Removing lower dash trim under steering wheel?

[Judder]

Probably a really simple answer but I'm trying to remove the lower dash trim under the steering wheel to gain access to the wiring, but even though I have removed the two lower right and left screws (orange arrows in photo below) and what looks like the location of a bolt is already removed (green arrow) the area around the red circle seems to be steadfastly stuck and I can't seem to remove the trim no matter how much I push and pull and try to nudge

Anyone who's done this before know what / where / which screw I might have missed?

Many thanks Alex

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[Nick Mann]

The panel to the left (by the drivers left shin) needs to come off first if I remember correctly. The other side can be loosely held with the door seal too.
Once all screws are out there are a couple of clips at the top of the panel, like the clips that hold the clock in place. It should be obvious by then that the only things holding the panel are at the top though.

[Judder]

Once all screws are out there are a couple of clips at the top of the panel, like the clips that hold the clock in place. It should be obvious by then that the only things holding the panel are at the top though.

Thanks Nick - yes I can move the bottom of the whole panel quite freely and the part to the left of the steering wheel can be moved top and bottom so I think it's just these elusive top clips that are holding the part to the right of the steering wheel on still.

I did put my hand into the back of the panel to see if I could find any clips but nothing obvious - do they just slide on / off and I'm guessing if I get a torch and lie in the drivers footwell upside down I should be able to see them?

BTW I've not removed the clock before so not sure how that clips on!

[Judder]

OK - so I went researching and found this thread (https://www.ozvr4.com/threads/dodgy-clock-and-replacing-it-with-a-trip-computer.392/) on removing the clock so I then went to try and find photos of the clips that hold the clock in and these photos seem to show that they are vertical clips with metal 'springs' in them which would hold the clock in place

If the same type of thing is used on the lower steering wheel dash, I'm guessing I just pull the panel downwards to release them, much as the clock goes upwards to release that?

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[Nick Mann]

The panel needs to move horizontally to unclip, towards the back of the car.

Good luck!

[Judder]

The panel needs to move horizontally to unclip, towards the back of the car.

Good luck!

Thanks Nick and yes that makes complete sense - many thanks!

I'm now away from the car for a few weeks but will report back once I've given the panel a good shove horizontally towards the back of the car :thumbsup:

[menno3x8g]

Picture of the backside.

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[Judder]

Picture of the backside.

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That's perfect - many thanks and shows the two clips I need to pull towards me to release :thumbsup:

[Judder]

That's perfect - many thanks and shows the two clips I need to pull towards me to release :thumbsup:

Just to add the whole panel came out great as described - I simple made sure I had removed all of the screws and then pulled it towards myself while sitting in the drivers seat

One thing that would have made my life easier was to remove the two holding screws for the bonnet lever before removing the panel, as this still being connected causes it to float around as it can't quite reach the floor and makes removing them harder

Now to find the wiring diagram for this plug - anyone know if we have it on the site in the member's resource area or similar?

I'm thinking hoping I can get +12V ignition and ground by tapping in to the heated windscreen button wires - not sure if there is a +12V lights anywhere nearby too that anyone has tapped into for their installs that would be better? Reading around everyone says to avoid the radio power and ground, and I'm trying to avoid taping into the ECU directly for those :thumbsup:

Cheers Alex

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[Judder]

Just to answer my own question it looks like there is no power on those switches, just that they are switches, so I will have to tap into power somewhere else

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[Confused]

You've got the internal fuse box right there. I've used those "add-a-circuit" things which piggyback into an existing fuse before, that's a relatively clean solution, and better than splicing into existing wiring.

What is it that you want to power?

[Judder]

You've got the internal fuse box right there. I've used those "add-a-circuit" things which piggyback into an existing fuse before, that's a relatively clean solution, and better than splicing into existing wiring.

What is it that you want to power?

Thanks and yes I didn't particularly want to go digging around the back of the fuse box

I'm trying to rig up an Apexi Super Airflow Controller, a Boost gauge and an Apexi AVCR boost controller and rather than tapping all 3 units into the ECU power and ground, what I thought I would do to keep things clean was to tap into a power and ground source somewhere else and then run separate wires over to by the ECU so that the units can all be powered by this rather than interfering with the ECU power

Just following your logic but I could probably tap into the feed line for one of the Aux circuit fuses such as fuse 10 for the Cigarette Lighter or fuse 7 for the Rear Window Defogger which are either not or very infrequently used and could provide quite a 'clean' power supply

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[Confused]

I'm going to strongly suggest that you don't bother with the two Apexi devices - those are late 90s "solutions" (aka bodges) to lack of ability to rewrite ECUs.

All our stock ECUs can be reflashed to tune them, and the results will be substantially better than adding on those piggyback devices.

I'd sell those devices on to someone else who doesn't know better, or has a car with non modifiable ECUs, and put the money instead towards a basic reflash, or if you really want to go all out, a modern aftermarket ECU.

[Nick Mann]

Those circuits are likely to be a good bet to use, but I'd agree with Garry above - a reflash of your ECU will see better, safer results. Depending on your DIY tuning skills, it is possible to buy the equipment to flash yourself - however I'd suggest coming along to a garage day to learn a bit and chat to Garry and Jay about options.

[Judder]

Those circuits are likely to be a good bet to use, but I'd agree with Garry above - a reflash of your ECU will see better, safer results. Depending on your DIY tuning skills, it is possible to buy the equipment to flash yourself - however I'd suggest coming along to a garage day to learn a bit and chat to Garry and Jay about options.

Thanks both and to be honest I hadn't thought about it that way - back from owning a few GTO TTs quite a few years ago the Apexi devices seemed to be the de facto way to go

If better results can be achieved with re-flashed ECUs (I have a license for EvoScan) then that's a much better solution and yes attending one of the garage tuning days with Garry and Jay sounds a great way to go and learn more - where are they posted up?

For the moment I'll just rig-up the boost gauge (fairly easy) and the RPM and Throttle on the Apexi AFCer as these will be interesting / fun gauges to have working and then I can review the rest after chatting with the guys

Thanks as always for the feedback :thumbsup:

[Nick Mann]

They tend to be posted on here, usually happen about twice a year.

Where are you based?

[Judder]

They tend to be posted on here, usually happen about twice a year.

Where are you based?

I'm normally in London but the car is in Southern Ireland so it would just be me learning about other owner's cars - where are the garage days normally based?

[Confused]

If I'm hosting (which I have done for the last few years), it's in Nottinghamshire.

Would be a nice little road trip for the car! ;)

Need to chat with the missus and see when I could start to get one arranged for!

We've also got the 20th anniversary celebrations next year (also near me) so I know some people might need to decide between the different events.