio mount. It's three bolts holding the bracket in on the front and then I think one more on the top but I'm not sure.

The backside nuts that hold the trim piece on

After you do what you need to, simply do all the steps in the reverse order. It's not particularly difficult to disassemble the dash, but it is somewhat tedious. Take your time and be patient.

[ReelXlincoln]

wow, what an awesome explanation, and super manual of getting to the radio.
I will start on the job coming saturday, cant wait
Hope I can get to all the wiring, I was told that the previous dutch owner just "cut"the wires
so I will come up with some pics with that probably, and hope for some more good tips
wow, I am happy now
thanks a lot man!

[traxxasislife]

Sure thing! These things get less intimidating the more you work on them.

[ReelXlincoln]

Hello Traxxasislife and all lincoln lovers and experts,
the dashboard removal of a 1977 Lincoln went smooth due to the fine foto explanation of traxxasislife.
But now I am stuck.
I have a brand new looking original Ford/ Motorola quad 8track am/FM radio, but I can not get it to work.
does anyone know if it has to be attached to a ground (chassis), it only says negative ground, so In europe it does not need the chassis.
I just hook players up to a standard 12volts battery normally but know nothing is moving, and the player has a new belt

Does anyone from the forum has fotos of how their similar 8track is wired to the battery and speakers,
I do not have a manual of th eplayer or of the service /shop manual. Can I obtain that anywhere in digital form?

I hope to hear some from you guys

thanks upfront

[Dan Szwarc]

the plus wire (black) has some sort of coil and not a standard fuse, or is it a fuse?

That's called a choke. Another name for a choke is an inductor and acts as a noise filter.

[Dan Szwarc]

I also made this a sticky.

[ReelXlincoln]

thanks dan for the quick reply, I have donated 20usd just yet through paypal.
ordered the shop manual of 1977 of course.
How do I get it usually> I had a plan to try some more tomorrow (yes, on sunday this time)
so I was hoping tio be able to check the data soon
thanks a lot

[ReelXlincoln]

oh forgot to mention:
How do I hook the standard ford / motorola 8track player to a battery? no ground needed, only plus and minus?
than my player is dead
Only thing I can try then is to attache an antenna to check if the radio part does work....but I am huge 8track fanatic so that will not be enough for me
thanks

[Dan Szwarc]

Check your PMs, Reel.

[Steve K]

Confused by your description of + and -. The radio/tape deck will need a ground. It is typically grounded to the metal dash of the car where it bolts to it when installed. How certain are you that this radio/tape deck worked before you got it? It might make sense and save you some time standing on your head to bench test it. You can just use a battery with the positive lead going to the fused lead to the radio and the negative lead from the battery going to the case of the radio or, as is sometimes there, a peg for the ground wire or where the case bolts to the dash. You should get power to the head unit that way and be able to run the tape. Of course you will have to rig up a pair of speakers to test sound output but if you have a dead radio, it would be very frustrating to spend a ton of time getting it all properly installed only to find it does not work.

If the leads to the speakers are long enough, you may be able to plug those in and do your testing on the transmission hump with some test leads from a 12 v source like the cigar lighter lead. Remember, your car's harness will have separate 12 volt leads - 1 will be switched by the ignition switch in both the on and ACC position and another will be switched from the instrument light switch for the dial light.

Bottom line, I'd want to hear sound from radio and tape before I got everything nicely installed and wires all tucked away. Hopefully the radio still has it's connector that matches up with the one in the car. If someone has cut those wires, you'll have further snipe hunting to do to find what's what.

[ReelXlincoln]

thankx Chad, In europe it is normally grounded by the minus wire(negative)
the old owner said the radio had played before, but he installed a brand new cd-player under the dash, so for me it is hard to say
which are the original wires from the original 8track ford player.
But indeed like you say I must first be able to get the player to work with a separate battery
But I am still not sure how to ground the player when I already have a positive and negative wire connected to the battery
Is that not enough to play??
Ofcourse the player can also be broken, but it looks like hardly used, has a brand new v-shape belt (the best method there is)
so I still believe in this player, but can not seem to get any voltage on it
If anyone knows more, I can test more ?
thanks

[linkhays]

OK, what gives here? I have a 77 Continental and this is not the same dash as mine.

[John Mc]

All 1975-1977 Continentals had the same dash as shown above. The big change came in 1978 with a design that closely mimics the Ford and Mercury dashboards.

[Dan Szwarc]

OK, what gives here? I have a 77 Continental and this is not the same dash as mine.

It’s because you have a Mark V, not a Continental.

Here’s a long, old thread about Marks, Continentals, Lincolns, and Ford.

CONTINENTAL MARKS MUST NOT BE CLASSIFIED AS LINCOLNS

I even bumped it for all to see.

[Lee]

Seriously? 20 pages???