Lower Dash Replacement Tips - Remove the cage!
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Lower Dash Replacement Tips - Remove the cage!
I removed and replaced my lower dash this week. In preparation, I read all the threads I could find on the topic and I found that this thread was the best in explaining what had to be done (yet it is a 964 thread) - https://rennlist.com/forums/964-foru...h-removal.html
In many of these lower dash removal threads, the author suggests that it is best to remove the cage that both the radio and the climate control unit sit in in order to access the stud right below the CCU/radio that secures the lower dash. Some folks have responded back that it is technically not necessary to remove the cage, especially for the CCU, if you have a good combo of swiveling ratchet heads.
I'm here to say --- YOU WANT TO REMOVE THE CAGE FOR THE CCU. I thought I was really clever because I was able to remove the 8mm nut below the CCU without removing the cage. But, when I went to reinstall the lower dash, I was reinstalling the 8mm nut below the CCU by feel and DROPPED IT AND THE SOCKET INTO the metal framework of the lower dash!
OMG. What a nightmare to recover the socket and nut!!!
I really didn't want to remove the lower dash yet again after painstakingly fitting in and carefully aligning all the bolts and taking the utmost precaution to protect the leather of the lower dash with painter's tape.
I finally removed the CCU cage and fished out the socket and nut with a magnet-on-a-stick tool. Remove the cage.
There was a thread recently about the type of tool needed to remove the CCU. This is what I used - it was straightforward.
Note the location of the 8mm nut below the CCU. You can blindly remove the nut with a swivel head ratchet, but putting the nut back will be %$#%$%$# without removing the cage!
Here is the stud for the 8mm nut below the radio
all done!
The lower dash has been newly recovered by Rob Budd -- I'm a big fan of his work!
In many of these lower dash removal threads, the author suggests that it is best to remove the cage that both the radio and the climate control unit sit in in order to access the stud right below the CCU/radio that secures the lower dash. Some folks have responded back that it is technically not necessary to remove the cage, especially for the CCU, if you have a good combo of swiveling ratchet heads.
I'm here to say --- YOU WANT TO REMOVE THE CAGE FOR THE CCU. I thought I was really clever because I was able to remove the 8mm nut below the CCU without removing the cage. But, when I went to reinstall the lower dash, I was reinstalling the 8mm nut below the CCU by feel and DROPPED IT AND THE SOCKET INTO the metal framework of the lower dash!
OMG. What a nightmare to recover the socket and nut!!!
I really didn't want to remove the lower dash yet again after painstakingly fitting in and carefully aligning all the bolts and taking the utmost precaution to protect the leather of the lower dash with painter's tape.
I finally removed the CCU cage and fished out the socket and nut with a magnet-on-a-stick tool. Remove the cage.
There was a thread recently about the type of tool needed to remove the CCU. This is what I used - it was straightforward.
Note the location of the 8mm nut below the CCU. You can blindly remove the nut with a swivel head ratchet, but putting the nut back will be %$#%$%$# without removing the cage!
Here is the stud for the 8mm nut below the radio
all done!
The lower dash has been newly recovered by Rob Budd -- I'm a big fan of his work!