Is it possible to remove the dash (the plastic/vinyl piece) without removing the dash frame? Just curious as a drunk jack-*** friend gashed my perfectly good dash with his knife, and I'm trying to restore it. It would suck, though, as I don't really want to keep the FB down while I have the whole interior torn apart (I can still drive without a plastic cover, but not without a steering wheel or gauge cluster!)

I have an 82 with an all original dash (never been removed or replaced)

Thanks,
Danny

 

once you remove it, what're you planning on replacing it with?

A good vinyl patch place miiiight be able to fix it up for you without taking the dash out

 

82 is the EASY year to take apart your dash. I say Just rip the whole thing out shouldnt be a problem.

 

My Uncle's friend repairs car inyl and plastic.
Marek, are you saying that I CAN take it off without taking the dash out? If so, what's the trick? It's proving to be quite tricky. I've gotten most of it off with frame intact, just not the top part.

Danny

 

I'd just have your uncle fix the dash without removing it, then transplant the hole into your 'friend'...

 

I'd say you need help with friend removal and dash removal.

 

Ever been pistol whipped by a Colt .357? Well, after my friend gouged the dash, that remedied the problem. The trick is to use the barrel, not the butt like the movies would have you beleive. It's more like a pistol bitch slap to tell the truth.

The friend problem is cured, is what I'm tryin' to say And though my Uncle's friend is only charging HIM $20, he's still charging HIM $20.

I'd take the car there, but it's about two hours away, and I just don't have the time to take it up there, whereas my Uncle is a nice and retired old man

 

Well, first thing is to find the replacement dash...
I know of one gal who managed to get up inside the dash and release the 5 or 6 10mm nuts that hold the top of the dash to the framework WITHOUT doing a removal but it was her small hands that permitted it. You don't have to REMOVE the frame to get the dash cap off, but you need to loosen it at least and you do need to take most of the trim and hardware off. Its actually not very hard BUT you do need to keep track of the bits and how you disassemble it. I stripped out the dash off a 79 (same as your 81 for the most part) and happy to email you the text-tutorial of the process if you PM me with YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.
Its several pages and I don't know if folks here would appreciate my posting it in the Forum (?)
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

I'm sure we'd appreciate it greatly.
My email address aint no secret. It's gsterror@gmail.com (it's in my profile)

I managed to get three bolts off the top (I'm Mexican, we can get our hands anywhere )

I didn't find any others, though.

It seems as if there's something in the area of the middle fan vents holding it on that I just can't seem to find. . . .

 

Next time I'm changing a dash bulb in a Nissan Sentra, I'll have to find a Mexican to help me. That'll save me from having to disconnect the speedo cable from the transmission