How to remove a few things?

[GrantOv]

I could use some advice in how to remove a couple parts from my dash.

(1) The black main panel bezel surrounding the glovebox must have a few key fasteners holding it in place. It is a bit loose near my finger by the vent but the rest is held very securely. I'm looking to recondition the 3 main bezels so it would be very helpful to be able to pull this off as well.

(2) Looking down in the center of the dash is a main heating vent distribution fitting. Its cracked and I'd like to get a replacement but as hard as I try I don't seem to be able to twist it in the right way to get it out.

Any suggestions??

Thanks!

 

[Moderator73]

Looking at #2 first, here's some pictures how it's assembled. That center duct piece has three screws holding it to the dash. The two obvious ones are on the face of the panel and no doubt you have those out. The third one is a screw that is above where the removed radio sits. If those three are all out it should be free. If all those are out and you can't get it out because of lack of space, I'd suggest you consider just removing the entire dash. You've done so much that's needed to get it out already. Honestly, this will make so much of your dash work much much easier and you'll probably find a number of other broken plastic pieces & missing screws you can fix. At least I did when I did mine earlier this year.

 

[GrantOv]

Thanks for the advice - does the front metal facing of the dash come off with screws? It looked to me that is was clamped or perhaps welded on.

 

[Moderator73]

#1, Glove Box bezel removal and that vent register is nearly if not completely impossible to get off while the dash is installed. I tried everything I could think of earlier this year and finally broke down and removed the whole panel when I did mine. The Glove box area is where I made the decision to make my project a bit bigger. Here's some pictures of what I couldn't see before taking the dash out and was doing by "feel" or mirrors and flashlights. Perhaps these pictures will help you be successful getting yours out with your dash in place.

That bezel is held in place with four (4) nut like fasteners threaded over four plastic posts on the back of the bezel. In my picture they are shown with the green arrows. I can't remember for sure, but I think it was a 13/16 socket to remove, but the nut can easily just sit and turn in place on the plastic post without a little outward pressure to help it back off. That's only the center part of the bezel to free it up. The vent register side has two sets of fasteners to remove. First, you need to remove the back housing of the vent register and it's held in place with two screws, see my red arrows. Once that's out, then you can get to the final 4 screws that hold that end of the bezel to the dash panel. These are shown with blue arrows. My picture may not show all 4 screws because this was one of many places I found missing screws from the factory.

I hope this helps, and please keep us posted on how you end up approaching this. I love the ingenuity this forum offers.
bob

 

[Moderator73]

Thanks for the advice - does the front metal facing of the dash come off with screws? It looked to me that is was clamped or perhaps welded on.

Not sure I understand your question. Are you asking about the metal ears on the center plastic duct coming off with the screws? If so, no, the metal ears are attached to the duct piece by a type of rivet. It stays with the duct piece.

Here's a parts illustration of that section if it helps with the pictures. It's just the three Phillips head screws as I recall. Here's another picture of those marked.

 

[GrantOv]

Thanks for all the pictures and background on your efforts. Extremely helpful -

In regards to the glove box bezel - If I choose to focus on this only, the last picture appears to show the 4 fasteners assuming I can reach them. What I didn't understand is whether I need to also remove the fasteners near the vent cover as well. That may be the deal killer which would steer me to remove the front dash as you did.

In regards to the center ducting - I have removed all three screws but the physically awkward size of the duct piece makes it extremely hard to remove/replace. The riveted flanges don't help the physical challenge. Both of these aspects steers me to the direction you took - just remove the front piece of the dash.

At a high level what is involved in removing the metal frame front of the dash? is it secured with a set of fasteners? I had looked at it briefly and thought I seen it to be more difficult than that. Once the fasteners are located and removed then perhaps the remaining challenge is disconnecting the light switch, lighter and window washer connections?

Thanks!

 

[Moderator73]

You're very welcome. As for the glove box bezel, yes unfortunately you have to remove the fasteners at the vent cover to get the bezel off the panel.

At a high level, to remove the entire dash panel you only have 7 bolts holding it, so it's actually pretty easy (well relatively). You have a lower bracket on each side with two bolts each. I removed just the upper bolts and left the bracket installed so less to "adjust" when reinstalling. You also have one bolt at the top corner on each side. Finally, there is a lower support rod bolt near the center bottom of the dash that needs removed. Below are a couple of pictures showing this. Other than these 7 bolts, you'll have to disconnect some connectors, but leave your switches and the main harness in place. You really only have to disconnect your fuse box, two harness from your steering column, the end wire connectors (to doors, speakers, seats, etc) on each side and I think a couple small other connectors around the steering column that'll be obvious.

My dash is ready to reinstall now after I've refurbished but waiting on other engine bay and interior work before I do it, but here's pictures of what's ready to go back in.

 

[GrantOv]

Thanks for the advice - I was able to pull the dash panel today. Yay. Counted one more fastener for a total of 8 (one more just above the steering column). Found another new thing about my car - the dash panel original color is green which is strange for an original grabber blue car. I'm guessing more work was done on it in the past than I knew. Just glad it has good 'bones'.

Also found a few more things that will need to be replaced but that is par for the course!

 

[Moderator73]

Looks great! Your dash is going to be a masterpiece when you're done with it. In the long run I think you'll be really happy that you pulled it to do the refresh you're after. Great winter project in Minnesota for sure.

 

[GrantOv]

Would be better if it wasn't wicked cold! Drove up to my cabin on Thurs night and it was -20! but thank goodness for my heated shop even though it is quite full in the winter with storage. Still plenty of space for projects though! BTW - the more I look at your finished dash I have to say it is inspirational! I can't imagine a cleaner assy - everything looks or is brand spankin new.

 

[Moderator73]

Would be better if it wasn't wicked cold! Drove up to my cabin on Thurs night and it was -20! but thank goodness for my heated shop even though it is quite full in the winter with storage. Still plenty of space for projects though! BTW - the more I look at your finished dash I have to say it is inspirational! I can't imagine a cleaner assy - everything looks or is brand spankin new.

Thanks Grant. Holy crap, -20 already. I lived in Hastings for about 5 years just south of st paul and remember my Minnesota winters fondly. Some guys I worked with even introduced me to Ice Fishing where I learned the hard way that there are roads (or designated paths) to drive on the ice. Who would have thought? It'll be nice to see your dash after you're done with it. No doubt it will be just as clean and fresh as mine. I didn't really replace much on mine, mainly just painted, cleaned and polished. I did replace the cigar lighter & socket and the wiper switch knob (not the switch itself) because the rest of the switches cleaned up really nicely with just steel wool. On the Black bezel panels, I used the paint that Hemikiller suggested on another post which is the Dupli-color DE1634 "Low Gloss Black". I really liked the way it turned out. To finish/dress up the chrome edging on those bezels I used the Molotow liquid chrome pen. Also, used Mequiar's "PlastX" clear plastic cleaner & polish to get most of the scratches off the lenses. I also used the CRC brand "QD (for quick dry) Electronic cleaner" on the switches and connectors just to freshen them up while out. I am looking forward to seeing how it looks mounted back in the car, but I have a lot more work in the engine bay and some sheet metal repairs on the interior floor pans before I can get to that on my project. Enjoy your project..
Bob

 

[GrantOv]

Thanks for all the great product call-outs also. Back to +30 today - that is the weather roller-coaster we live in. Who knows what next week will bring. Just glad we didn't get the ice that was seen in Iowa and Neb - that looked very difficult and dangerous.

 

[Sheriff41]

Thanks for all the great product call-outs also. Back to +30 today - that is the weather roller-coaster we live in. Who knows what next week will bring. Just glad we didn't get the ice that was seen in Iowa and Neb - that looked very difficult and dangerous.

A December-like 80° here in San Antonio today. Remember the Alamo!

 

[GERMYS_72]

@Moderator73 , am I correct to assume the entire dash front bezel has to be pulled out like your first pic, in order to switch out the passenger side AC Tube ?

 

[Moderator73]

To just remove the tube I think you could do it with the dash installed. It’s really tight but if you remove your dash pad, and remove the three screws that hold the center hvac section to the dash so that you can move it around some. I don’t think you’re going to able to remove that center section but with it loose you can probably move it enough to pull the vent tube off of it. If you can get that separated in the center, then you should be able to pull the tube out. It slides into a 90 degree elbow at the passenger register and there’s nothing holding the tube in place except for the slip into the elbow.

It would probably help to remove the two screws that hold your relay panel in place that’s just above your glove box. That tube goes right over it. With the relay panel loose (shouldn’t have to disconnect anything) it pushes back/down a little for more wiggle room on getting the vent tube loose.

If you don’t want to pull the whole panel I’d try this first. Now if you still don’t have enough room you could try one more step before having to pull the dash panel. That would involve getting that 90 degree elbow off.

To get it off you’ll definitely want your relay panel off along with the glove box itself removed. If you have to do that let me know and I’ll take some pics for you how that elbow is clipped to the back of the register. These two clips really grab and don’t want you to pull them out unless you pry the teeth away from the plastic. Now the kicker, depending where the factory placed the two clips might make it inaccessible with the dash in place. Just be careful pulling with great force on the elbow because it could break one or both of the plastic mounting ears on the back of the register. Let me know how I could help with more details or pictures. Not to misrepresent myself, I played around with similar issues and ultimately pulled my dash.

Now one last thought, if you plan to remove your black bezel around your glove box, you’re going to want to pull the dash panel at least away from the firewall to access those 6 screws. That register on the passenger side is integral to the bezel mounting on the far right side of the glove box.

I wrote a lot here so hoping I answered your question but if not let me know.
I hope this helps
Bob

 

[GERMYS_72]

To just remove the tube I think you could do it with the dash installed. It’s really tight but if you remove your dash pad, and remove the three screws that hold the center hvac section to the dash so that you can move it around some. I don’t think you’re going to able to remove that center section but with it loose you can probably move it enough to pull the vent tube off of it. If you can get that separated in the center, then you should be able to pull the tube out. It slides into a 90 degree elbow at the passenger register and there’s nothing holding the tube in place except for the slip into the elbow.

It would probably help to remove the two screws that hold your relay panel in place that’s just above your glove box. That tube goes right over it. With the relay panel loose (shouldn’t have to disconnect anything) it pushes back/down a little for more wiggle room on getting the vent tube loose.

If you don’t want to pull the whole panel I’d try this first. Now if you still don’t have enough room you could try one more step before having to pull the dash panel. That would involve getting that 90 degree elbow off.

To get it off you’ll definitely want your relay panel off along with the glove box itself removed. If you have to do that let me know and I’ll take some pics for you how that elbow is clipped to the back of the register. These two clips really grab and don’t want you to pull them out unless you pry the teeth away from the plastic. Now the kicker, depending where the factory placed the two clips might make it inaccessible with the dash in place. Just be careful pulling with great force on the elbow because it could break one or both of the plastic mounting ears on the back of the register. Let me know how I could help with more details or pictures. Not to misrepresent myself, I played around with similar issues and ultimately pulled my dash.

Now one last thought, if you plan to remove your black bezel around your glove box, you’re going to want to pull the dash panel at least away from the firewall to access those 6 screws. That register on the passenger side is integral to the bezel mounting on the far right side of the glove box.

I wrote a lot here so hoping I answered your question but if not let me know.
I hope this helps
Bob

Awesome info! I will scope a few things out and possibly try moving the center hvac section first. The driver's side tube was fairly easy, I pushed the rectangular side vent in and off the two clips and down, and was able to maneuver the tube into place, but the passenger side is the challenge.