Where is it? How is it removed? These older dashboards seem to be like one huge piece. I have an OLD, OLD Motor Shop Manual from 1967-1973 but I d have to dig it out and I wanna see if you old fogeys know. I thought I read somewhere about cutting into the fender panel but that seems cumbersome and sloppy.

Another Q:
Guy has to get an AC compressor also, the clutch broke. All most of these GM AC compressor interchangeable? On the mounting? I m guessing so, because they must have had at least 20 of these things in use on different models.

 

Can you not pull it from the firewall? There is a plenum under the dash (no need to remove dash) but you have to be "flexible" to get to it, trace it down via the heater hoses. The last one I did was under the dash in my Olds. The ones prior to that was 35 years ago.

 

I had an 80s Grand Marquis that required you to pull all the screws from the plenum up top. and then there were 3 bolts on the bottom of the dash. Remove those bolts and full the dash away from the firewall.. Then you could take off the top of the heater core box by dropping the door on the glove box.

I wrote a thread here on how to do it in the newer cars based on how I did it on my Cadillac W body. SO I think all the GM W Body, mid 90s should be the same way. But 1966 is different. Especially with the lock cylinder on the dash not the steering cluster.

 

You have to loosen the passenger side inner front fenderwell and pull it forward and down to remove the cover on the firewall. Yeah, seriously, a definite PITA and I still bear the scars. The shadetree method back in the day for "beaters" was to cut an access panel on 3 sides, bend it out of the way to access the bolts and beat it back in place when you were done or to cut it out completely and screw a piece of tin over the hole and spray it with undercoating. I'm not trying to be funny, that is really what was done on thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, 50's, 60's and 70's GM cars.

 

Gets kinda dicey if you have air. Is there a/c in the car?

 

yea, it has factory air, which itself doesnt work, but it is plumbed for air.

 

A '66 with "factory" AC was rare, lots of them had GM Frigidaire "add on" AC with a unit that hung under the dash though. If your's is the factory in dash AC it's worth getting it functional again. Heck the dealer installed under dash units are worth getting fixed.

My oldest Sister and Bro-In-Law bought a new '66 Impala SS with the under dash AC. It was a Turquoise Met. on Turquoise 327/250HP; PG and no PS or PB. That was big deal having an air conditioned car back then.