How hard is it to remove the dash???

[84blkstang]

I want to replace my heatercore box and make sure all of my heater ducts are looking fine before winter comes, well i think it would be much easier if i took out out the front of the dash. How hard is this? What do i need to look out for if I do this?
thanks

 

[Black 93 Fox]

The frist time you do it its a real PIA! but after that it goes fast. The most time consuming thing is finding all the little screws other then that its easy. I have done it so many times now that I can have mine out in 20mins or less.

 

[84blkstang]

Is yours any different than my 84? besides the outside, i am looking at my chiltons and i cant find the section on removal.

 

[Black 93 Fox]

Yes my dash is differnet. Your not gona find **** in the manual's they dont really tell you how to take it out. Its kinda a go for it and learn deal. Just dont pry on anything real hard and take your time and you'll be fine. Start with looking around under the dash that is where you can find alot of the screws and then I think on your older dash most of the screws are visable on the front of the dash.

 

[super302]

I took mine out one day for fun, if you know what you're doing it can be a 10min job....

BTW-when i put it back together, i had 5 extra screws....oh well, less weight

 

[jimilane]

I did one once. It sucked. It was on a 1991 GT. It took a long time to replace the heater core.

Taking just the dash out isn't that bad. But getting all the stuff out to get to the heater core sucks.

I'll tell you this. It's a $750 job at the dealership and they don't want to do it because it takes more time than what the book says. The guys that work at the dealership will do it for $400 on the weekend though.

I'm not doing it ever again. It took me three days working about eight hours a day to do it. It was my first and LAST time.

Jim

 

[super302]

its THAT hard???

 

[sgarlic]

It's a PITA. It's tedious, because you have to remove tons of other stuff to facilitate the dash removal. You have to remove all the kick panels, the steering wheel panels, the center console, the glove box, the MF switch, the bezel/instrument cluster, speedo cable, drop the steering column, and after all that, the 2 speakers, and the countless other bolts holding it on that are tucked way up there against the firewall holding the heater box on.

It's definately do-able, but plan on it taking an entire day. Use a notebook to draw diagrams of where wires went, where bolts came from, use zip lock baggies to put the bolts in, label the bolts, take time with stuck screws/bolts so you don't break them, take time with wiring harnesses, etc.

 

[hllon4whls]

I agree with everyone else. Bending and twisting is a necessity. Take out the front seats so you can lay flat on the floor. Try to keep track of where all the screws go. Might want to have a helper at least to put it back in.

It is not diffuclt, just takes a bunch of time and like was said before DONT FORCE ANYTHING. My 87 dash came out with a problem after removing all of the screws.

My advice is to take some extra time, take out the pedal assembly and paint it black so it looks better than the rust color that it is.

There is a metal subframe that should come out with the dash, you dont need to remove it from the dash to get the dash out. Just remove the subframe fastners from the body and pull the whole thing out.

 

[Dean85GT]

I pulled the dash in my 85 this past winter (same as your dash) and it was a PITA all right. Mine was freshly dyed so in order to avoid scratching it I had to have two friends hold each side while removing and installing it. Every little thing you can think of has to be removed. The column has to be dropped, radio out, the guage cluster is the biggest pain. Your going to have fun reconnecting that speedo gear. But....I dont know if all that stuff has to go because I had my dash completely out.

 

[super302]

you guys are making it sound like it is a HUGE pain, like i said, i took out my ENTIRE dash, center console, radio, a/c controls, guage cluster, yada yada yada, speakers, etc, kick panels

....and i did this for FUN!!

 

[DW5.0L]

I plan on doing it. Got a bunch of stuff to replace and it will be easier with the dash off. I'll have to get back as to how much fun it was. No doubt it might be low on the RPM scale of difficulty but very high on the PITA factor. No wonder it cost so much for heater core labor.

 

[emeraldcoupe]

i just did this on my 92 yesterday. took out my grey dash and put in a black one. it's very easy. 6 screws across the top and one on each side.

 

[strokedandblown]

i was gonna take out the dash to do my interior swap, i hit the grey with some reducer and it came off the only that was grey were the vents and the dash pad, just baught those on ebay, scrubed the grey off with reducer and it was all black.

 

[darthcual]

84blkstang, muscle mustangs and superfords web page has a step by step walk thru for 87-93's maybe that will help a little. Just use the search engine "heatercore"

 

[84blkstang]

OK i started at 830 this morning and i got it back in by 330. I also switched the blower/heatercore box, swapped heatercores, and fix my radio. I think I did ok, i came out with quite a few screws but everything was solid. I dont know what they were from because i wrote everything down and followed it in reverse. it wasnt that bad. The only thing that i didnt get right was the wiring harness that goes above the glove box, it keeps falling down i think i am going to ziptie or tape it up there, i dont know if the tape will hold it it is a pretty good size bundle of wires, but everything else is a go.... the heater works great now.

 

[Mike92GT]

Hey guys, since we're on the subject of heater core replacement.... Will I need to completely remove the evaporator case to do the heater core, or will I be able to get at it once the dash is out. Basically I'm wanting to know if I'm going to have to disconnect my A/C lines...

 

[Black 93 Fox]

i was gonna take out the dash to do my interior swap, i hit the grey with some reducer and it came off the only that was grey were the vents and the dash pad, just baught those on ebay, scrubed the grey off with reducer and it was all black.

How did this work and where do i get the reducer at?

 

[rd]

I have done the heater core repair 3 times in my 79 and once on the 89.

My record time is 5 hrs 33 minutes, on the 79. I think Chiltons does have dash removal info, but it is usually hidden under electrical or something. I have the Ford shop manual for the 79, but the 89 was different.

I used the magazine article for the 89, that I think I got from a link here or on Corral. Worked perfectly. Including the part where you pry the heater box cover up just enough to get the core out and in.

I did not disconnect the ac lines on either car.

The local Mustang shop gets $400 for the labor for doing this.

 

[strokedandblown]

How did this work and where do i get the reducer at?

I used the enamil reducer from dupont. I poped my vents out got a bunch of rags and scrubbed the grey right off, make sure you dont scrub where its black already b/c there is some sort of a clear coat on that stuff that gets hazzy if it see's too much reducer i tapped mine off. It took about 1.5 hours a side of scrubbing and tooth brushing around the vents. then i washed it very good with soapy water to get rid of all the reducer then hit it with some protectant, slid the new black vents in (from ebay) and dash pad, and i also baught the lower column piece and a center console and it all matches an no one would ever no that it used to be grey! I think this could work on the red as well. NOTE: the dash is the ONLY piece this works on. that i know of.