Urgent! How to remove dashboard?

[William]

I've read this:
http://passionford.com/forum/ford-puma/359963-puma-dash-removal.html
and this:
http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?t=13577
and I've got to the part where the dashboard is supposed to pull forward a few inches. Yet my dashboard is still so secure that I could drive down the road with it, and I wouldn't fear that it would fall off. Am I missing something?

It seems to be fixed more at the passenger side than the driver's side, but neither side is moving more than a few millimetres. Do I need to remove the metal legs that sit behind the centre console? Should part of this metal structure come away with the dash, or am I only to take out plastic?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[William]

It also doesn't help that the photos in those threads are missing, so if anybody still has those, I would appreciate a look at them.

 

[YOG]

http://www.pumapeople.com/wiki/index.php?title=Dash_Removal

 

[red]

The pictures are there in the thread here linked in the first post.

 

[William]

Thanks for that. The photos really helped. I wish I'd had them today.

Tomorrow I'll take another swing at it. I wasn't aware that the metal legs had to be unscrewed from either side of the centre console and came away with the dash. That should make a difference.

Unfortunately, I pulled away the side air vents to make it easier to grab the dash, and the clips went pop in both. They're very very flimsy.

Anyway, thanks again.

 

[William]

Update: The dashboard is out. I find it hard to see how it will go back in. This car could end up being sold for parts.

On the left, the soundproofing is completely saturated behind this unit, which is a bit of a problem:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/koj0wmc3k13axpf/2016-01-14 13.33.33.jpg?dl=0

On the right, most of the water seems to be here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u6acr2nsf2amfbl/2016-01-14 13.34.06.jpg?dl=0

 

[TylerB]

[post]345340[/post] Update: The dashboard is out. I find it hard to see how it will go back in. This car could end up being sold for parts.

On the left, the soundproofing is completely saturated behind this unit, which is a bit of a problem:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/koj0wmc3k13axpf/2016-01-14 13.33.33.jpg?dl=0

On the right, most of the water seems to be here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u6acr2nsf2amfbl/2016-01-14 13.34.06.jpg?dl=0

I once removed it, removing the dashboard required a lot of patience for me. Writing down,labelling,etc.. helped me a lot to get it back in properly. Not a job to 'do in a hurry'

 

[William]

This job is almost finished, and the steering wheel is going back on, but I have one question: Two small springs fell out of the steering wheel when I was removing it, and I can't find where they might go. Does anyone know?

 

[TylerB]

[post]346606[/post] This job is almost finished, and the steering wheel is going back on, but I have one question: Two small springs fell out of the steering wheel when I was removing it, and I can't find where they might go. Does anyone know?

Do you got a picture of these springs? Maybe seeing them could help.

 

[William]

[post]346824[/post]

[post]346606[/post] This job is almost finished, and the steering wheel is going back on, but I have one question: Two small springs fell out of the steering wheel when I was removing it, and I can't find where they might go. Does anyone know?

Do you got a picture of these springs? Maybe seeing them could help.

Thanks, but I found where they went in the end! When I reassembled the wheel without the springs, I realised what they were for because the horn kept going off.

Two springs sit inside each of the two switches that activate the horn. I have no idea how they escaped from the left switch in my steering wheel, but I put them back in and everything worked fine.

The leaks seem to be fixed now. Overall, the car was laid up for four weeks, which is a little longer than the four days I had expected.

The leaks in the top corner of each footwell were easy to fix, and I could have done those without removing the dashboard. Removing the front seats would have made access easier.

I would not have been able to fix the leaks around the two large wiring grommets without removing the dash. I sealed around these on the outside, but after several attempts, the rain kept dropping in. Finally, I practically emptied a tube of Tiger Seal around the grommets on the inside, and the leak stopped.

The guide was very helpful. I would reverse two steps if following the instructions in reverse for reassembly: I found the L-shaped bracket that goes under the steering column needed to be fixed in place before the steering column went on, and not after.