Escort Body Dashboard

Before carrying out this conversion, what is the condition of the original dashboard? If it's good then you may want to reconsider doing this as MK3 dashboards in good condition with no splits or distortion are rather rare to say the least! Most by now have suffered the effects of twenty odd years of sunlight and have splits emanating from the heater vents and binnacle surround. It would be a shame to spoil a nice one and loose some of the cars originality. I changed mine as, being a convertible, the dash was absolutely shot and finding a replacement was turning out to be rather difficult. I therefore fitted the dash and wiring loom from a MK4 shape Orion that I scrapped for parts.

If you are planning to go ahead with the MK4 dash conversion then I strongly recommend fitting the MK4 wiring loom as mentioned elsewhere on this site. This will make things a damn site easier and as you'll have the dashboards out of both cars, it won't be all that difficult to do. It also paves the way for a host of other future mods so at least go and have a look now.

What you'll need

You will need the following parts from a MK4 donor car:
Dashboard complete
Steering Column Outer Casing (tube with casting that all the switches bolt onto)
Steering Column Surrounds and switches/stalks
Steering Wheel (horn in wheel)
All heater ducting including windscreen demisting channels
Heater controls and fittings (or entire heater to make it easier)
Bracket above heater from bulkhead to dash
Brackets from base of heater to dash
2x Instrument cluster
Switch plugs from the MK4 loom (if you intend on retaining the MK3 vehicle loom)

In order to remove the steering column (and dash, see your Haynes manual) from the donor car you will need it's ignition key as you need to extract the ignition barrel in order to remove it. Make sure you have it before commencing or you will be wasting your time.
The heater unit is the same part between the two MK's of vehicle but the bracketry and controls are different between the two. As I had an entire donor car on my drive, I simply swapped the entire unit over, but if you cannot do this then simply remove all bracketry and controls and make a note of where the go.

All MK4 Escorts/Orions come with the same plastic moulded dashboard in either grey or blue. The separate darker glove box surround and lid is covered with a vinyl skin on higher spec models and is the one to go for. This part can be fitted to any dashboard so if the plastic dash that it's fitted to has had unsightly holes drilled into it for a phone holder or alarm etc. then you can remove it and fit it to the dash from a lower spec car.

Preparation
Right then, starting with your car. If you haven't already done so, remove the steering column outer casing, dashboard (a bit obvious) and all heater ducting and controls. If the original dash is in good condition then store it safely and look after it, it's worth money!

You should now be left with a fairly bare bulkhead. Along the top of the bulkhead you'll find two angled brackets that the old dash clipped on to, these are no longer required and will obstruct the new dash. Simply cut them back close to the bulkhead as shown.

The next job is to offer up the new dash into position. Now if you are carrying out this conversion to a cabriolet as I did, then you will find that the bottom corners of the dash foul on the revised kick panels that the front speakers mount into. Simply trim the corners of the dash away with a file till it fits. Don't forget to allow for the thickness of the trim panels if there not fitted.

Get two friends to hold the dashboard in position in the car (use the side securing screw holes and the captive nuts in the 'A' posts as a guide to help) and with a bit of paint, mark the positions of the three top mounting holes onto the bulkhead. Remove the dash and drill 3 pilot holes through the bulkhead at these marked positions of a suitable size for self tapping screws large enough to secure the dash in place. (see above pic)

Vent Ducts & Support Bracket
Refit the dash and secure in place with the mounting screws but don't over tighten the self tappers as it will be coming off again a few more times yet. Offer the pressed steel bracket into position above the heater unit and in position in the dash and mark out onto the bulkhead sound insulation the location of the mounting feet. Remove and cut away the insulation to reveal the bulkhead. Refit the bracket and mark out onto the bulkhead the position of the mounting holes. Whilst the dash is in place, offer up the two MK4 side air vents and mark the positions for there mounting hole onto the 'A' posts. Remove the dash and drill the marked hole positions. The side vent mounting holes need to be drilled to accept suitable self tappers but the pressed steel brackets holes in the bulkhead need to be drilled to the same size as those in the bracket. Secure the bracket to the bulkhead with nuts and bolts. You will need to gain access to the engine side of the bulk head and may have to remove the heater fan and shroud. Secure the side vents to the 'A' posts with self tappers and plumb them into the heater box.

With the dashboard still removed from the vehicle, retrieve the windscreen demisting heater channels and cut off the lugs used for mounting them to the bulkhead. Obtain some small self tapping screws and drill 6 evenly spaced clearance holes on each of the channels for these screws to fit in to. Hold the channels in position on the inside of the dashboard and drill 6 corresponding pilot holes in the bulkhead of a suitable size for the self tappers. The dash is double skinned here so you wont have screw ends protruding through the top of the dash (unless you use long screws or drill too hard!) Screw the channels directly onto the dash and apply a bead of sealant around the seams and joins. Better than the original!

Now you need to either build up the heater unit with your new controls and brackets or if you have the whole unit, swap it across. As I swapped the whole unit across on my car I have no pictures or tips for swapping the gear over onto a MK3 heater.

Refit the dash and check that all is well.

Speedo Drive
The next job is the speedo drive. Due to the revised layout of the later instrument cluster, the speedo cable will no longer line up with the speedo and trying to make it fit will simply put too sharp a bend in it and it won't work. (trust me, I know!) Therefore, a new hole has to be made in the bulkhead to re-route it. This is where the extra instrument cluster comes in!
Strip the cluster down until you have the basic shell. Destroy the speedo but retain the drive connection and mounting casting. Remove the centre rotating portion from this. This is going to be your drill guide! With a bit of tactical abuse to the plastic casing with a hacksaw you should end up with something like this:

Fit the 'modified' cluster to the dash with all four mounting screws to help ensure correct location and alignment. Insert a suitable diameter rod with a dab of paint on it's end through the speedo drive until it contacts the steering column support bracket. You should find that it contacts an area stamped with apart number. Remove the dash and drill a hole at this position. You'll then want to open the hole up into an oval as shown below.

Refit the dash and re-insert the rod (with a fresh dab of paint) through the speedo drive and hopefully through the hole in the support bracket you've just drilled until it contacts the bulkhead. Remove the dash again and also the column support bracket. Drill another hole straight through the bulkhead of a suitable size for the speedo cable to pass through and a rubber grommet. Restore the paint finish to the holes edges and refit the support bracket.

Now the speedo cable needs to receive a little attention. Remove the inner cable completely and at the middle of the outers straightest run, cut the outer in two. withdraw the instrument end of the outer and feed it back through the new holes in the support bracket and the bulkhead. Disconnect the other half of the cable so as to give you better access and rejoin the two halves by sliding a snug fitting piece of plastic tubing over the ends. To make the join look more professional, cover the join in a piece of heat shrink or failing that, black insulation tape.

Final Assembly
If you are being sensible and have converted to the MK4 loom, then you are now pretty much ready for final assembly. If however you are still using the MK3 loom, then you will need to cut off all your plugs and solder on the plugs from the MK4 loom. You should find that all the colour coding is the same so it shouldn't cause a major headache.

Before finally re-fitting the dash, paint the very top portion of the bulkhead (about an inch) with black paint to stop any unsightly body colour showing through and lay a strip of foam draught excluder along the edge as available from DIY stores for household windows. This is to replace the factory fitted stuff that stops any annoying rattles or squeaks. You will have to re-route the wiring loom across the bulkhead as in it's normal position it will now foul the windscreen demister channels. Simply hang them lower down the bulkhead on string attached to the original (but now flattened) loom retainers. This may sound like a bit of a bodge but it isn't, It's a method employed a lot in the aircraft industry.
Finally fit the dash (remembering the side screws in the 'A'posts), steering column, new cluster and all the wiring and speedo. Fit the steering column shrouds, apply some protective sealant to the protruding screw ends on the engine side of the bulkhead from the top three securing screws to prevent corrosion and fit the steering wheel and that's it. Job done!

The contents of this website are purely a reflection of my own experiences and knowledge gained whilst working on my various projects. Anything you do based on what you have read here is done so entirely at your own risk.
Personally I wouldn't trust someone like me with a lawn mower! You have been warned! Flapper-bat!

Escort Upgrades - Mk3 to Mk4 Dashboard Conversion