Preping for Re-Wire

Today I started getting my 50 Mercury ready to rewire. I crawled through the cabin into the trunk and got the trunk lid open since the key for that didn't come with the car. Now I can get to the tail lights, wiring for the license plate light, etc.

Next up was to try to remove the gauge panel. It had 6 or eight screws holding it to the dash. But of course, all of the knobs and bezels must be removed to get the piece off. Which leads me to my question.

Where do I find information on how to remove the knobs and bezels without breaking anything? The Blower knob unscrewed off it's stem, and the bezel unscrewed easy. But the wiper knob didn't unthread. Similarly, the headlight knob didn't unthread.

How do I get these things off without breaking them? My goal is to pull this panel off so I can easily get to the wiring, light bulbs, etc. The wiring under the dash is a spaghetti bowl of added wires, so simply chasing a wire and replacing it isn't going to work. I need to be able to access it.

Any guidance will be appreciated.

Paul

 

Is there a teeny tiny screw underside of the knob? Does the knob screw off clockwise? Sometimes there is a small hole in the knob to push a pin into. There must be a way to release the knob... That's what she said.

 

My '41 Ford has a taper pin thru the knob/shaft of the wiper switch.Most fords had a release push ****on on the headlight switch body that releases the knob and shaft. Sometimes you can loosen the bezel and rotate the switch to see the ****on.

 

I had to press a little spring loaded ****on on back of my head light switch then pull the knob out, then unscrew the little front plate. If you do a search on remove a 50s delco headlight switch I wrote a tech article about a year back. My switch didn't make it as I tore it apart to remove it, I had to replace with the cheap repop from china. I also installed a repop fuse block that caused a small fire a week back. Amazing how a fuse block that is suppose to prevent that sort of thing caused it. Be carful removing your oem it is worth the trouble!

 

See? I knew there would be helpful folks on here that would keep me from tearing up my stuff!

Thanks guys.