Re: 1955 Packard transmission PNDLR

Posted by HH56 On 2015/12/17 18:32:32

The insert has milled edges and is fitted into a recess in the chrome or painted bezel. It comes out of the bezel from the back and is held in by a thin retainer plate screwed into the bezel. It has been a long time since I played with one but IIRC, the bezel has to come off the dash to get to the two screws holding the retainer. Removing the bezel is in itself a time consuming project because of the steering column and all the vent and heat controls and switches which fit thru openings in the dash metal and are screwed into the bezel. Those all have to be unscrewed so the bezel can come off. It is not that hard physically but a couple of screws are not very accessible so does require some quality time with your head under the dash.

As I said, it has been a long time so perhaps someone has a dash or bezel already out of a car who can confirm for sure if the bezel has to remove. I think the bulb socket fits into a hole in the actual dash metal and not the bezel so with the bezel in position the dash metal would prevent any access to the retainer screws from behind.