Dash face removal help

[ghnat]

I did a search and wanted some tips before I remove the face from the dash - see pic below. Does anyone have tips for removing the plastic face panels?

[cgarr]

Is that 2 sided tape holding them on? if so a little heat on the back side can loosen it up. thats the way the alum trim is held on the older cars..

[ghnat]

I am not sure if it is tape or glue. I think it might be glue but wanted some experts to chime in...

[lateapex911]

I *think* the issue will be that the key plate will need to be removed to free the dash face. I hope I'm wrong!

[ghnat]

You mean remove the "shear bolts"? I think the face is outside the key plate. The plate should be instide the plastic face. Although I have been known to be wrong before, though... One or twice

[Jason Cullen]

Greg,

Dash Facia is applied with adhesive/glue.

Your facia looks excellent, not sure what your plan is?

An easy way to remove is apply heat at one corner and pull it out a little. Use a putty knife and more heat to finally remove. Only take a few minutes.

Good luck with your project.

Thank you,
Jason

[javadog]

Greg,

Jason is right, they're glued in. A couple more tips...the dash trim is made from some sort of closed cell foam covered with a surface similar to vinyl. They are pretty fragile so you want to make sure that you use the putty knife, or a screwdriver or whatever will fit, to scrape gently between the metal of the dash and the trim piece to separate them. If you pull too hard, too fast, you can tear or bend the trim piece. Go slowly and work carefully. At the top, this piece overlaps the vinyl that was applied over the face of the upper dash by the instruments. This was also glued on and you have to be careful not to damage this. The trim piece was glued to this vinyl, in places, and will want to rip the vinyl off with it, if you are not careful. These pieces are getting harder to find so you may want to keep this one useable.

JR

[cgarr]

If you can get some dental floss behind it that works well to cut thru the glue too

[Kroggers]

Craig, that is good thinking - I would never have thought about that. But then I am the type that tends to go at it and think about what a mistake I have made after I f**k it up

[ghnat]

I wanted to post an update.

Wel,l my dash face is held together with glue. I used a heat gun (low setting) on the front of the face for just a bit then aimed it at the back side for a while. With some dental floss, I got the face pieces off. Thanks for the tips guys. Here are some after shots...