1993 Lancia Y10 GTie

Well, there's good news and there's bad news.
The first thing I did was label the stereo wires and then cut them. Hopefully that will mean I can find them, reverse engineer what they are from the back of the stereo and then splice them into a generic block connector. Then I removed (well broke) the last clip on the heater cables and pulled them all through.
Finally it was time to actually start moving the dash.
I started off following the instructions, trying to disconnect all the connectors. There were about 6 that connected the loom that was part of the dash to the column, and I could actually reach these ones so I disconnected them. That meant that the dash could move a bit more, and I realised that there were loads hiding behind the dash. Given how much of a struggle doing them when I could see them, and where I could actually get tools on them, I didn't fancy my chances of disconnecting the hundreds that were lurking out of reach under the dash and behind a bunch of other cabling.
So I took the easy way out, cut the 3 cable ties that connected the dash loom to the dash, and just yanked the dash off the loom, leaving that still in the car. After much effort and swearing, the dash moved off the loom and appeared to be free. I almost got the whole thing out, but there were some (more) random attachments that I've no idea what they are holding it fast. Once I'd removed the random panel holding them, I could finally try to get it out of the car. There were several times during this process I thought it was going to break in half, but miraculously it didn't. So before I start the jigsaw puzzle of putting the broken shards of dashboard left in my footwell back into the dash, here's what came out:
























The central piece is almost entirely disconnected from the main bit that passes across the car, the whole section around the steering column is cracked to hell (possibly from resting on the steering column where I fought everything else), there are loads of missing points where there should be mounts for screws, and there is a giant crack running across the top just in front of the driver. Aside from that, it's not too bad!
I need to get hold of some epoxy and CSM and start putting some strength back into it - once I'm happy it won't fall apart in my hands I'll have to start working out how to add all the mounting points back in so that you can attach the clocks, heating etc sturdily. I'm guessing that's going to take a little while templating up bits of steel (in some cases working out how to add the mounting holes back onto the heating stuff too). After that's done, I guess it will be time for the flocking!
I also need to disconnect all the bits of that loom, clean all the connectors so you can push them together and take them apart without enormous force.

Once I've done all that, I can consider re-uniting the dash and the loom and putting it back in the car - don't think I'll be driving it for a little while!

That would definitely be the best way to return it to OE spec. Given the current issues shipping stuff to/from Europe, and the various lockdowns in place I suspect now is not the best time to do that. Also, the plastic is kinda brittle, and spending >25 years in the Italian sun is unlikely to leave very many in much better shape than this one. I'm also kinda concerned about it getting damaged in transit.
It's been suggested to me that I should try one of those "plastic welding" kits to join the plastic cracks together. I'm gonna investigate them as well...

I had a bit of a google and ordered a cheap plastic welder from Amazon. Will have a go with it next weekend... I'll still need to bond some brackets in so I can attach everything else (I'll use screws as well where the back of the panel is hidden). I've got some of those U clips so as I can make reasonable sized holes in the brackets and have some adjustment to line everything up - hopefully that should make re-assembly easier (and longer lasting).

To make refitting the dash easier I'm gonna remove the centre console. That and the steering column are the only bits that really get in the way (and I've not looked into how complicated removing the steering column yet).

Hi
Thanks for the offer, I've actually ordered something like that. Glad to see that they work though, and liking the Avantime (and the number plate). How did you get on with that quattro resto - I've not seen you on here much?

Ouch, looks like the plastic weld gun saved getting a new bumper.
I have to see your Murena when we're allowed out again, I've loved those things for ages and always felt that it would make an awesome stablemate for a Multipla. Avantimes are also pretty cool - are you collecting cars built by Matra?

The plastic weld tool arrived yesterday. I'm hoping to get half an hour to experiment with it this evening. I don't have any items of similar thickness/brittleness of plastic to experiment on, so I might just pick a couple of inconspicuous bits and give it a go. I think I'll start with the steering column shroud, because I know I can easily get hold of another one (LHD and RHD are the same) if I mess it up!

..forget to specify: if you need help to find spares in italy, just pm me..

Thanks mate - I might take you up on that at some point. It would mostly be for the interior stuff - the Lancia Motor Club has a few Y10 gurus who live not to far from me, and they have most spares needed for RHD cars. I'm going to wait and see how all the repairs go before I decide what I need there.

I started on the steel reinforcing bits this weekend. Firstly I labelled everything up so I knew what went where:


Then I started on the CAD (cardboard version), and I basically made templates for everything before I went anywhere near the steel. After I'd cut out and shaped a few of the steel templates (1.2mm zintec - hopefully will help avoid rusting), I realised that there was a rather large piece missing in the middle.
The initial reinforcements:


You can see in this picture, that the heater controls bolt up to some plastic in the middle of the dash. The blue ones are all there (though they need reinforcing - I think it should join the top but that has broken), but the green bit is supposed to have something similar to bolt to in the gap where the red shape is.


So I'm going to try to make a steel replacement (I probably have some random pieces of broken plastic somewhere, but this plastic is curse word and steel is bound to be more sturdy). The initial template looks like this, but I realised I should make it more of an "n" shape where the holes go, so I'll have to add an extra fold and some extra tabs on the end. This is going to be the most complex repair shape I have ever made, and I can't build it in pieces and then weld together in situ because that would probably melt the plastic (and or damage the epoxy holding it all in). I guess I could bond the metal together, but I'd rather make the metal structure one piece.


So more experiments in metal shaping to come over the next week or so.