Help with Dash questions please

[wareaglescott]

1979 911sc

Tearing my car down and restoring. Redoing the vinyl on the dash among other things. Started pulling the vinyl off and noticed it is anchored under the dash and above the steering column and I need to remove these two bolts. Reached out to fellow Pelican Steve and he informed me these are shear bolts. I was stumped by them being round. Steve indicated he sheared his with vice grips.
I will attempt that. Any other methods of doing this or suggestions? Do they shear by over tightening? Should I rotate towards tight or lose? Any info on these is appreciated.
(Picture is looking down through the Tach guage hole from a vantage point over the steering wheel)



Question 2 . I also want to remove this area on the dash that my hand is around. My Bentley manual shows a different vent setup and does not match what I am seeing. I understand I will need to remove the switches. As far as the actual part behind the switches how is that normally attached? I am not seeing any fasteners and there appears to be some adhesive residue? Should I just pry this piece away from the car? Any info on this is also greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much!

[jac1976]

I believe, and hope others will confirm, the vinyl dash fascia peels away from the actual metal dash once the controls are removed. Some have replaced this with aluminum pieces by Rennline. There is a forum member who also made some nice pieces for this purpose.

[Tony V]

I believe the shear bolts hold up the steering column. Sounds like you're trying to remove the dash which does have a couple of studs, with nuts, holding it to the metal above the instrument cluster.
The vinyl facia where the key and headlight switch are, is glued down. I used a putty knife to pry mine off after removing the ignition etc.... The vent pops out.

[wareaglescott]

Originally Posted by Tony V

I believe the shear bolts hold up the steering column. Sounds like you're trying to remove the dash which does have a couple of studs, with nuts, holding it to the metal above the instrument cluster.
The vinyl facia where the key and headlight switch are, is glued down. I used a putty knife to pry mine off after removing the ignition etc.... The vent pops out.

I may have described that poorly. The dash pad on the top is gone already.

The vinyl face that surround the gauge holes is 90% removed but is trapped under those two shear bolts. I could cut it away but I will still need to remove them to be able to recover it correctly.

Your answer to my second question about the vinyl fascia is what is was asking. Thanks.

Here is a bigger pic so you can see what I am referring to better.

[wareaglescott]

Originally Posted by jac1976

I believe, and hope others will confirm, the vinyl dash fascia peels away from the actual metal dash once the controls are removed. Some have replaced this with aluminum pieces by Rennline. There is a forum member who also made some nice pieces for this purpose.

yes I need to get those two bolts removed because the vinyl piece is pinched in the bracket those bolts are going into.

[wareaglescott]

Well just grabbed the bolts with some pliers and they backed right out. That was a pleasant surprise. Was expecting a battle.

I will be replacing them with regular metric bolts though unless someone can provide a compelling reason why I shouldn't.

[MConn]

When I recovered my 1987 dash, I just cut the vinyl from around the steering column bracket - once the steering column clam shell goes on, you will never see that area.

The trim piece under the ignition key is glued on. I used a putty knife between the metal dash and the foam trim piece to break loose the contact glue.

Mike

[wareaglescott]

Originally Posted by MConn

When I recovered my 1987 dash, I just cut the vinyl from around the steering column bracket - once the steering column clam shell goes on, you will never see that area.

The trim piece under the ignition key is glued on. I used a putty knife between the metal dash and the foam trim piece to break loose the contact glue.

Mike

Thanks Mike. I got both issues taken care of. Replaced the sheer bolts with regular fasteners so it will be easy to remove when it comes time to recover.