90/91 Dash (from hell) Removal.

[GoFordBroke]

OK, I think I've got all the bolts out; how much force did it require to disengage your dash. I don't want to break anything (!), but it's not pulling away. I have removed the lower steering column bolt only, and the shaft doesn't seem like it is wanting to separate. I feel like I'm close, but I'm not there yet. I'm going to replace the door servo motor and ATC sensor (and heater core) and I was wondering if you had those part #'s; I called the guy at the dealership and got the telephone equivalent of an open-mouthed blank stare... I'll get an aftermarket core and do it while I'm in there, because I'll take an ass-whipping by a cross-dressing Occupier before I'll undertake this fucker again...

[miamibob]

Hope you get a good aftermarket core. Most of them suck! Bobby

[sly]

once the last bolts were out... the dash sorta fell away from the firewall. You'll have to lift it up a bit and then pull back to avoid damaging the seal on the air ducts though.

I've had good luck with the aluminum cores. The copper ones are rather hit or miss due to the solder joints being dependent on whoever was working that day.

[GoFordBroke]

OK, you were dead right; I missed a bolt behind the steering column. Took that fucker out and it fell out, as you said. I will say, though, that I have been deep into automotive entrails before - engines, suspension, rear ends, hell, I rebuilt a Laycock o'drive unit once.. never seen so many goddamn needle bearings - but my dash down and gutted like this is one of the most nausea-inducing sights I have beheld in a long time. I just hope it goes back together more easily(?) than it came apart... Still have to get to the htr. core, any words of wisdom? Your thread has been oxygen to a suffocating man; before I found this post I couldn't believe any Ford product would be so complicated.. and really, when it comes down to it, so well-made. The hidden fasteners, the bracing and the gauges.. very impressive. The gauge cluster is particularly well put together. I had a '88 CV wagon that I loved for almost ten years, and I had been all up in it, too, but it had nowhere near the complexity and build quality of the Merc. Maybe that's why the CV weighed 3850 and the CP weighs almost 4400, huh? Anyway, anyone got the part numbers for the door servo and ATC sensor? Thanks again...

[miamibob]

Check ROCKAUTO or MOTORCRAFT.COM for parts numbers. Bobby

[GoFordBroke]

Who sells an aluminum htr. core?

[GoFordBroke]

Thx again

[GoFordBroke]

Motorcraft part # 19980, $159.09! Holy shit.

[GoFordBroke]

That's the blend door actuator.

[GoFordBroke]

Temp. control sensor is part # 19C734(YH1456) and it costs $19.35, again a Motorcraft part.

[sly]

I got my aluminum heater core from Autozone. Seems the house parts are aluminum stuffs and cheaper due to the rising cost of copper.

[GoFordBroke]

BDA at Rockauto: $35! Hooray beer!

[Yorkshire]

I need HELP. I might be able to pull it off if I could see the pics but they're not showing up. I think I've got all the passenger side loose but the driver side is giving me serious trouble. Any tips or advice?

[VicCrownVic]

Have you dropped the steering column and removed both large bolts on the left most side? One large bolt is pretty easy to see near the door frame at the bottom of the dash and the other there is a either a hole or the headlight cavity that you have to look through to find the upper bolt, iirc. The top of the dash has that plastic piece closest to the windshield that just pops off and there are maybe at least 3 screws across the top of the dash under that piece. I don't remember if there was any thing else for the driver side.

[Yorkshire]

I did not drop the steering column. How difficult is that going to be?