I've got this 85 5 letter car (more like basket case) and I've got the original 5 letter cluster for it but it seems like I have discovered that the previous owner swapped in a non GSLSE dash.

It clearly obviously does not fit.

I'm hoping that someone here has pictures of their GSLSE dash opening OR a few pictures of the bottom sides and back of any of the other first gen clusters so I can confirm my suspicion.

These things should ideally just seat in and slide back into place with little resistance correct? The notches in the bottom of the opening on the dash simply aren't matching up with the protrusions of the cluster which causes there to be no clearance on top. So I literally can't even get it started going in.

I have searched quite a bit and it seems like this is a niche/unanswered question but it may also be my fault for not knowing exactly what car this dash came out of.

EDIT: 10 minutes after posting this (after trying it face down) I got it in. I'm just an idiot thank goodness! I would delete this post but I figure it might be a lesson for future generations. Don't write a big long post if you haven't tried everything first!


Thanks in advance everyone!
Happy building!

 

84-85 dash is the same regardless if SE or not. bottom of the cluster has to go in first, then stand it up. takes a little finesse to get it in tho. be sure to connect the speedo cable and electrical plug before standing it up. may have to push the left side of the cluster farther into the hole to get the speedo connected.

 

For the speed-o, disconnect it at the transmission to give extra slack to connect to the cluster.