[rxter]

Planning to pull the dash for a leather replacement of the vinyl. Scott's DIY is very informative, but I am a visual learner and would like as many photos as possible to help me along. If any one is doing this in the near term I would appreciate photos and comments.

http://www.968forums.com/index.php?showtopic=4

Planning to get the leather done at 928 leather shop as they seem to have loads of experience with this item. Since they are a long way from me I'd need to install the leather on the dash myself so any tips or pics of that action would also be welcome. Any options-recommendations in CA/AZ would be welcome as well. I'd be more than happy to leave the car with an experienced shop and have them pull the dash and do the leather installation on site.

Thanks

Joe

ps - not sure where to post this request so it fell here.

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[94SilverCab]

I don't know if Anchorman took pics, but he did an extensive R & R of his dash several years ago. He is the go to guy on this.

Regards,

Jay

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[PorscheDude]

http://clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/body-24.htm

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[Anchorman]

Great memory, Jay. Yes, I did this, and took a bunch of photos. Let me locate them and then...what do I do with them? There's way too many to post. Maybe I'll put them at my photo processing place and then I'll provide Joe with a link.

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[Anchorman]

That went much faster than I expected. Joe, if you'll send me your email address, I'll send an invitation for you to view the dashboard photos - there are 40-someodd photos, some of which might need some explanation. My primary purpose in taking them was to assist me in the reassembly.

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[xrad]

rxter: I know Bob at 928leathershop very well (lives about 10 miles from me). great guy and excellent work. He usually has several dashes in his shop which can be covered while you take yours out...no major time loss. Except that pass air bag can be a problem sometimes...

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[rxter]

Dude - thanks! Clarks Garage strikes again

Anchor - thanks! PM sent

xrad - thanks for the cautionary on the airbag. Frankly I wonder if these 15 year-old airbags should just be pulled. How much help can they really be at this point? Would the car perhaps not start if they were pulled? I am sure there are some posts on here if I search...

Looks like a long weekend job - lots of patience and time set aside for thinking, not just hacking away.

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[Anchorman]

rxter, link to my photos has been sent to you.

If you're trying to do this over one weekend, I'd say - yes, it'll be a long weekend. There really is not much in the way of hacking to be done - just care and time. Looking back, it was a much easier job that I expected - but one that can easily be botched without care and time.

As for the airbag - I'd already replaced my steering wheel with a 996 wheel, so my airbag is relatively new.

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[xrad]

rxter: Thinking the same thing a while back. You have to consider whether or not the belt restraints were made to work only in conjucntion with the airbags...or can work without them. I noticed that the lower part of my front belts have several folds of material allowing much stretch(they might not even be original to the car....). I looked at the belts on 944/951 without airbags and belts don;t have these folds.

I would think that if you pull or disconnect the airbags, you would want to put in the non-airbag belts.

I was also considering that Porsche engineers would plan ahead in case of air bag failure and that the 968 seat belts would be sufficient, but I have no crash data to support this, so it is only a guess.

I purchased a nearly new set of non-airbag belts and plan to install them.

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[rxter]

Anchor - thanks for the photos. A veritable treasure trove for anyone doing anything in the dash area. This one, in particular, gave me pause though..... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]


   

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[Anchorman]

Boy, do I ever understand! There was a similar one posted by Eric Sandoval on .net when he did his dash replacement, and it almost was enough to stop me. However, it really isn't as bad as it looks. One thing that helps is that almost of all the wiring has "memory" from having been in place for many years. That greatly helps with getting things back where they belong. But, you do want to work slowly, take notes and little detail photos, and be careful with the plastic parts (connectors, dashboard trim pieces) that can be brittle from age. That's why I suggest not trying to do this in one (long) weekend. I think it can be done, but is probably not the best approach for the first (and, hopefully, last) time.

I assume you have the written instructions? (As I typed these words, I searched for, but could not find, the file - but I'm pretty sure I have the hard copy if needed.)

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[DaveN]

For what it's worth I have the exact same photo of my car. Just take you time and have a beer every once in a while. It's a little daunting to see the guts just hanging there but I used a lot of white 5*3 envelopes and labeled each one as to where the screws and nuts contained therein resided. I think there were only a few pieces left over [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img]

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[Torbjorn968]

How much weight is to be gained by stripping the dashboard?

Best

TL

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[Anchorman]

What do you mean by "stripping the dashboard"? If you're talking about removing it entirely and mounting track-needed gauges in some other way, there's probably 30-40 pounds to be saved. I didn't weigh the dash weight, but I was able to handle it alone - although it was awkward. If you're talking about removing unnecessary stuff (glove box, vents, other little bits and pieces) but leaving the dash installed, not a whole lot of weight would be lost.

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[flash]

passenger airbag is about 6lbs

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[Anchorman]

Do you think so? I have a spare passenger airbag - next time I'm where it is (the storage locker), I'll get it weighed. It's meaty, but I don't recall it being that heavy - possible, though.

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[flash]

that's what i remember - mine is up in the garage attic - i can pull it down and weigh it again easily enough

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[rxter]

If I wanted to remove the lower dash only (glove box latitude) would I have to remove the upper dash as well?

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[Anchorman]

Without being certain what you're asking...the center console is separate from the dash. Everything that's horizontal (including the area in which the glove box is mounted) is part of the dash. There are no separate upper and lower dash pieces. If you need more info, I believe I still have photos from when I replaced my dash.

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[rxter]

Sorry - I was not very articulate. I am referring to the part of the dash that is cashmere on your rig. The pieces below the AC switch, temp gauge, under teh steering wheel, etc.

In several pictures it appears that these pieces are still on after the upper part of the dash (the large black part with the air bag cutout, hole for the instument cluster, and defrost vents) has been removed.

I am asking if you would be able to remove the lower pieces without removing the upper piece.

Thanks

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