Dash Replacement Story and Some Questions
03-22-2003, 08:44 PM
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
Dash Replacement Story and Some Questions
Well, after watching Sandoval's informative (and sometimes scary) pictoral of his dash replacement, and with the help of the 944S2.com website, I decided to undertake the replacement of my REALLY cracked and covered in silicon blobs dash - from a PO's exuberant adhesing of a dash cap (not a good idea, I strongly recommend against these!) with a nice dual airbag unit from an 87 car.
Bottom line, this is a very easy, but time consuming job...most of it is intuitive, make sure you find all the mounting bolts, vinylex up the A-pillar covers (especially if someone used an AWFUL lot of black silicon to redo the windshield and it has stuck the a-pillar cover in place) so if they flex a little it doesn't make funny white cracked looking spots in the vinyl, and label everything. So far after 7 hours (and a side project drilling a hole for a power lead to an amplified in the firewall while everything was out) the dash is in, the passenger airbag is in and hooked up, and all that is left is the gauges, the trim pieces, the center console, and the steering wheel, which should all go fairly quickly.
Now, for a few questions, I had figured a dual airbag dash was a dual airbag dash, but it seems that porsche changed the molds from MY '87 to MY '89...none of my old plastic trim fit (not that any of it was in good condition) and the ignition cylinder for the key sits about 1/2" lower and further left in the new dash than the old one did...I looked for possible ways to loosen the mounting bolts, but there isn't a whole lot of play in this dash setup when everything is in place...has anyone else experienced this? I dremeled out the plastic trim for the key-side of the steering wheel, but even the rubber grommet isn't big enough to cover the gap after the dremeling to make it fit...is there a secret here I'm missing? I'm also a little worried that now I'm stuck finding only MY '87 trim pieces...I knew that handmade cars were a bit of a PITA, but I never imagined molds for trim would change like that!
Other than that, I'll share some more tomorrow, when it is light I will likely try to lower the dash a bit just to see if I can get this cylinder to fit better, but if anyone else has experience going to a completely new dash, even from the same MY, I'd love to hear it!
I'll post some horrifying pics of the old dash in a bit.
Bottom line, this is a very easy, but time consuming job...most of it is intuitive, make sure you find all the mounting bolts, vinylex up the A-pillar covers (especially if someone used an AWFUL lot of black silicon to redo the windshield and it has stuck the a-pillar cover in place) so if they flex a little it doesn't make funny white cracked looking spots in the vinyl, and label everything. So far after 7 hours (and a side project drilling a hole for a power lead to an amplified in the firewall while everything was out) the dash is in, the passenger airbag is in and hooked up, and all that is left is the gauges, the trim pieces, the center console, and the steering wheel, which should all go fairly quickly.
Now, for a few questions, I had figured a dual airbag dash was a dual airbag dash, but it seems that porsche changed the molds from MY '87 to MY '89...none of my old plastic trim fit (not that any of it was in good condition) and the ignition cylinder for the key sits about 1/2" lower and further left in the new dash than the old one did...I looked for possible ways to loosen the mounting bolts, but there isn't a whole lot of play in this dash setup when everything is in place...has anyone else experienced this? I dremeled out the plastic trim for the key-side of the steering wheel, but even the rubber grommet isn't big enough to cover the gap after the dremeling to make it fit...is there a secret here I'm missing? I'm also a little worried that now I'm stuck finding only MY '87 trim pieces...I knew that handmade cars were a bit of a PITA, but I never imagined molds for trim would change like that!
Other than that, I'll share some more tomorrow, when it is light I will likely try to lower the dash a bit just to see if I can get this cylinder to fit better, but if anyone else has experience going to a completely new dash, even from the same MY, I'd love to hear it!
I'll post some horrifying pics of the old dash in a bit.
03-23-2003, 05:44 AM
#3
Three Wheelin'
that does not sound right I thought all the trim pieces are the same...the dash pivots on the bracket which is hidden by the center console... I had a similar problem and then got the dash to pivot into place just keep the bolts loose. I also had the problem with the black silicon I had the A-pillars recovered in leather to match the rest of the interior. I also wired my V1 this evening. <img src="http://www.968s.com/images/v1/DSC01014.JPG" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://www.968s.com/images/v1/DSC01014.JPG" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://www.968s.com/images/v1/DSC01015.JPG" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://www.968s.com/images/v1/DSC01017.JPG" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://www.968s.com/images/v1/DSC01018.JPG" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://www.968s.com/images/v1/DSC01019.JPG" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://www.968s.com/images/v1/DSC01014.JPG" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://www.968s.com/images/v1/DSC01015.JPG" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://www.968s.com/images/v1/DSC01017.JPG" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://www.968s.com/images/v1/DSC01018.JPG" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://www.968s.com/images/v1/DSC01019.JPG" alt=" - " />
03-23-2003, 11:09 AM
#4
Pro
Thread Starter
Sandoval, the trim pieces were actually a touch too long on the drivers' side steering wheel trim when I put the '89 original ones on...I tried using the pivot method to make the key cylinder fit, but it is not working at all, I loosened every bolt, rocked the dash, pushed, pulled, pried, bled, sweated (I know, not proper grammar) but it won't budge...
03-23-2003, 07:38 PM
#6
Pro
Thread Starter
we're talking no more than 1/2" of issue...it fits perfect with that exception, everything else is fine, and with a little grinding on that one trim piece, everything is in. Anybody know how to reset the airbag light? I think I screwed up and reconnected the battery once with teh driver airbag out...I disconnected it again and left it for an hour before putting the airbag back in, but the airbag code is apparently stored...
03-23-2003, 07:42 PM
#7
Pro
Thread Starter
Doh, nevermind, just found a post on this very topic...guess I'll hit my dealer tomorrow and see if they'll hook me up (it's Champion, what does anyone want to bet they want to charge me an hour labor minimum - in which case I'll do the rig thing on my own)
