Alright, 1995 ford ranger 2wd 2.3 4cyl.

speedometer, dash-lights, and windshield wipers dont work. Pappy said its something in the dash (it stopped on him when it was his) was smoking while driving one day and it all stopped working.
so
1. What should i check first other than a fuse because im 99.9% sure its not that

2. how in the hell do i take the dash of to even get in there? And how hard is it?

2.2 when/if i do get in there, am i looking for melted wires? I mean id assume so.

anyway any help or advice is greatly appreciated