Gen 1 dash removal instructions

[DeLViper]

Decided to get my dash, center radio/stick bezel, and door side/bezel painted to match the emerald green pearl color of the body. The dash removal was actually pretty easy to do, here's what I did for those who plan to remove your dash:

1. Remove the screws at knee bolster passenger side, there should be three on the side and two underneath, this applies to the driver side also:

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2. Remove the center bezel, this should pop right out, disconnect the plugs for the cigarette lighter and fogs lights:

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3. For the headlight knob, go underneath the driver side dash, put you hand on top of the headlight switch and feel a button, push it down and pull the knob out:

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4. Now you can begin removing the screws for the dash, one by the headlight know, two underneath the driver side dash, two by the radio, two by the glovebox and one on the passenger side towards the door:

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5. Once all the screws have been remove, tilt the steering wheel down as far as you can, as you will need room to remove the dash at the driver side, this can be a little tight, otherwise just remove the tilt know.

6. To begin removing the dash, start at the driver side, feel you fingers on top of the dash where the clips are, and slightly pull towards you, the dash clips can be a little snug, just take your time and **** the pull and it should come out, do this all the way across until the dash is completely off:

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7. Once the dash is loose, tilt it a little from the top and pull straight up, here's a pic of the back of the dash, as you can see where the clips are located:

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8. You can skip this part, but I decided to have a clean look and have the doors side and bezel painted at the same time, easy just remove the two screws on the inside and one on the front of the handle, as for the handle bezel, just slide it and pull gently and it should come right out:

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9. The glove box was also getting painted so I had to remove the latch, just remove the clip which holds it place, and it should slide right out:

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That's it for the dash removal and other components, didn't take me no more than 15 mins to remove the set. Now to get the parts to the body shop to be painted, will post when dash is complete.

Cheers!

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[Tom F&L GoR]

The handle bezel is prone to breaking. It slides rearward to come off, forward to go on. Don't pry up any corner at all; trust me. Just slide...

Now is a good time to do something with the mystery switch. I had an intermittent problem long ago with the reverse blockout solenoid, so that is what I used it for.

Another thing I did was replace the voltmeter with a second OEM water temp gauge. I ran a wire down to a sending unit I drilled and tapped and screwed into the oil pan. Not super accurate, but like all gauges, you look for the position of the needle.

DelViper, happy to see you taking it apart already! I'm an Emerald Pearl Green owner myself. Lemme know when you want to talk brakes!

 

[tim bob]

I Have Been Thinking About Painting My Dash Also.its Not Really That Bad Yet But Love The Look Of It Being Painted. Looks Easy Enough Good Post.what Are The Qoutes You Have Been Getting To Have It Painted???

 

[JonB]

Del: WOW! Only Two posts and a VERY HELPFUL post that will help fellow owners/enthusiasts for a LONG time. The mods should grant you owner status ASAP !!!
Thanks. If you contact me you'll be GREEN with gladness you did. JonB

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

Hey Jon what happened to the Oreca avatar? O.B. would be disappointed too.

 

[1994viper]

I wanted to paint mine for a while too. Previous owners destroyed it completely. Looks like a strait forward job. Want to see how it will come out in green; I had never seen a green one. Great post, thank you.

 

[DeLViper]

The handle bezel is prone to breaking. It slides rearward to come off, forward to go on. Don't pry up any corner at all; trust me. Just slide...

Now is a good time to do something with the mystery switch. I had an intermittent problem long ago with the reverse blockout solenoid, so that is what I used it for.

Another thing I did was replace the voltmeter with a second OEM water temp gauge. I ran a wire down to a sending unit I drilled and tapped and screwed into the oil pan. Not super accurate, but like all gauges, you look for the position of the needle.

DelViper, happy to see you taking it apart already! I'm an Emerald Pearl Green owner myself. Lemme know when you want to talk brakes!

Hey Tom,

Are you talking about the switch next to the foglight, that switch is for the rear foglight for Europe, I had to have a read fog light installed on my Escalade when I lived in England. But, your giving me some good ideas on what to do with that switch now.

Since the dash was scratched up, I figure I do some customizing to it, I should have the dash by next Tues.

Brakes, fill me in bro!

Del

 

[DeLViper]

The handle bezel is prone to breaking. It slides rearward to come off, forward to go on. Don't pry up any corner at all; trust me. Just slide...

Now is a good time to do something with the mystery switch. I had an intermittent problem long ago with the reverse blockout solenoid, so that is what I used it for.

Another thing I did was replace the voltmeter with a second OEM water temp gauge. I ran a wire down to a sending unit I drilled and tapped and screwed into the oil pan. Not super accurate, but like all gauges, you look for the position of the needle.

DelViper, happy to see you taking it apart already! I'm an Emerald Pearl Green owner myself. Lemme know when you want to talk brakes!

I Have Been Thinking About Painting My Dash Also.its Not Really That Bad Yet But Love The Look Of It Being Painted. Looks Easy Enough Good Post.what Are The Qoutes You Have Been Getting To Have It Painted???

The body shop quoted me $200 to do the dash, glovebox, center console and the doors. They'll remove the old fuzzy paint, prep it, prime, paint and clearcoat. Can't wait to see what it looks like.

 

[DeLViper]

Del: WOW! Only Two posts and a VERY HELPFUL post that will help fellow owners/enthusiasts for a LONG time. The mods should grant you owner status ASAP !!!
Thanks. If you contact me you'll be GREEN with gladness you did. JonB

Hi JonB

I figure since I was taking it apart, I might as well post how I did it, since I've searched thru the forum and couldn't find anything that would help a newbie...lol

Owner status?? Still new to VCA and GREEN, hmmmmmm got my curious now.

 

[ruf575]

Thanks for posting this! It will make my removal of my dash a hell of lot smoother, because of you. Thanks

 

[Vital Velocity]

Wow very nice

 

[DeLViper]

Finally got the dash and several pieces back from the shop:

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Time to re-assemble the dash:

I've removed the tilt handle to prevent it from scratching the new painted dash:

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And began putting everything back in reverse order:

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Well, I'm happy with the look, better than looking at the old scratched black dash.

 

[jdeft1]

OK... I like. Maybe it's time for me to do the same.

I wonder what the longevity is on a painted dash... etc......??? What's it gonna look like in 5 years? 10 years......

 

[Vital Velocity]

Hmmm that does look good

 

[DeLViper]

OK... I like. Maybe it's time for me to do the same.

I wonder what the longevity is on a painted dash... etc......??? What's it gonna look like in 5 years? 10 years......

Not sure, but if you treat it like your exterior body paint, it should last a long time. Nevertheless, I'm happy with the results..

[media]http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/3523/2241/33806120003_large.jpg[/media]


[media]http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/3523/2241/33806120006_large.jpg[/media]

 

[dave6666]

Man that looks nice!

And +1 on it should last as long as the plastic underneath does. If not, spray it again someday!

 

[tim bob]

yes it looks great my94 is red i think when i get the guts to remove my dash i will have it painted black?? yours looks awesome.

 

[Rapps]

Our GenI dash was removed and painted by the previous owner. The center console does not lay flat (stay down)at the bottom edge. By the base of the stick shift/ash tray area and the hand brake.
Any suggestions? I believe the previous owner attempted to resolve this issue by attaching Velcro, but that likely made it worse due to it's bulk/thickness. Thanks. It's silver now, looks much better than the old flocking.
I like the dash painted to match the Emerald Green with the tan interior, very nice

 

[viper067]

That does look nice .... great job

The only thing that might be a problem is sun glare with the shine on that dash. I've considered doing brushed aluminum, but probably won't due to sun glare off the dash

 

[carguy07]

Our GenI dash was removed and painted by the previous owner. The center console does not lay flat (stay down)at the bottom edge. By the base of the stick shift/ash tray area and the hand brake.
Any suggestions? I believe the previous owner attempted to resolve this issue by attaching Velcro, but that likely made it worse due to it's bulk/thickness. Thanks. It's silver now, looks much better than the old flocking.
I like the dash painted to match the Emerald Green with the tan interior, very nice

There actually is velcro from the factory to hold down the end.

Borrowed from Jack B

The red arrows are clips, the white arrows are velcro.

 

[RTTTTed]

When I was at JonB's (PartsRack.com - Home) warehouse he had 'take off' dashboards on the shelf. NEW take offs dashes. If my plastic dash was all scratched up I would buy a new one from JonB. My dash is perfect so I never did ask Jon how much the dashboards would cost, but painted plastic would be tough to keep in good shape.

NEW is best

Ted

 

[Rapps]

Much thanks for the help. The center piece it just pulls/pops out if I'm reading correctly. Thanks

 

[carguy07]

Yep, just pops out. Start at the bottom and get the velcro loose and slowly pull it up. Make sure that you still have all the metal clips on yours. That could make it not stay down too.

 

[PittsburghRT]

Very nice. I like the green dash.

 

[benson8708]

I painted my dash, lower door panels, and entire middle section between seats. The stock rubber coating on the plastic dash was very hard to remove....but not as hard as the cheezy viynl covering everything else....this job was a pain in the butt. Glad I did it though look baddazzz.

 

[DeLViper]

It definitely makes a difference than that black fuzzy paint they had originally, seems like it gets scratched so easily. The paint is more durable in my opinion and prevent it from being scratched so easily, also makes cleaning a breeze. After having it for almost a month, I haven't had any problems with glare, seem to be fine while driving.

 

[cfiiman]

Thanks for posting this tutorial man!!!! I'm getting ready to do this and it will be a huge help, in fact might I suggest a moderator make it a sticky?

 

[01sapphirebob]

Not sure, but if you treat it like your exterior body paint, it should last a long time. Nevertheless, I'm happy with the results..

[media]http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/3523/2241/33806120003_large.jpg[/media]


[media]http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/3523/2241/33806120006_large.jpg[/media]

That looks really good. Would love to see it in person.

 

[aviatorone]

I have a 95 Black w/ grey interior...

Does anyone know how, or what they use to clean the dash? Also what kind of prep work is needed, and the type of paint that was used?

I currently have my interior out of the car, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to tackle this.

I just bought the car last month, and it really needs some TLC.

Thnx!

 

[JohnnyViper]

i know this is a old thread but i must say the green dash on the tan looks awesome