[ghnl]

Welcome to the BB. How's about a few photos of your car? We likes photos!

Scroll down in the main BB page and find the 'Carbs & FI' section for some good reading material that might help sort out the running of your car.

The interior lights (except the gauges) should be controlled by switches that interupt the ground connection in the door jambs. They often get corroded or full of crud and prevent the switch from making contact. Cleaning or replacing them might fix the interior lights.

I believe the gauges might have a dimmer (rheostat) to control their light output. If the dimmer is turned all the way to 'dim' they'll really be 'off'. If that ain't it, try checking or replacing the fuses. The bullet fuses in our cars can look OK but still fail to pass electrons - especially when they get old.

The cowl panel is secured by a few screws hidden under the rubber strip near the hood latch. It may as simple as loosening those screws and adjusting the cowl panel's position.