94-97 Dash Removal Process

[NotaDime]

ok guys heres a how-to on removing a 94-97 dash.
the windshield was busted out, so it was easy to get some great pictures of it all. ENJOY!!





first off remove the screws from the speaker grill (t-15), 2 of them under each speaker grill






then remove the 7mm screw thats in there towards the windshield on each side.






then the center defroster vent will pop up and there are two 7mm screws in there to, one on either end.






i forgot to take pics of removing the panel under the steering column, there phillips heads and 7mm screws, remove all them

unplug the big plug under the steering column with a 7mm
then remove the FOUR 15mm screws and you will be able to sit in the drivers seat and yank the steering wheel towards you to remove it.






now remove the bolt above the emergency brake, its the one mostly to the top of this pic.....





then remove the one above the emergency brake that goes thru the silver bracket...







its almost the same for the passenger side...



and i forgot to get a pic of the one up and behind it. kinda is the same spot as the drivers side one.









then remove the one bolt that is alomst in the dead center (more to the right) of the bottom of dash, it screws into a metal bracket....







now those are ALL of the bolts that hold in the dash.










now for all the plugs.

with all the bolts removed the dash will tilt downwards, towards the rear of the vehicle.

unplug the following plugs....

drivers side, theres only ONE.







passenger side :




this is the MAIN harness on the passenger side and it has a 7mm bolt in the center of it...






then you have this black and blue one...











then theres two small plugs right near that big one....





and last but not least, theres the one plug that has all the vacuum lines, when you disconnect this line it will make a noise with air rushing thru it, this IS normal.






after all of this remove your radio antennea cord and the dash will lift up and out.

[HighrollerII]

sweet write up man...very detailed

[95dime]

not to offend you but that writeup is incorrect..... bolts for the ebrake dont need to be touched....and make sure to unhook the ebrake release because it goes through the dash shell not under.....as for the column you only need to undo the 2 that are visible after the panel on bottom is removed and itll drop down. should only be a total of 9 bolts/nuts/screws needed to remove to take the actual dash out.

[NotaDime]

Quote: Originally Posted by HighrollerII

sweet write up man...very detailed

thank you sir

Quote: Originally Posted by 95dime

not to offend you but that writeup is incorrect..... bolts for the ebrake dont need to be touched....

umm well YOU are wrong. i NEVER said the ebrake bolt had to be removed, i said the one ABOVE the ebrake., and THAT ONE you do have to remove.

Quote: Originally Posted by NotaDime

now remove the bolt above the emergency brake, its the one mostly to the top of this pic.....

Quote: Originally Posted by 95dime

and make sure to unhook the ebrake release because it goes through the dash shell not under.....

this is the only thing you wrote that i agree with

Quote: Originally Posted by 95dime

as for the column you only need to undo the 2 that are visible after the panel on bottom is removed and itll drop down.

its easier to remove only 2 more bolts, and get it completly out of your way

Quote: Originally Posted by 95dime

should only be a total of 9 bolts/nuts/screws needed to remove to take the actual dash out.

this is not true, NOT including the 4 steering column bolts..

theres 4 on the top of the dash....

theres 4 under the dash....

theres 1 under the dash in the middle facing straight up.

that equals 9 NOT including the column bolts.

it would be 13 with all four of them.

and thats NOT including ANY of the screws or 7mm torx bolts and the bigger torx bolts on the lower panel to remove the lower panels, so i dont know how well your dash is together but mine has all the screws. so therefore theres many more than 9.

[NotaDime]

Quote: Originally Posted by 95dime

should only be a total of 9 bolts/nuts/screws needed to remove to take the actual dash out.

oh yea and theres no nuts holding my dash on

[Rhotpursuit]

Quote: Originally Posted by NotaDime

oh yea and theres no nuts holding my dash on

Well....actually there are. Call them speed nuts, panel nuts or sheetmetal nuts...they're still nuts....and so are we...

[NotaDime]

and where are they located?? i dont recall removing any types of nuts from my dash


EDIT** steering column nuts

[Rhotpursuit]

Quote: Originally Posted by NotaDime

and where are they located?? i dont recall removing any types of nuts from my dash


EDIT** steering column nuts

Most of the screws have some type of nut, even if they are sheetmetal screws...The nuts are stationary and do not come off. It's a small point and not worth getting anyones panties in a bunch over....

[Terracoma]

If you add arrows to your photos, pointing to bolts and wiring connectors to unplug, it would make a (more) kickass sticky. Just a thought. Either way, good write up.

Photo of the E-Brake pedal bracket ---> *right click, save as* ... I can't get my fat head under the dash to see it.

[6wraith]

very helpful post. i do have a?? for ya. the 4 torx bolt at the steering wheel, if i was to take them off would it come off from there on an not have to mess around with it? im removing my dash and dont wanna f'n deal with putting together the steering wheel piece by piece.

[NotaDime]

sorry, i dont understand your question,...... 4 torx bolts for the steering wheel?

there are 4 NUTS that hold the steering column up, remove the 4 and it will dro and sit on the seat.

[6wraith]

yea sorry that wasw a stupid post. but there is one thing i do need to know. how may plugs are there in a 94 s10 blazer to unplug? dash is ready to come out but i dont want to ruin anything electrical. and i cannot see where all the plugs are. any help is really appreciated

[NotaDime]

Quote: Originally Posted by NotaDime

now for all the plugs.

with all the bolts removed the dash will tilt downwards, towards the rear of the vehicle.

unplug the following plugs....

drivers side, theres only ONE.







passenger side :




this is the MAIN harness on the passenger side and it has a 7mm bolt in the center of it...






then you have this black and blue one...











then theres two small plugs right near that big one....





and last but not least, theres the one plug that has all the vacuum lines, when you disconnect this line it will make a noise with air rushing thru it, this IS normal.






after all of this remove your radio antennea cord and the dash will lift up and out.

here.

[lowboy]

damn i didnt know how offended people get on calling screws nuts. we s10 owners dont play when it comes to proper descriptions on nuts and bolts

[kmhowell01]

Sounds like fun. I think I will start tommorow

[boosted93]

damn so why isnt this a sticky? its good info i just did mine today just have a few plugs left to unhook now that i read this i know its a 7mm bolt that holds down the big main plug good info a mod should def sticky it, it even has pics lol

[tricknad]

I have a 94 xtended and had to remove the harness from the dash. The dash i am putting in though is exactly as described above.

[TuckaBlaze]

good job, Its awsome.

There is only one thing that would make it better... and that is arrows pointing to each bolt/NUT/screw. LOL

[Trucks_69]

would've been nice if i had this last winter... lmao....

[low_s10]

prob a dumb thing to ask but would a 2000 gmc jimmy dash fit in my 95 s10 are the bolt hole and what not going to line up?

[X_NoHope_X]

ok im in the process of getting my dash out inbetween rain showers
im doing ok on finding the bolts and such, but the only problem so far minus the fact that i accidenlty pulled the e-brake release scaring the crap outta me, is that now i cant get the e-brake off from where it connects to the dash. im figuring it should be pretty easy but for some reason mine just wont come off. can anyone tell me how i can get the release handle part off the bottom panel so i can get the wire out from going through the dash.

[NotaDime]

hey nohope, it should remove NOT from the handle, but where the cable meets at the metal part of the foot pedal. kinda like a bicycle brake cable or a throttle cable.

[radarblue95]

i just pulled my dash i used this thread to find the bolts thanks!!!! oh yeah its a pain in the balls to fit behind the dash to get to all the wiring

[russell]

Nice write up man

[NotaDime]

Quote: Originally Posted by russell

Nice write up man

thank you sir.

[MARS2878]

Nice Write Up

[teamnaptime]

i'll add in that i just used the write up today as well.

HUGE THANKS to you for making it..!!!

i think it saved me several hours, several cuss words, and several thrown wrenches.


however, as someone above mentioned... my 94 xcab had slightly more aggrivation..


all the bolts were as you described. however, when it came to the wiring plugs...

i didnt have the few you mentioned... i had exactly eleventy billion and 4 to remove.

seriously.. we were disconnecting plugs for over two hours to get the dash to release.

we also had to take the main wiring harness on the driver side that comes in through the firewall, and disconnect it from its couple spots in the engine compartment, and bring the whole thing through and out with the dash !!

there was no way it was coming free from the dash.

i als ocould only find two bolts/nuts for the sterring wheel, which did drop it, but could not find two more to remove it... so we gave up on it !!

only took us about 3 hours but we finally got it all out ....

i dread putting it back together !!!!

[97s102.2]

just about to do this tomorrow. thanks for the great write up!! just what i needed. should really speed up the process of putting in a new harness by a couple hours. this should definately be sticky'd so its not so hard to find!!


thanks!!!

jason

[firstplaceracing]

Wow 2 Days Late Lol I Just Did This The Otherday

[old_skool_noma]

wish i would have know about a week and a half ago, would have saved a nice charcoal dash from getting hacked up at the junk yard from trying to get the wiring for a floor shift console:'(

but i guess i can use it to get rid of my A/C stuff

[deathphoenix99]

LOL, I like this, good write up and fun to read. So would a 98+ dash bolt up to the cab or would you have to drill holes? I've taken one dash out at a junk yard a few weeks ago just to see how it was done. About to add the panel to give my truck the capability of recirculating the a/c.

[NotaDime]

the dash board will bolt to the cab but some things like the a/c box is different. and some screws wont line up in the dash but all of em arent needed for it to bolt up.......

[ToasterO]

i might be using this thread sometime soon. think my heater core is gurgling and its driving me insane!!

[NotaDime]

good!! glad i could help.

[badmatt]

Sweet now I can smash out whats left of my heater box when I remove the dash!

[low98]

stupid question

is it going to be the same,roughly, for a 98+ newer?

[draggindime072010]

i just took the dash out of my 95 for the second time. i am swapping in a v8 and wanted to get rid of all the a/c and stuff that im not gonna need any more. and i am leaving it out until this weekend when i go to the u pull it yard to get a 98+ dash to put back in it. if you still havnt done this i will try and get pics of how it is done and explain how. im hoping its alot like the 95 dash

[badmatt]

Quote: Originally Posted by lowboy

damn i didnt know how offended people get on calling screws nuts. we s10 owners dont play when it comes to proper descriptions on nuts and bolts

you mean nut's and cap screws? bolts are an assembly..

[1HOTBOX]

Perfect write up. Just removed the dash on my 95 w/o any problems thanks to you

[shotty]

once I remove the dash will I be able to drive it? just like move it from my garage to the side of my house? I've never completely taken it out before does andbody have pics of it all removed? thanks

[draggindime072010]

you can drive it but your going to have to take the harness out of the dash and plug it all back up before you can drive it. i got my dash out right now if you want me to get some pics of it

[draggindime072010]

not very good but its the best i could get

[death trap]

Just pulled my ash, took no more than 30 mins. Thanks for the excelent write up! Only tools I needed was a T15 torq., 7mm, 10mm, 13mm, 15mm, 1/4" ratchet, med extention, long extention, flat and philps screw driver. Thanks!

[Poptart]

Is this similar to how the first gen dash is removed?

[Big Top Gt]

Resurrecting this thread from the grave.

Any chance the pictures from this thread still exist?

I'm going to a local junk yard to pull a dash, main dash wiring harness, computer, steering column, etc... tomorrow in a last ditch effort to get my truck to run right.

[Jesper]

Yes, the pictures would help a lot. I'm soon going to change my heater core and I'm lost on how to get the dash apart

[Big Top Gt]

While I didn't take any pictures of the disassembly process, I just walked inside from actually having pulled it.

It's REALLY easy.

Aside from a few vacuum hoses and clip in harnesses, you're largely just removing a few screws under the speaker covers and the defrost vent on the top of the dash. From there, it's two bolts that hold the steering column to the dash brace, two bolts at the lower, front edge of the dash itself (one on each side where the closed door meets the lower part of the dash about a foot up from the floor, basically.)

I think there was one just above the ebrake mount, too. You don't have to remove the ebrake, but you do have to peek under the dash to see which one you need to turn. (It's pretty obvious.)

It took less than 30 minutes to get it loose, but you don't realize how heavy it is. It was a wrestling match between me and the dash, because it kept getting stuck on the steering wheel.

An extra set of hands will REALLY come in handy.

Honestly, I'm kind of surprised by how easy it was to get out.

[Denominator]

So when people say it takes from 6 to 17 hours they are just plain BS me?

[Big Top Gt]

Quote: Originally Posted by Denominator

So when people say it takes from 6 to 17 hours they are just plain BS me?

I'd say that could be one of the biggest lies in the history of lies.

If I had two people we could have had it out in less than 20 minutes.