1990-1991 LTD Crown Victoria Instrument Panel Removal

[86VickyLX]

Hi guys, my friend was recently in an accident with his '91 Vic. He managed to wipe out the front end as much as Vicky's accident. The only difference this time was it deployed the air bag. So, I was doing a little research on air bag repairs. And I found that the Diagnostic Monitor and the emergency power reserve are behind the instrument panel. So my question to you mangs, how would I go about getting into the dash? Any help would be great mangs. Thanks in advance,
~John

[1990LTD]

- long skinny dash trim pops off. long piece on passenger side/center and small piece at the steering wheels left. just pull that off. it goes in the back seat for now.

- unbolt drivers knee bolster because you will need to reach up inside there for the next step. there are two bolts at the bottom and i believe 3 that you should be able to see through the holes in the dash metal. back seat with this thing too.

- unscrew all of the torx head screws holding the bezel on..I can't remember how many there are but I hope you've got a few hours on your hands for this..the bezel should be free to move except for the knob for the lights to the left of the steering wheel, which is where the last step comes in. you gotta reach up inside there from the bottom (is easier to do with a screwdriver) and find the release button for the light switch/knob, letting you remove the knob all the way and letting you take the bezel off. just pull the ac hose off and stick it back on later. a good idea (if you haven't unplugged the battery already) is to put the light switch back in once the black piece is off so you're not draining anything.

- i'm pretty sure the clear plastic piece is up next, just some smaller torx screws but a few of the top ones you won't be able to get at without unbolting the entire unit (4 bolts on the piece that the clear plastic is over) and holding it at a weird angle to get at those torx screws...voila. you're inside the instrument cluster. good fucking luck putting it back together before sundown!!