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The truths on dash/heater box removal!!

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Old Feb 13, 2009 | 04:18 PM
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Default The truths on dash/heater box removal!!

Well just finished removing the dash to get the passenger airbag and heate rbox(hvac) out of the car for some weight reduction.

For the dash I followed a write up that I saw on here(in the stickies at the top: take out all the bolts you see, pretty self explanatory, the a/c ducts are connected to the dash, one is in a retainer on the driver side and the other which is to the left of the glove box is held on from a screw through the back, which is impossible to get to(really it is), so just pull it hard and budge with a screwdriver and it will pop loose and there ya go the dash will come out with a little wiggling.

For the heater box i really couldn't find what I needed to do on here. So i just went after it.
-first moved the pcm to the top of the wheel well there are two bolts that hold it there.
-take off the hoses leading to the water pump off the pump and plug or let drain
-There is a torx bolt(forgot the size) holding those two hoses to the frame right by the headers on the passenger side.
-Now there are 10 bolts total that need to come off before the heater box will come loose. They are all 10mm.
-you will see little brass looking bolts on the heater box, none of these need to come off I reapeat none, so dont even bother with those.
-now there will be 4 10mm bolt on the inside of the car.
--------two on the bottom covered with tape style sound deadener
-------- one on the top of the box( will need an extension to get to)
-------- one on the right side of the box(kind of hidden but you will find it
-now move to the outside.
-there are 6 more bolts on the outside, in the engine bay, on the firewall
-two bolts are at the top right near the cowl on the fire wall.(you can see them)
---------one bolt on the right side, near the bottom. easy to get to
---------two on the right side of the hvac opening on right, one is above the head, and the other is down about 6 inches from the top bolt.
--------finally the hardest bolt to get to it right behind the intake on the firwall, pain in the *** to get to. can try to get it out it possible with a 1/4inch ratchet and small 10mm socket or you can forget about it and pull really hard from the inside when taking out the box and it will break off.

After all those bolts are out, the heater box will be lose and you will just be able to wiggle it out of the car taking you time and make sure you have no wires still attached.

Biggest thing is to have patience and take you time. Took us less than an 1.5 hours to get the dash out and about another hour figuring out how to get the box out and finding all the bolts. It is really not bad at all. patience is key.

Official weight of heater box and ducts: 34lbs+-5lbs of coolant that may have been in it as well as the bolts takin' out. so we are looking at about 35-40 lbs depending on how much coolant is in there.

Official weight of airbag and bracket out of my car was 18lbs not 14 like I have seen on here.

hope this helps somebody as it would have helped me as it was our first time taking it out.

prolly forgot something ask any question to clarify.

-carpet still in the car, center console still in the car and steering colomn and steering wheel still in car just moved down.

good luck
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Old Feb 13, 2009 | 04:35 PM
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nice write up.
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Old Feb 13, 2009 | 05:13 PM
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Nice review, I plan on starting it tonight and finishing it up tomorrow. So far today I've removed the fog light housings, wiper assembly, and started removing the door bars.
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Old Feb 13, 2009 | 05:18 PM
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Originally Posted by 01sscam
Nice review, I plan on starting it tonight and finishing it up tomorrow. So far today I've removed the fog light housings, wiper assembly, and started removing the door bars.
cool cool then it is perfect timing for you. I still have my foglights and doorbars, might do the doorbars but still unsure on them as of yet
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Old Feb 13, 2009 | 05:29 PM
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Nice write up camscam02. What does your car weigh now?

Luckily Chris did all of that before I bought his car including the door bars. I'm hoping to come in just under 2900
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Old Feb 13, 2009 | 05:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Reboot
Nice write up camscam02. What does your car weigh now?

Luckily Chris did all of that before I bought his car including the door bars. I'm hoping to come in just under 2900
Im was 3325 with me in it before all this. So now 3275 or so.

this is still with stock brakes all around, stock k member/a arms, big battery in front, stock carpet, stock hood and moly 6 point. after I change all this im hoping to get around 3000 with me in the car.(147 lbs as of today)
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Old Feb 13, 2009 | 07:45 PM
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Originally Posted by camscam02
Im was 3325 with me in it before all this. So now 3275 or so.

this is still with stock brakes all around, stock k member/a arms, big battery in front, stock carpet, stock hood and moly 6 point. after I change all this im hoping to get around 3000 with me in the car.(147 lbs as of today)
I could save 100lbs by letting you drive for me. My fat *** could use a diet........See you at the track

Don
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Old Feb 13, 2009 | 08:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Reboot
I could save 100lbs by letting you drive for me. My fat *** could use a diet........See you at the track

Don
haha I am down! can go a tenth faster. Hopefully ill be town when you head out.
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Old Feb 13, 2009 | 10:17 PM
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nice writeup.....im about to do this...not looking forward to it but need the weight gone....
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Old Feb 14, 2009 | 12:55 PM
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I did my entire HVAC system (heat/air/compressor/ac radiator/ducts) awhile ago. Does anyone know about how much weight this would have been (i forgot to weigh it before i threw it in the dumpster) Im doing a weight reduction build on my 94 and just trying to make a list of how much I've lost. Nice write up btw!
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Old Feb 14, 2009 | 02:46 PM
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im proabably gonna start mine this weekend, just been putting if off long as possible
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Old Feb 14, 2009 | 03:32 PM
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it really isnt as bad as people make it out to be. take your time it will be done quickly, also nutdrivers were nice to have while doing this.

Just took out all the sound deadening from the the transmission over to the passengers side and that weighed 9 lbs. so more free weight. too much stuff on the drivers side for me to take out to get to that sound deadening so it will stay for now.

Also made our own delete plate out of aluminum, looks really good and is really easy to do with spare aluminum tin snips and a outline(you can use the gasket off the hvac box and it works perfect as a templte). will post pics in a little
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Old Feb 14, 2009 | 03:50 PM
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Originally Posted by camscam02
it really isnt as bad as people make it out to be. take your time it will be done quickly, also nutdrivers were nice to have while doing this.

Just took out all the sound deadening from the the transmission over to the passengers side and that weighed 9 lbs. so more free weight. too much stuff on the drivers side for me to take out to get to that sound deadening so it will stay for now.

Also made our own delete plate out of aluminum, looks really good and is really easy to do with spare aluminum tin snips and a outline(you can use the gasket off the hvac box and it works perfect as a templte). will post pics in a little
think i have a couple aluminum signs laying around that would work nicely
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Old Feb 14, 2009 | 05:14 PM
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our delete panel we made. real easy to do like i said above

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Old Feb 14, 2009 | 06:16 PM
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Very nice write-up. I did mine about a week ago, wish I had known where all the bolts were then. Just had to keep looking for them. PATIENCE is the key. Great looking plate. Very professional.
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Old Feb 14, 2009 | 06:41 PM
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I'm working on taking the heater out, I'm having a lot of trouble moving the pcm though.
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Old Feb 14, 2009 | 07:00 PM
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ya just a time-consuming job. easy though

01sscam, PCM comes out easy. just remove the harness frm the PCM and there are 2 tabs (one on each side) of the PCM. pull the tabs and PCM should slide up
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Old Feb 14, 2009 | 07:00 PM
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Originally Posted by 01sscam
I'm working on taking the heater out, I'm having a lot of trouble moving the pcm though.
Just have to work with, moving it around, back and forth then the damn thing will just pop out almost by it's self.
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Old Feb 14, 2009 | 07:01 PM
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Originally Posted by 01sscam
I'm working on taking the heater out, I'm having a lot of trouble moving the pcm though.
there are two bolts that hold a bracket to the fender, also on each side of the pcm there are tabs on the bracket that you pull to the side and the pcm will slide out of the brakcet.

also make sure the wires arnt clipped to the hvac unit
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Old Feb 14, 2009 | 07:02 PM
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Originally Posted by RENE'S RAGE
Very nice write-up. I did mine about a week ago, wish I had known where all the bolts were then. Just had to keep looking for them. PATIENCE is the key. Great looking plate. Very professional.
haha exactly, wish i would have known where each bolt was that is why i made this thread. lol

thanks on complement on the plate
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