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Triumph TR6 - How to get the old dashboard knobs off & pics

I got a dashboard knob kit to replace my old ones with the markings rubbed off. How do you get the old knobs off? I pulled hard but they're on ther pretty good. Do I have to break them? Do I glue the new ones on? Thanks.

I'll try to import the images of my car. This is right after it rolled off the trailer. 1973 model.

http://home.texoma.net/%7Edonguess/index.htm

[IMG]http://home.texoma.net/%7Edonguess/TR6SIDE.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://home.texoma.net/%7Edonguess/TR6BACK.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://home.texoma.net/%7Edonguess/TR6inside.jpg[/IMG]
Kind of dirty.
D J Guess

[IMG]http://home.texoma.net/%7Edonguess/TR6SIDE.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://home.texoma.net/%7Edonguess/TR6BACK.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://home.texoma.net/%7Edonguess/TR6inside.jpg[/IMG]
D J Guess

[IMG]http://home.texoma.net/%7Edonguess/TR6SIDE.jpg [/IMG]
[IMG]http://home.texoma.net/%7Edonguess/TR6BACK.jpg [/IMG]
[IMG]http://home.texoma.net/%7Edonguess/TR6inside.jpg [/IMG]

D J Guess

Sorry, you'll have to cut and paste. Couldn't post the pic in the thread.
D J Guess

Don- Must be a TR6. There are the required wires hanging down from under the dash.
Don K.
DON KELLY

Don't know what all the links are about but all you need to do is depress the spring pins that you'll find on each knob (and not always in the same orientation), and pull them off - and better yet, the new ones you just push on and they snap into place. Peter G
Peter Gooch

Hello Don, this is my first post to this forum, hello everybody!
I had the same problem with the knobs until I found the little spring activated pin that need to be pressed in at the same time as you pull off the knob. Worked fine for all knobs but the "choke" where I have given up, seems to be some other design.

Goran..
Goran Wennergrund TR6PI-71

Thanks. I thought there must be some trick to it. I'll look for the spring pins.
D J Guess

DJ and Goran
Glad to see some new posters...welcome.

Sorry ot disagree Mr.Gooch but I think all "pushes" are in same orientation, as the knobs need to be all in the correct facing degree...with possibly the exception of the blowwer knob ( older style).
DJ one of the easier jobs on a TR. I used a small "L" shaped pointed tool. You will notice your new knobs have a hole in them. Find/get something that fits the hole and press it into the hole then pull on the knob. You will then see on the shaft of the controlled device a flat spring loaded pin which locks the knob in place. They can only go on and off in one orientation.
Rick C
Rick Crawford

Like Goran..I had no problem changing knobs except for the choke. Has anyone else had success changing it? mine dose not have a pin.
Peter Becker

Peter, in my attempt to get educated about this stuff, I read a lot of info on internet sites. I have a vague recollection of seeing an article that suggested you had to somehow glue it on. Actually, I have new choke cable and a new knob set, both of which were presents, that I haven't gotten around to. I can't remember if my new choke cable already has its own knob. I'll check and let you know. John
JL Bryan

Peter, the choke knob on my '69 has the spring pin just like the others. Perhaps some PO glued an aftermarket knob that had no pinhole onto the shaft on yours. If you take it off in pieces the shaft may still have the pin mechanism in place for a new knob to fit onto correctly. On the other hand, maybe an entirely different choke cable was fitted with the knob pre-attached. Sigh. If only these cars could talk.....

Tony
A. J. Koschinsky

Thank's John / Tony . It seems simple..If I cut the old one off and there is no pin I should be able to just glue the new one on.

Peter
Peter Becker

I have a 73 tr6 and I want to replace the dash & kick pads and refinish the teak dash. I am having a problem getting the windshield off , I have removed the three bolts from the top of the dash and the two nuts that hold the post below the dash but it will not move. I can not get the teak panel to come off because the tach and speedometer will not release it.
Doc

Hi Doc,
You will have to unscrew two knurled knobs on both the tach and speedo hold them via a tapered sleeve to the back of the dash. if you have a MOSS catalog look at the illustrations for the gauges and you will see what I mean (Behind the wood is a metal fascia).
I've never done it (yet) but I understand removing the windshield is a real pain in the $#%.
It takes a lot of work to break that seal after so many years.
Good luck
Charlie
Charlie Ballard

I recently replaced the center dash pad and heater cables. The choke knob came off, no problem. On the others, I could push the pin, but the knobs just would not release at all. I wound up taking a Dremel and cutting away material to remove the knobs. When doing this, I was careful not to screw up the shafts on the cables and switch and boy was I ever glad that they were not damaged. It turned out that the new heater cables had smaller hex sections than the old ones and the knobs would just slide off when pulled. The fix was to dismantle the old cables and remove the hex sections, then dismantle the new cables and reassemble using the old hex sections.

On the choke cables, the TR6 cable is a double cable with removable knob. The Spitfire and MGB choke cables are a single cable with a non-removable knob. If there is only one cable going to a carb and not two where a cable goes to each carb, odds are that someone used a Spitfire or MGB cable as a replacement. Easy way to tell late Spitfire from MGB one is that Spitfire knob is the same size and shape as the TR6, the MGB will either be round or a T handle.
SteveP

How is the dash light rheostat knob affixed to the spline on the 71 TR6?


The knob on my TR appears to be plastic on what appears to be an aluminum spline which when turned, turns the potentiometer pickoff in the rheostat switch. I’ve looked for a detent that might contain a spring holding the knob onto the spline. If there’s one there, I have not found it. I’ve tugged rather vigorously on the knob to see if it’s just pressed onto the spline. No luck and not wanting to break the knob, I’ve stopped pulling on it just shy of damage. I’ve tried turning the knob both clockwise and counterclockwise, thinking that it may be “screwed” onto the spline. Again, I stopped just short of damaging the knob. I’m at a loss as to how to remove the knob so that I can remove the wooden dash cover to refinish it. I see behind the dash that the rheostat housing has a metal bracket affixed by a screw on either side, and I suppose that I could get to that with a very small screwdriver and remove the bracket and then perhaps the entire device would come away with the wooden dash? All the other knobs, instruments etc appear to be set into the dash so that when the holding screws are removed it’ll just lift off over them.

Appreciate your thoughts, comments, directions. Thanks
Doug

Hi Doc

Sent a mail to you on how to get windshield off without damage. Sorry I did not see your question

Bill
Bill Brayford

Thought I would post this little tid bit to this thread for future reference.
I did the re and re of the dash for refinishing purposes.
After reinstalling the dash and trying to get my hands up under the dash to install/tighten the thumb screws on the 2 main gauges I found I had no ignition at all. I had horn, 4 way flashers, and head light flash...that was it. Out came the schematics and did some voltage readings. I determined I had a bad connection or non connection at the ammeter. So out comes the dash again. Sure enough the smaller brown wire to the ammeter was off. I guess I did not push it on hard enough.

Lesson and point: Before you do the final attachment of the dash check to see all is well electricly.
Rick C
Rick Crawford

Hey Rick,
Thanks. Sage advice from one who has been there. Way too often, I've had to disassemble something because alignment was wrong, left a part out etc. A checklist helps, but there's no substitute for a liberal dose of common sense.
db
D R Baker

Just removed all the knobs last night. I had problems with two of the knobs even after depressing the pin on the underside (one pin was located on the side of the knob)just wouldn't come off.

I took a heat gun to the knob to warm it a bit, the knobs came off very easily. Be carful not to overheat! This also worked on the dash light rheostat knob. Interestingly, after I got the rheostat knob off I noticed there was a pin located on the stem however there was no hole in the knob.

Best of luck
Joe
J. Caruana

R&R DASH - TR6

I am in the process of replacing the interior trim, carpet, seats, etc., in my 76 TR6. I need to replace the dash pad because of a rip. It appears that I will have to remove the entire windshield frame to R & R the dash pad. I have heard that is a major pain. Has anyone done this? If so, would you be willing to share the proper sequence and advise as to any special considerations? It would be great to know where the connecting bolts and fasteners are located, besides the three on the top of the dash. I would aslo like to know if there are any rerplacement parts that I should order (I assume I will need all new rubber seals). If there are any web sites or articles that describe how to do this, I would be grateful if someone could direct me. Thanks.
Mark Hauck

Mark
There is a past thread on removing the windscreen as it can be a PINB. I do not think it is necessary to fully remove the windscreen to do the dash pad. I am going from memory here so take that into consideration:) If you lift the windscreen up but not full out of the "sockets" then I think the dash pad can be pulled out. You obviously need to remove the defrost vents from below. The new dash pad has holes in it for the dash pad screws...if you put a slice in them maybe you can push it into place and then drop the windscreen back down. May be someone else has done this???
Rick C
Rick Crawford

Rick,

Thanks for your help. What you suggest makes a lot of sense. I will try the partial removal approach and see if I can get the new dash cover in place. I'll report back once I'm done.

Mark
Mark Hauck

Since I was chasing an answer about getting the rheostat knob off undamaged on two threads, for archives purposes and to close out the discussion, here's the last note on the rheostat knob...Jay Martin of Revington was correct...after a week of WD-40 soaking (#2 on list of 10 best tools of all time) and a very firm final tug, the knob literally popped off. The spring'ed detent in the spline may have been "frozen" with aluminum oxide from the spline, but it's freed up now and the knob came off undamaged. Lesson to be learned is patience and a liberal dose of WD-40 will out in the end:) Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, comments and suggestions.
D R Baker

If anyone is interested, I made a powerpoint file with images of new stickers for the dash knobs. Print it out onto an address label sheet, peel them off, cut them, and stick them on the old knobs, easy solution to cover old faded knobs and looks pretty good for free.
email me if you want me to send the file.
Austin

Austin Brown

This thread was discussed between 24/02/2004 and 02/06/2004

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