How To Remove Dash Surround , Climate Control , Head Unit & Cluster

[DamageInc]

Tools Required : Philps Head Screw Driver ( Long and short Ones ideally)

Step 1)

Remove Gear Knob

Depending on what style gear knob you have it might be a bit more then twist it to loosen it

Step 2)

Remove Ash tray (Just Pulls Out)

Step 3)

There may or may not be a screw here (Philips Head)

Step 4)

Put your hand under the pastic and lift up , it might take a bit to unclip it but dont try rip it up

like a floorboard

Step 5)

Should pop up like this

Step 6)

Now you want to push the front down to unclip it from the main part

Step 7)

Make sure you unplugg the ciggerette lighter so you can remove the gear stick surround

Step 8)

There will usually be 1-3 screws here which are philips head screws , remove them.

Step 9)

Lower the steering colum down (will make it easier to unclip dash surround)

Step 10)

Put your fingers under the bottom of the dash surround and slowly lift it out (sorta pulling it towards you but gently)

Step 11)

Slide your fingers in the side to unclip it furthermore

Step 12)

Pull this part foward to unclip

Step 13)

Pull this foward aswell (i usually do both sides at once so you dont get the dash surround cracking in the middle)

Step 14)

Once unclipped , lift it up a little bit out of the collum

Step 15)

Now you want to unclip the plugs for the demister , hazards and clock.

dont worry , theres only one plug they go in so you dont have to worry about which goes where

IF your car is series 2 then you will have to unplug the antenna switch aswell

Step 16)

Unclip the mirror control plug

Step 17)

Once the plugs have been undone , pull the surround up to get it out of the way

Step 18) Removing Climate control Unit

There will be roughly 4 screws holding the whole assembly in (philips head)

Step 19)

Unplug the climate control unit ( 2 plugs, will only go in one way aswell )

Step 20)

Unplug Head Unit and it should look like this

Step 21) Removing Cluster

There will be 4 screws holding the cluster surround in , 2 at the top and 2 down the bottom (see pics)

Step 22)

There are 3 philips head screws holding the cluster in , unscrew these

Step 23)

Usually there will be 3 plugs in the back of the cluster , they can only go back in one way aswell

step 24)

Pull the cluster out so its not in the way

Final Result:

and that is how you pull the dash apart

to put it back together just follow this in reverse order basically , its easy to do but can be daunting when first doing it

any questions, feel free to ask

i will assist you to the best ability on here

[Lukas 33]

Hey man,

Thanks heaps for the write up. Just installed new dash lights and aircon lights then and this made it a breeze.

Cant thank you enough man.

Lukas

PS Check out that hand action. All the ladies wanna piece o' that? Note the sticker underneath saying Super "Quick", its the Blight guarantee.

Edited April 20, 2010 by Lukas 33

[DamageInc]

cheers man ,

yeah the right hand is even better

[SSSLOW]

Great tutorial thanks man

[DamageInc]

not a problem man , glad some people are actually giving feedback

[bernardino]

far out thanks for this help me big time

[DamageInc]

not a problem mate glad i can help

[Munkyb0y]

nice tutorial. i always thought you'd have to take the steering column shroud off too. but apparently i was wrong

i'll be pulling my hicas globe out soon, and replacing the dash lights while i'm in there.

how many wedge bulbs are there to replace?

Edited April 25, 2010 by Munkyb0y

[Munkyb0y]

well geeee tony, since youre such a top bloke, i'll answer that for you

5 x T10 for r33

[HtwCHACtkh]

Thanks a lot for this, made changing my bulbs to LED's a breeze. I noticed when I was trying to put the dash back in it would have been easier if the steering column was undone as the bottom corner of the driver sides ac vent clips it.

If you're going to open your steering column, don't forget the screw underneath the lever.

[DamageInc]

well geeee tony, since youre such a top bloke, i'll answer that for you

5 x T10 for r33

o.O

Thanks a lot for this, made changing my bulbs to LED's a breeze. I noticed when I was trying to put the dash back in it would have been easier if the steering column was undone as the bottom corner of the driver sides ac vent clips it.

If you're going to open your steering column, don't forget the screw underneath the lever.

not a problem

[YawRate]

Thank for this. No excuses now when I replace my antique double DIN cd player with a single DIN usb one + gauges.

[DamageInc]

not a problem mate !

[fib]

Wow thanks for the tutorial! I bought cluster LEDs and thought to myself damn I'm never going to get around to doing it and made an excuse that the stock dash looked fine (which it does).

This weekend will be blue dash baby!

I could shake your hand

PS. does anybody know how to plug back the boot light plug? It's in a really tight spot. I thought my bootlight was blown but when I put in the LED one I realised some fool had unplugged it. I can see it and get afew fingers onto it but cannot for the life of me push the plug back in

[666R33]

gday mate, nice tutorial. just wonderin how u would go about steps 1-4 with an auto gearbox?? like how do i get my fingers underneath to unclip that shit? thanx in advance..

[LANDSCRIBBLE]

wicked tutorial, was alot easier than i expected

[GirlTORQUE]

Hi Mitch

This tutorial is fantastic. Thanks SO much for putting it up.

I wanted to do some LED lights on my dash but now because of a fluttering

RPM needle, have to replace cluster anyway.

Still nervous about doing it but it seems much less daunting.

Fingers crossed! Thanks again. Great work.

Cheers

Leah

[DamageInc]

Hi Mitch

This tutorial is fantastic. Thanks SO much for putting it up.

I wanted to do some LED lights on my dash but now because of a fluttering

RPM needle, have to replace cluster anyway.

Still nervous about doing it but it seems much less daunting.

Fingers crossed! Thanks again. Great work.

Cheers

Leah

not a problem Leah, im glad that people are benefiting from it

cant believe how much feedback ive gotten. really appreciate it!

best of luck

-Mitch

[Kopplz R33]

wikid wright up, i want to get my dash surround wrapped with a carbon fibre vinyl wrap, so this made it easy to remove all the relevant parts!

[White_33]

Cheers m8, just what I was looking for. Need to check the wiring on my dodgy tacho.