how do i remove my dash?
03-31-2002
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how do i remove my dash?
i want to remove my dash section as shown in this pic by member PINKYTOE. please someone direct me in the path of a DIY. thanks
thanks in advance
lucas norman
thanks in advance
lucas norman
03-31-2002
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Rep Power: 0 yeh same here, how do u take it out,and also how do u take out the top part?[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG] im planning on painting them....
03-31-2002
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Rep Power: 0 << wuts all that crap on it? looks all moldy or something[IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG] >>
pinkytoe was working on a custom dash..it's fibreglass and bodyfiller and other materials he's using to reshape his dash etc.
04-01-2002
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I removed the dash in my car to paint it... see pictures below.
If you are planning on attempting this, you will need three things:
1) A big bunch of patience...
2) A lot of time to spare.
3) A snakedriver (srew/socket driver with a flexible shaft).
I did this a few months ago without any real instructions. Looking back, I wish that I would have written down everything and taken pictures, but I will do my best to recall it. Please be advised that it is a serious project and should be treated as such. Unless you are superhuman, you will run into problems (this is where the patience comes in handy).
I suppose one could get the dash off without the first two items listed above, but the third is almost a must. I looked at every hardware store I could think of and did not find one. It is basically a screwdriver with an extended and bendable shaft. I finally found one at Pep Boys for around $20. The longer the shaft the better...
Ultimate Step 1: Disconnect your battery. I always do this when doing anything to electrical components of a car. Why run the risk of blowing fuses or frying parts when this step only takes 2 seconds?
The first place you will want to start is with Ghosty's site which can be found in the links on this site. Look under Removing Center Console and Gear Shifter under the DIY section. This is not very hard, the website provides excellent step by step instructions, including pictures.
The next step is to visit Hondaautomotiveparts.com... I also found this site through the website you are currently using. If you load the info on your car, you can order specific parts. It just so happens that you can order parts for your dash board here. The bonus is that the site shows you diagrams of the parts. The problem is that it is not very detailed. It does, however, provide a good reference. You will want to print out pages with steering wheel & column, driver & passenger sides of the dash, airbag assemblies, etc.
Now that you have the seudo schematics handy, you can begin to remove the underside of the dash. I started with the passenger side. The glove box door comes out easily by sliding out the hinges. There is also a panel underneath that pops off. On the driver side, there is a panel on the bottom that has one turning fastener. Turn this... the rest is held on by clips. Next is the panel below the steering column which has the aforementioned turning fasteneres. Turn these and pull of this panel. The next step is the change holder under the cruise control/moon roof (on EX) controls. Open the change tray and there is one screw. This screw is the only thing holding it on. Unscrew it and pull. You will notice that you will need to unclip wire fastener from the back. Finally, remove the piece that houses the power outlet/cig lighter... It is held on with clips and should pull straight out.
You should now have removed the underside parts of the dash. Now you can begin on the mid-area pieces. The next piece I removed was the center radio housing console. This piece was the easiest... if you have an aftermarket head unit, you already know how to do this. There is a DIY on this site. Just take out the two screws behind the power outlet/cig lighter and gently pull out the center piece. Unclip all wires. The next piece is the one around the gauge cluster. There are 2 screws in the top. Once you remove them, you will have to pull out the piece using quite a bit of force. The bottom is very tight. If you read the Blue Dash light DIY on this site, someone said it requires "The Almighty Force!" Now you will have to remove the gaugues themselves. The housing is held on by screws (3 if I recall correctly). There is wiring connected to the back by plastic fasteners. Unplug these. Place the gauge cluster in a safe place, you don't wanna scratch it.
This post is kinda long, so here are the pictures and I will continue the directions (is there a limit to the lenth of a post?)...
Attachments:
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] bestpica.jpg (39 Kb)
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] trashdasha.jpg (43 Kb)
I removed the dash in my car to paint it... see pictures below.
If you are planning on attempting this, you will need three things:
1) A big bunch of patience...
2) A lot of time to spare.
3) A snakedriver (srew/socket driver with a flexible shaft).
I did this a few months ago without any real instructions. Looking back, I wish that I would have written down everything and taken pictures, but I will do my best to recall it. Please be advised that it is a serious project and should be treated as such. Unless you are superhuman, you will run into problems (this is where the patience comes in handy).
I suppose one could get the dash off without the first two items listed above, but the third is almost a must. I looked at every hardware store I could think of and did not find one. It is basically a screwdriver with an extended and bendable shaft. I finally found one at Pep Boys for around $20. The longer the shaft the better...
Ultimate Step 1: Disconnect your battery. I always do this when doing anything to electrical components of a car. Why run the risk of blowing fuses or frying parts when this step only takes 2 seconds?
The first place you will want to start is with Ghosty's site which can be found in the links on this site. Look under Removing Center Console and Gear Shifter under the DIY section. This is not very hard, the website provides excellent step by step instructions, including pictures.
The next step is to visit Hondaautomotiveparts.com... I also found this site through the website you are currently using. If you load the info on your car, you can order specific parts. It just so happens that you can order parts for your dash board here. The bonus is that the site shows you diagrams of the parts. The problem is that it is not very detailed. It does, however, provide a good reference. You will want to print out pages with steering wheel & column, driver & passenger sides of the dash, airbag assemblies, etc.
Now that you have the seudo schematics handy, you can begin to remove the underside of the dash. I started with the passenger side. The glove box door comes out easily by sliding out the hinges. There is also a panel underneath that pops off. On the driver side, there is a panel on the bottom that has one turning fastener. Turn this... the rest is held on by clips. Next is the panel below the steering column which has the aforementioned turning fasteneres. Turn these and pull of this panel. The next step is the change holder under the cruise control/moon roof (on EX) controls. Open the change tray and there is one screw. This screw is the only thing holding it on. Unscrew it and pull. You will notice that you will need to unclip wire fastener from the back. Finally, remove the piece that houses the power outlet/cig lighter... It is held on with clips and should pull straight out.
You should now have removed the underside parts of the dash. Now you can begin on the mid-area pieces. The next piece I removed was the center radio housing console. This piece was the easiest... if you have an aftermarket head unit, you already know how to do this. There is a DIY on this site. Just take out the two screws behind the power outlet/cig lighter and gently pull out the center piece. Unclip all wires. The next piece is the one around the gauge cluster. There are 2 screws in the top. Once you remove them, you will have to pull out the piece using quite a bit of force. The bottom is very tight. If you read the Blue Dash light DIY on this site, someone said it requires "The Almighty Force!" Now you will have to remove the gaugues themselves. The housing is held on by screws (3 if I recall correctly). There is wiring connected to the back by plastic fasteners. Unplug these. Place the gauge cluster in a safe place, you don't wanna scratch it.
This post is kinda long, so here are the pictures and I will continue the directions (is there a limit to the lenth of a post?)...
Attachments:
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] bestpica.jpg (39 Kb)
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] trashdasha.jpg (43 Kb)
04-01-2002
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Now lets move on to some more easy pieces to remove. One the sides of the dash (you can only see with the doors open) there are two small plastic panels (one on each side). These will pop out with a small screwdriver (don't scratch). The next are the A/C vents. These just pop out as well. Be careful not to pry so hard that you mark the dash.
What's next you ask? Well... now is the beginning of the hard part. All of the small pieces should now be off. The only piece left should be that stinkin' dash itself. This is where most of the fun begins. Most of the screws are behind the dash and face back into the cabin (towards you!) How the heck do you get these out? With your new tool from the auto parts store, silly. In the gaping hole where your radio was, there are a few screws that are can be removed w/a regular driver (they face toward the front of the car). Remove all of these. There are some other screws and hex bolts over where your glove box was. Take these out too.
You will now need the snake driver. Go back to where your radio was and start feeling around. Almost every screw near the top of the dash has a partner underneath it, toward the bottom of the dash. If I recall, there are at least six in this area. One at each corner (4) and one at the top center and bottom center of the hole (2). You know those gaugues you took out (after you pumped the weights to build up enough strength to get 'em off!)? There are two more near the bottom of this hole. Now remeber back to the good old times when you popped out the side panels... There are 2 screws a-piece in these holes. Take 'em out.
To the right of the dash (the passenger side) there are several more screws. If you lay down on the passenger side floorboard with a flashlight, you can see most of the ones along the bottom. Feel for the ones that aren't visible. I believe there are six (3 on top/3 on bottom)... could be eight though. These are evenly spaced apart... that should help you locate them. Do the same on the passenger side. Most of the screw will be on the bottom on this side. Remember, there were two on the top behing the gauge cluster and two in the air vents.
to be continued
Now lets move on to some more easy pieces to remove. One the sides of the dash (you can only see with the doors open) there are two small plastic panels (one on each side). These will pop out with a small screwdriver (don't scratch). The next are the A/C vents. These just pop out as well. Be careful not to pry so hard that you mark the dash.
What's next you ask? Well... now is the beginning of the hard part. All of the small pieces should now be off. The only piece left should be that stinkin' dash itself. This is where most of the fun begins. Most of the screws are behind the dash and face back into the cabin (towards you!) How the heck do you get these out? With your new tool from the auto parts store, silly. In the gaping hole where your radio was, there are a few screws that are can be removed w/a regular driver (they face toward the front of the car). Remove all of these. There are some other screws and hex bolts over where your glove box was. Take these out too.
You will now need the snake driver. Go back to where your radio was and start feeling around. Almost every screw near the top of the dash has a partner underneath it, toward the bottom of the dash. If I recall, there are at least six in this area. One at each corner (4) and one at the top center and bottom center of the hole (2). You know those gaugues you took out (after you pumped the weights to build up enough strength to get 'em off!)? There are two more near the bottom of this hole. Now remeber back to the good old times when you popped out the side panels... There are 2 screws a-piece in these holes. Take 'em out.
To the right of the dash (the passenger side) there are several more screws. If you lay down on the passenger side floorboard with a flashlight, you can see most of the ones along the bottom. Feel for the ones that aren't visible. I believe there are six (3 on top/3 on bottom)... could be eight though. These are evenly spaced apart... that should help you locate them. Do the same on the passenger side. Most of the screw will be on the bottom on this side. Remember, there were two on the top behing the gauge cluster and two in the air vents.
to be continued
04-01-2002
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Rep Power: 0 The next items to remove (and the most scary for me) are the airbags. These puppies are expensive. If ya don't believe me, just check the listing on the pages you printed from Hondaautomotiveparts.com! Doh!
Lets start with the passenger airbag. Just in case you didn't disconnect the battery, DO IT NOW!! There is a yellow platic fastener holding the wiring. Disconnect it. Get your butt back down on the floorboard (gettin tired, yet?). Shine your trusty flashlight up there and check out the housing. There should be three bolts holding it on. Once these are removed, push the assembly toward the front of the car... so the treaded pegs will come out of the bracket. Once this is accomplished, the airbag assembly should pop out (out meaning up). This is a good time to have 2 people. One can use a screwdriver to push the assembly back while the other assists from the top to help the pegs clear the bracket. Next is the driver side airbag. It is in the steering wheel. Which reminds me, you need to take off the steering wheel. Don't be afraid to use the diagram you printed from the parts website. There are three screws underneath the steering column. Take these out, pieces should pull apart. The wheel itself sucks. You need a weird shaped hex head to undo the 2 screws on either side. Once these are out, the centerpiece of the steering wheel should pop out (w/airbag inside). You must once again disconnect the wiring. Thw wheel itself is held on by a giant lokkin' boly. Get yourself a big o'l socket and go to town. This sucker's on there pretty tight, too!
Lets start with the passenger airbag. Just in case you didn't disconnect the battery, DO IT NOW!! There is a yellow platic fastener holding the wiring. Disconnect it. Get your butt back down on the floorboard (gettin tired, yet?). Shine your trusty flashlight up there and check out the housing. There should be three bolts holding it on. Once these are removed, push the assembly toward the front of the car... so the treaded pegs will come out of the bracket. Once this is accomplished, the airbag assembly should pop out (out meaning up). This is a good time to have 2 people. One can use a screwdriver to push the assembly back while the other assists from the top to help the pegs clear the bracket. Next is the driver side airbag. It is in the steering wheel. Which reminds me, you need to take off the steering wheel. Don't be afraid to use the diagram you printed from the parts website. There are three screws underneath the steering column. Take these out, pieces should pull apart. The wheel itself sucks. You need a weird shaped hex head to undo the 2 screws on either side. Once these are out, the centerpiece of the steering wheel should pop out (w/airbag inside). You must once again disconnect the wiring. Thw wheel itself is held on by a giant lokkin' boly. Get yourself a big o'l socket and go to town. This sucker's on there pretty tight, too!
04-01-2002
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that last sentence was supposed to say there's a big looking bolt to remove. Sorry, need to slow down. Now most everything should be off/unscrewed. 2 remaining pieces are the pillars. Theses are clipped in (no screws). Gently and evely pulling/prying on them will pop them out.
Now you can try pulling on the dash. If you got all of the screws, it should start coming off. If not, fumble around the back of the dash in the area where you feel resistance. A problem you will encounter (once all the screws are out) are the two levers on the steering column (the turn signal and window wipers). Believe it or not, after ripping out all these parts, I was afraid to take these levers apart! I had to (carefully) bend the dash around the levers to get it out.
Now that you have the dash out (hopefully), I painted it using the instructions for painting trim pieces in the DIY on this site. I decided to only paint the middle piece blue. It is simply screwed on. This piece is not made out of hard plastic. After the primer and paint, it still looked pretty crappy. The paint seemed really uneven, desptie the fact that I was careful when applying it. I started to get pretty freaked out at this point. Feel free to spaz out yourself, but it is not a necessary step. After the first coat of Clearcoat finish, things looked great! As you can hopefully see in the pictures... Two coats made it look even and shiny.
that last sentence was supposed to say there's a big looking bolt to remove. Sorry, need to slow down. Now most everything should be off/unscrewed. 2 remaining pieces are the pillars. Theses are clipped in (no screws). Gently and evely pulling/prying on them will pop them out. Now you can try pulling on the dash. If you got all of the screws, it should start coming off. If not, fumble around the back of the dash in the area where you feel resistance. A problem you will encounter (once all the screws are out) are the two levers on the steering column (the turn signal and window wipers). Believe it or not, after ripping out all these parts, I was afraid to take these levers apart! I had to (carefully) bend the dash around the levers to get it out.
Now that you have the dash out (hopefully), I painted it using the instructions for painting trim pieces in the DIY on this site. I decided to only paint the middle piece blue. It is simply screwed on. This piece is not made out of hard plastic. After the primer and paint, it still looked pretty crappy. The paint seemed really uneven, desptie the fact that I was careful when applying it. I started to get pretty freaked out at this point. Feel free to spaz out yourself, but it is not a necessary step. After the first coat of Clearcoat finish, things looked great! As you can hopefully see in the pictures... Two coats made it look even and shiny.
04-01-2002
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Rep Power: 0 I apologize for the lengthy posts, but it is quite a project. If there are any errors or discrepancies, please post. As I said, I did this a while ago. I tried to list everything I could remember, but please post any questions. It is best to have two people when you do this project. Use a garage if you can, and try to label everything and keep it organized. Just remeber, that you will most likely run into problems. TAKE YOUR TIME. If you need to, take a break and walk away from it. Go play a video game or visit your girlfriend/boyfriend... They're probably envious of the time you spend on your car... I know my girlfriend is! Here are some more pics...
Attachments:
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] bestpic2a.jpg (32 Kb)
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] bluedash1a.jpg (24 Kb)
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] dashoff2a.jpg (28 Kb)
Attachments:
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] bestpic2a.jpg (32 Kb)
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] bluedash1a.jpg (24 Kb)
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] dashoff2a.jpg (28 Kb)
04-01-2002
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[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] bestpica.jpg (39 Kb)
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] dashoff3a.jpg (40 Kb)
Attachments:
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] bestpica.jpg (39 Kb)
[IMG]/forums/themes/orbitz/paperclip.gif[/IMG] dashoff3a.jpg (40 Kb)
02-06-2004
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had to be wanted to save the DIY link... I ripped a whole in my dash so I got to replace this damn thing. question I have black racing seats and rear seat along with side black fabric should I make my tan interior 2 tone on the dash by getting that black head peice or would that look like crap and I should egt the tan?
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