911SC Interior HVAC Control Panel

[schiarchianis]

New question about an old topic. The light bulbs that illuminate the slide controls on the dash panel have all fallen out. The posts on the back of the panel have all seemed to deform, I'm guessing from the heat generated by the bulbs, and no longer hold the bulb socket. Rennline makes a billet aluminum replacement face plate, which is illuminated by LED lights. Looks real slick. My concern is the existing, original face plate is riveted to the housing. After speaking with Rennline, they recommend to remove the original face plate by drilling (or grinding) out the rivets, and then attaching the new plate with a couple of small screws and nuts. Has anyone done this modification? Would I be opening a Pandora's box by even attempting this mod?

[TeeJayHoward]

Originally Posted by schiarchianis

My concern is the existing, original face plate is riveted to the housing. After speaking with Rennline, they recommend to remove the original face plate by drilling (or grinding) out the rivets, and then attaching the new plate with a couple of small screws and nuts. Has anyone done this modification?

That's exactly how I replaced my '81 SC's faceplate with the (smaller, old-style) Rennline unit. I think I have some pics in my build thread, lemme pull 'em up. And yeah, it was really easy. Low effort, high reward.

Originally Posted by TeeJayHoward

I started by drilling out the rivets on the panel:


Then it's a quick job to slide the three levers into the new faceplate and tighten everything down:

[schiarchianis]

Thanks TeeJay...and did you use screws/nuts to attach it to the mechanism, or rivets? Also, how'd you hook up the wires for the lighting?

[TeeJayHoward]

Originally Posted by schiarchianis

Thanks TeeJay...and did you use screws/nuts to attach it to the mechanism, or rivets? Also, how'd you hook up the wires for the lighting?

I wanna say they included bolts and nuts to attach it to the mechanism. In my pics at least, they look to match, and round-head hex bolts aren't something I keep around.

As for the lighting, I'm not using the standard setup but if I recall correctly it was a simple matter of, "Yank the old bulbs out of the harness, push the new ones in, done!" The red, white, and blue plastic things in my last pic are the bulbs they included. Personally, I have no bulbs on the HVAC control panel. The factory bulbs were left in the harness but pointed downwards to illuminate the footwell instead.

[eastbay]

I've swapped in a good stock face to replace a broken one and it is not too bad. Used small machine screws and nuts instead of rivets.

All of the work is getting the contraption out of the dash.

That Rennline unit looks nice.

[schiarchianis]

Originally Posted by TeeJayHoward

I wanna say they included bolts and nuts to attach it to the mechanism. In my pics at least, they look to match, and round-head hex bolts aren't something I keep around.

As for the lighting, I'm not using the standard setup but if I recall correctly it was a simple matter of, "Yank the old bulbs out of the harness, push the new ones in, done!" The red, white, and blue plastic things in my last pic are the bulbs they included. Personally, I have no bulbs on the HVAC control panel. The factory bulbs were left in the harness but pointed downwards to illuminate the footwell instead.

Good info...thanks. I don't have the unit yet, but hoping to get it delivered today or tomorrow.

[schiarchianis]

Originally Posted by eastbay

I've swapped in a good stock face to replace a broken one and it is not too bad. Used small machine screws and nuts instead of rivets.

All of the work is getting the contraption out of the dash.

That Rennline unit looks nice.

Yeah, I'm finding that (usually) the hardest part of whatever it is I'm doing is getting myself physically into position to do the work. I ended up taking out the seats and the center console which makes access easier. I've removed the attachment bolt that holds the mechanism in place, and the next thing is to undo the two bolts that hold the lever cables in place. Not looking forward to that part.

[eastbay]

Forgot to mention that if you pull the radio first, the whole operation is much easier.

[schiarchianis]

Originally Posted by eastbay

Forgot to mention that if you pull the radio first, the whole operation is much easier.

Good call. First thing I did was pull out the radio, mostly cuz I'm going to replace it anyway. The challenge I'm having now is disconnecting the cables from the lever arms, which would allow me to remove the whole unit from the dash. I'm taking a break from it now, but after thinking about it, I might try and drill/grind out those rivets while the cables are connected. I can pull the whole unit out about three quarters of the way, which gives me access to both rivets. I'll see how that plays out.

[Nditiz1]

I recently swapped mine as I went to a dual upper, but my face was better so i had to swap. I just used rivets again in the same spots.