THIS IS SO F***ING PAINFUL!

[kouki-gymkhana]

I'm in the process of swapping out my cracked s13 dash for a nicer one and honest to god if I had known that it was going to be this goddamn difficult, I wouldn't have done it. I'm still trying to get my old one out and I can't seem to get the side defroster vent piping off for the life of me. How the hell do you get you hand into that narrow little space to pull the hose off? Any other hints guys. I'm almost ready to call it quits.

[Mr1der]

hahah...

suck it up boy! you'll feel that much better when you admire your new nice dash from the driver seat!

[pimp1911]

I am going to tackle it today. God I am scaried. Lol.

[Mr1der]

remember, there's only 4 or 5 bolts holding it on.

mwhahahahahah

[kouki-gymkhana]

remember, there's only 4 or 5 bolts holding it on.

mwhahahahahah

Gee, thanks for the encouragement. It's such a shame,...this place is becoming more and more like zilvia.net everyday.

[Ender_Zero]

are you trying to salvage the old dash? if not, brute force worked for me when i was taking my FC's dash out for weight savings. course i wasnt planing on putting one back in....

[el5y]

I'm in the process of swapping out my cracked s13 dash for a nicer one and honest to god if I had known that it was going to be this goddamn difficult, I wouldn't have done it. I'm still trying to get my old one out and I can't seem to get the side defroster vent piping off for the life of me. How the hell do you get you hand into that narrow little space to pull the hose off? Any other hints guys. I'm almost ready to call it quits.

Hey man, check out the interiors forum theres a thread about this stuff, but since you're gonna read this here anyways, just pull on it, it should pop right off. they are only held in by friction of the locking end pieces for the pipes which are fairly flexible. So just have it it, it will go. just make sure you have all the right pieces put back on there before you try to put it back together...also be careful doing it, I got 5 stitches from sticking my hand under the dash feeling around without looking.

Eric

[Nismo_Freak]

I don't recall it being a long job to take the dash in and out of my S14. Took about an hour doing in and out.

Just tug on those pipes like Eric said. They come off... try using a screw driver if you can to leverage it.

[kouki-gymkhana]

Finally finished the dash swap about 2 hours ago. NEVER AGAIN WILL I DO THIS! Hopefully everything still works after messing with all that wiring.

I must say that the process was much more involved than I thought it would be and if there's anyone out there who's a novice like me, I'd factor in more than 1 complete day to finish the job. But as i said, I'm a rookie and I was working entirely alone.

[SeVa-S13]

Yeah, for a first time dash removal and relative newbie, it's an awful job to do alone. You get better at it though, and competent friends really help.

[Chingon]

how 'bout an fsm, does that help ?

[kouki-gymkhana]

Yes, the FSM was very helpful in terms of showing you where the critical 5 mounting bolts are located. It doesn't tell you, however, how f*cking difficult it is to uncouple the side defroster vents or how to angle the instrument cluster surround just right so you can shimmy it out without cracking it. You know, little details like that... . The FSM is also useful for showing you where the mounting pawls are for those cursed switch modules (headlight, hazard, dimmer, cruise, etc) so that you at least know where you should be squeezing.

[el5y]

LoL, man we all have to start somewhere. This past summer when I swaped brown-> black was my first time really taking anything apart in my car. definately worth the switch though...black looks much better.

Eric