I pulled the pod on my '83 this weekend and found a couple of bolts missing. There are 4 bolts that hold the pod on. One long one on the left side and one long one at the ignition switch. There are also 2 bolts that are shorter and closer to the center. The two short bolts were missing. Does anyone remember about how long these bolts are? They are 5mm. I would like to replace them with something close to the correct length.

 

Those 2 short bolts just reinforce the bottom of the pod. They pass through a dash bracket and screw into a threaded aluminum carrier located on the pod.

Not sure of the diameter, but they are only about 1.5" long. Those bolts need to be a fine thread pitch. I've used fine-thread non-metric bolts in there before. The carriers they screw into are soft aluminum that strip out easily.

 

Thanks Randy,

I had tried to thread one of the longer bolts through the aluminum carrier and one side is OK and the other appears to have been crossed threaded in the past. I am hoping to clean up the threads. I will see if I can find a couple of new bolts.

 

Since those bolts don't add much to the pod's structural integrity, any bolt that you can get snugged up in there should be OK.

If all else fails, those aluminum carriers can be cut off the pod, then use a nut and washer instead.

 

I wanted to put something in there. There has always been a bit of squeak when turning the steering wheel. It looks like without those two bolts it was slightly pushed out toward the steering wheel and rubbing.

Right now I am waiting on the replacement odometer gear to be manufactured by Jeff Caplan. Sounds like there is a waiting list for these gears. I know that everyone talks about how you can damage these gears by pushing in the reset button while moving. In my case, I don't think this was the cause. When I pulled the gear it appeared to be rubber and was quite deteriorated. It almost crumbles with the slightest pressure. I suspect many of these gears are starting to deteriorate.