At 05:51 PM 4/28/2015, Richard Smith wrote:
>The trick - now that I�ve had a few replies to my first message - seems to
>be getting in to the instrument cluster without damaging other things!
>
>Thanks for the very useful tips on how to NOT damage the foil and the
>tabs, but as we all know, any time you disturb those 30 year old parts,
>there is a risk of "doing more harm than good��

It's not that bad (usually).  The brown plastic 
has held up even worse than the black, not sure 
what the state is thee.  The black has tended to 
break out around stress concentrations like screws.

The flexible circuit is actually amazingly robust 
unless it's started to delaminate.  It's make of 
a thick and a thin layer of polyester glued 
together with the conductor foils in between.  If 
it's peeling apart you have an emergency; 
otherwise it's still good strong Mylar.  The 
connectors and such are crimped onto/through the 
whole sandwich and you naturally want to stress 
them as little as you can so they stay nice and 
tight.  Be respectful.  If you're truly a 
butterfingers this isn't for you, but you don't 
have to have any special dexterity, just thoughtful awareness.

Yrs,
d