Removal of interior parts?

[chunney]

Hi, I just picked up a 2000 protege lx for $600. Minus a few interior pieces its not bad at all. I'm trying to replace the steering wheel and passenger side dash pad (below the airbag, above the glovebox). How do I go about removing these pieces to replace them? The dash pad is cracked pretty bad and the steering wheel surround foam is all tore up, but the airbag is fine. How would I go about disabling the airbag to remove the wheel?

[goldstar]

Welcome to CP.

http://www.wihandyman.com/forum/showthread.php?52635

Happy Motoring!

[chunney]

Thanks! Now I just need to figure out how to remove the dash pad.

[Millsy]

Man, did you ever figure out how to get that piece just above the glove box off?

[meGrimlock]

I have not removed this piece before, but it appears to be held on with clips. you can try removing the glove box and peeking in from behind. you may need to first remove the ac vent. they are clipped from the front, but it looks as though there may be a screw holding it in from behind. if the pad is only held on by clips, you simply pull the piece. be careful, a lot of force may be required and you want to distribute it evenly so as to not crack or break the plastic.

[Millsy]

I have not removed this piece before, but it appears to be held on with clips. you can try removing the glove box and peeking in from behind. you may need to first remove the ac vent. they are clipped from the front, but it looks as though there may be a screw holding it in from behind. if the pad is only held on by clips, you simply pull the piece. be careful, a lot of force may be required and you want to distribute it evenly so as to not crack or break the plastic.

Yeah I tried just pulling on the piece before but the foam was acting like it wanted to pull itself from the plastic! I really didnt want to have to take the glove box out but that piece would complete my dash coloring. I'll be taking time out of my day sunday to get it removed. Thanks for your input!

[Millsy]

Okay so I finally got a day off, and it was nice out so I decided to give another go at this damn dash pad. If I had to do it again, I'd definitely invest in a flexible screw driver. Or just take the whole damn dash out, might of been easier... So I opened up my glove box and started inspecting where all of the screws were that were holding it in place. I think I took out a total of 10 screws before the thing popped off. After setting my glove box to the side I took a look underneath my dashboard to see if I could see the clips holding on the pad, and low and behold there they were. More screws. The first 2 were pretty easy to get to, I was using a standard phillips head screw driver and didn't have too much trouble. I started pulling on the piece a little bit, but you could tell something else was holding it on. I reached my hand up in between the airbag pipe and the airflow vent and started feeling around this tightly cramped space and wouldn't ya know?? More screws! 3 to be exact! There's absolutely no way to get a screw driver up into that particular space so what I did was grab a 1/4 inch socket, a 1/4 inch drive, a 1/4 socket joint, and a phillips head bit (the small one from say a multi-head screwdriver) and went to work. Now, my hands aren't exactly small, but I'm a thin guy, and my wrists aren't that bulky, but if I'd of had 10 more pounds on me, I doubt I'd of been able to get these last 3 screws out, it took me about 3 hours of losing my grip, dropping the thing down into my dash, and a lot of bad words that I'm probably going to hell for. After the final screw was out, I threw my tools down and breathed that sigh of relief that you can only get by being frustrated while working on a car, and overcoming your obstacle. I got the piece painted and put back on (the top left 2 screws excluded) and man was I satisfied. It looks great. Well worth the time and effort!

Also I had been having trouble with my a/c and heat, as soon as I got the glove box off I turned my air temp. control hot to cold, and saw that the control arm was attached to the blend door lever, but there was a clip that was suppose to be holding that lever in place that was just hanging there. I reattached the clip, moved the air temp and felt hot air in my car for the first time in a year. Too bad its summer now and that -13 degree weather is gone now. But at least I'll be ready for next year!