tamskib, this is probably a dumb question, but I have to ask: You do realize that the headlight switch knob has to be pulled out to turn the dash lights on and rotated to brighten/dim them?
If you do, and you still don't have dash lights, you need to check for 12 volts at the fuse for the instruments in the fusebox, which in turn is connected to a terminal on the headlight switch (via a violet w/ white tracer wire on my 63) which can also be checked for 12v at the switch.
Turning the knob on the headlight switch changes the votage using a rheostat in the switch, and that rheostat sometimes burns out, so the light switch is the most likely suspect.
You could also check to see if the rear face of the instrument panel has continuity to a frame ground... there is a ground wire in the harness that runs to a spade at the rear top of the instrument panel, between the tach and speedometer, for the purpose of grounding the panel.
