Dash removal and install in 2 hours

[turbophein]

well i swapped out my dash yesterday in less than 2 hours. it was fairly easy, much easier than i remember on a 1g.

my dash had the glue coming undone, it looked terrible and the plaque was moved because of this. but its all fixed now.

within 45 min, i had the old one out and the new one sitting in its spot. it did help that someone had gone through most of the interior and there were at least 10-15 screws not in place making it easier for removal.

looking for a 89 underdash cover now

moral of this story is, the vr4 dash is a easy install with only a few tools needed. so fix yours now!

phillips head, flat head, 10mm & 12mm sockets, extension and 3/8 ratchet thats it! and i did it all by myself...

EDIT: Don't forget to swap your vin# plate in, like i did. you will need to remove the dash again..

Hows it Look?

 

[prove_it]

Did you buy a whole new dash or did you repair yours? If you repaired it, how did you do it?

 

[turbophein]

i installed a new/used dash

 

[cspetros]

Good to know this isn't going to be a pain. I'll be swapping mine out pretty soon. New dash looks spiffy! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[turbophein]

just so everyone knows the steering wheel and blinker/wiper switches need to come off... so get a puller handy or do what i do, i wedge a handle to a hammer in the wheel and bang on the head of the hammer. 1 or 2 wacks and it breaks free usually.

 

[a2vr4]

^or just drop the steering column, four 12mm bolts /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif lookin sharp!
~Brian A. Moreno

 

[turbophein]

i tried that,i loosened them, but it seemed like more work to me. my wheel comes of in 2 min, and the blinker/wiper switches hold on with 3 screws and 2 plugs. either way is fine.

 

[mistaVR4]

That looks great man! Much better, nice job. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I was going to pull mine to remove the heater core but I was always sceptical of how much work was involved...

 

[turbophein]

you don't need to remove the dash to get the heater core...

 

[mistaVR4]

I thought I read somewhere it just made the job easier? Like getting to all the hardware that holds it in? But hell if that's the case I may go in there and get it out.

Thanks.

 

[Barnes]

Quoting turbophein:
you don't need to remove the dash to get the heater core...



You don't have to, but having done a heater core myself, I have no god damned idea how you would do it with the dash in.

 

Thats so strange that your old dash was peeling away like that. Maybe the car was always left in the sun much of its life. I'm all about preventive maintenance. If the PO would have taken an extra 5-8 seconds out of his day to put up a sun shade that probably would have never happened.

You going to stick your badge on the new dash? It would complete the install.

 

[ercp98]

different topic... are speaker holders on your front doors custom made?
if so where did you get them from?

 

[jepherz]

They look like probably custom fiberglass to me. I had a set I made for an eclipse I had that I just recently threw in the trash, unfortunately....

 

[turbophein]

Quoting BarnesMobile:
Quoting turbophein:
you don't need to remove the dash to get the heater core...



You don't have to, but having done a heater core myself, I have no god damned idea how you would do it with the dash in.



i sold the heater core and fan blower before i removed the dash from the donor vr4, it wasn't all that hard...

 

[turbophein]

Quoting 3of1000:


You going to stick your badge on the new dash? It would complete the install.



absolutely, just need to get some 3m tape for it... i have so much going on with it right now, i'm sorta ADD...

 

[turbophein]

Quoting ercp98:
different topic... are speaker holders on your front doors custom made?
if so where did you get them from?



yes they came with the car, the speakers don't even match, not fiberglass, but there not bad i guess. there on a list of things to change on the car, i have new door panels waiting. i don't need them, i want a stock clean look, beside i NEVER listen to music in the galant, i always want to hear what the motor, drivetrain, etc is doing at all times, maybe i'm a little paranoid. plus the exhaust is music to my ears /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Diego]

+1

Id rather hear the turbo and bov then the crappy radio....

 

[turbophein]

ok so i realized today when i was gutting my old dash that there was a freaking vin plate on it... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

so i had the wrong vin on my car!!! then i realized i had to take the whole dash again to replace the plate /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bawling.gif

but i did it, this time was like 1.5 hrs, lol and i also tried letting the steering column down this time and seemed to work out better, i had more room to work... trial and error i guess!

 

[a2vr4]

Man, that's drag, but you really know your dash now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I am about to put the dash back in my gsx, thanks for the pictures! Glad the steering column trick helped too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
~Brian A. Moreno