Later dash in early Mk1 Golf

:dontknow: Does anyone know if the Later Mk1 dash will fit in the early cars without much modification? There's nothing wrong with the dash in my 78 diesel. It's just a)  There's no temperature gauge, and b) :x  there are loads of electrical faults on it. Besides, 8)  I think the later dash would look much nicer without effecting the classic look of the car too much.

Noooooooo.

Tallpete,

Is that a "no, it won't fit", or a "no don't do it, you'll ruin your series one car"?

B/M,

I think it would spoil the car, whether it fits easily or not - you can fit a separate temp gauge if you want…

Type17 said

Tallpete,

Is that a "no, it won't fit", or a "no don't do it, you'll ruin your series one car"?

I'm guessing the latter!

G'day.

It would be nice to keep the car as original as possible. But of course it's your car and you have to live with it. By the "later Mk1 dash" do you mean the two-instrument type with big clock, speedo and temp and fuel gauges set in them? As far as I know these were the only ones imported into Oz. Here you need a temp gauge more than a pair of underpants! If the car were mine, I would put this type of dash into it. But then, mine's already that type! I would love to replace my clock with a tacho (how can you drive a diesel without a tacho???).

I think that's the one Pete. Does it have all the warning lamps in a cluster in the middle? If so you could get the clocks from the GTi with the tachometer in it. I think it would go straight in.

  I think that's the one Pete. Does it have all the warning lamps in a cluster in the middle? If so you could get the clocks from the GTi with the tachometer in it. I think it would go straight in.

Only problem is the Tacho wont work on his diesel though, you need to find yourself an alternator with a 'W' terminal then you can run a signal converter for the tacho which are readily availble.

There is also this method. http://www.4crawler.co…ks/Tachometer/index.shtml

Which is a little more involved.

Sorry I know that went a tad off topic  ops:

No, that dash never came to Oz. We had the same one that the Yanks got. It's easily recognisable as it has conical lenses over the clock and speedo. Some Caddies in the US had a tacho. I believe it ran off the "W" terminal on the alternator. My alternator doesn't have one. Ive read the "Cheap tricks: article. Pretty interesting. If I get time today I'll take a digital and put it on our website for you to look at. OR….How do you upload pics directly to posts on this website?

gld,

upload your pics to photobucket.com and then link directly into you post using the image tags

There's a Aussie Mk1 for sale on ebay. The photos (including on of the dash) can be found at http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=72456&item=4543384900&rd=1
Some idiot has converted it from diesel to petrol. Apart from that, it looks a nice car. My first diesel Golf…wish I still had it!…. was identical, but a '90 model. Love the Mars red.

That pic looks like an early euro spec dash to me although never seen one in silver (platinum - gold, or black I have seen). The later euro spec dash is completely different - all instruments combined in a square cluster and dash made out of a 'soft' vinyl/board combo as opposed to the hard plastic of the earlier dashes. The US spec dashes I've seen have been different again, but more like the later euro spec items. Lurid colours such as red, burgundy, blue more common on US spec as well ………
Cheers,
Mark

 Will somebody PLEASE answer my query?

The answer is …………. yes it will fit

Ideally you'll need dash loom and all airvent pipework, brackets and so on. Not sure but you might need to use the later speedo cable too (?)

Cheers,

Mark

A guy (and enthusiast) in Sydney has a MK1 with a MK2 dash fitted. Not sure if he did it himself, but he may have. Try him anyway.

matthewjiwhite@hotmail.com

Thnks for that Mark.

Would the heater controls mate up alright then if only the ducting needs to be changed?

Not 100% sure on that one. I'd get the dash, hoses, loom, brackets and controls (the lot !) from a breaker to be sure if I were you. It will go in though.

Cheers,

Mark

The later dash will fit. The hardest part is fitting the heater controls and clocks. You cant fit a tacho because it needs a dissy coil to run. On diesels you have run the tacho of your alternator.

If you have the later centre console I don't think it will meet the earlier dask either - al least mine didn't when I treid to fit a late model centre console in a Series 1 Mk1.

Yeah… I was born in the General and grew up in Benton, went to Uni in Newcastle….But back to dashes. If you contact Golf Loon (also an ex-Pom) on the Aussie VW Watercooled forum he can probably help. I know that he has done the swap. http://www.vwwatercooled,org.au