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Re: A4 Interior Info; Don't Discard
thanx dan...i too found out those things the hard way in installing my
stereo. my question is, how do you remove the dash or more specifically
how does one get behind the instrument cluster? i intend to take apart a
BEL 615 remote radar detector and mounting the display where the trip
computer display would normally go.
thanx in advance,
frontstage
----------
> From: Dan Masi <dan_masi@MENTORG.COM>
> To: quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> Subject: A4 Interior Info; Don't Discard
> Date: Monday, August 19, 1996 1:31 PM
>
>
> "Taking Apart Your A4", or
> "I Broke Parts Of My A4 So You Won't Have To".
>
> The following is some info on how to remove various pieces
> of A4. Some of this I learned from others... some of it
> I learned from guessing right... and some I learned from
> making bad assumptions and hearing that stomach-wrenching
> "crrrrrrAAACK!". Hopefully, this will prevent others from
> having to hear that sound; however, this is not a guarantee
> that you're not gonna break something!
>
> Front Door Panels
> -----------------
> Remove the two visible screws at the upper corners of the door
> panel. Remove the screw that's visible inside the oval-shaped
> hand grip area in the arm rest. This screw holds the oval
> piece in place that trims the oval cutout in the armrest that
> forms the hand grip. Remove this trim piece by snapping it
> out downwards; this will expose the final two screws that need
> to be removed. The door panel will lift straight up then out
> at this point. You'll have to disconnect electrical connectors
> (speakers, power windows, etc). You'll have to disconnect the
> door latch cable... this hooks into the inside door handle,
> the cable end has a shepherd's hook (question-mark-shaped
> hook) that you'll need to unhook. Then, just lift the panel
> up high enough so that the door lock pin is cleared, and you're
> free.
>
> The door frame has a number of small cutouts, into which
> L-shaped hooks in the door panel slide. These cutouts have
> rubber pieces lining them, to keep rattles down. When you
> remove the door panel, keep an eye out for rubber pieces that
> have come out of these cutouts; it's easy to knock them out
> and then forget to put them back in.
>
> Front A-Pillar
> --------------
> There is a Motorola microphone (w/preamp) mounted in the driver's
> side A-pillar. I put a different mic there, and routed the
> wire for my radar detector down this pillar. The pillar snaps
> out; it is held in place by three snaps, spaced equally along
> the pillar, towards the rear of the pillar. Fold back the
> trim at the rear of the pillar enough to get access to the
> pillar, and unsnap the snaps by pulling out and back (from what
> I remember, you want to pull a bit more back than out).
>
> Headliner
> ---------
> Didn't do much here, but I know the following: the mini sun
> shade in the center comes off by removing the visible screw.
> The light unit, with sunroof control, comes out of the headliner
> as follows: first remove the lens that covers the lights (it
> snaps out); this exposes two screws. Remove them, and the unit
> drops straight out. This would be an easy place to hardwire
> a radar detector to.
>
> Rear Deck
> ---------
> The whole rear deck removes as one piece. The rear speakers are
> top-mounted, and can only be accessed by removing the rear deck.
> First, disconnect the center brake light; you'll find the
> connector by going into the trunk and looking up through a hole
> in the deck frame near the center brake light. The front lip
> of the deck is held in place by three snap fittings... pop the
> front of the deck upwards to free those fittings. [oops,
> memory lapse... I think there may also be 2 or 3 screws that you
> have to remove from the trunk... take a look, it'll be obvious].
> Once free, the rear deck slides forward.
>
> Rear Seat
> ---------
> Just grab the front of the seat and pull upward... it is held
> in place by two spring clips at the front edge. It'll just
> pull up and out.
>
> The rear side bolsters are held in place by two hooks; one
> at the top, and one near the bottom. The bottom hook needs to
> be freed first. Push the bolster in and down far enough so
> that the bottom hook is free... you will then be able to pull
> the bottom out. Once the bottom is free, the top hook can be
> lifted out.
>
> Driver's Side Lower Dash
> ------------------------
> I needed to get the panel off that hides the underside of the
> dash from the driver's footwell area. It looked as though
> there was just a flat plastic panel that I could slide forward;
> until someone informed me that the plastic panel is not separate,
> it's actually part of a larger assembly. One removes the entire
> lower dash on the driver's side, everything directly below the
> wood trim strip, as one piece. There are two screws (actually,
> I think they're 8mm hex bolts) to remove at the front. First,
> pry off the oval trim caps... there's a looooong oval cap on
> the left, and a short one on the right. This will expose the
> bolts. [oh oh, brain fade again... I think there are two other
> screws, one near/above the gas pedal, and one in the fusebox
> area... look around, again, it'll be obvious]. Once all the
> bolts are removed, the lower dash slides forward.
>
> Radio
> -----
> The stock radio is a standard DIN mount (both the Bose and
> non-Bose versions use the same head unit), except that
> the face panel is wider than that of a standard DIN radio.
> The radio is held in place by a spring clip at the bottom of
> each side. To free a clip, stick something flat (like a
> nail file) into one of the slots at the bottom of the radio.
> Angle the tool so that as you insert it, it travels outward.
> Once it is in about an inch or two, straighten the tool...
> you're trying to catch the outside of the spring clip and
> pull it inward, so that it clears the frame and allows the
> radio to be pulled forward. The radio will slide forward
> when both clips are held inward.
>
> There is a connector diagram on the radio. It indicates that
> there are line-level outputs available in addition to the
> amplified output.
>
> Center Console
> --------------
> There are two large pieces that form the center console. The
> rear part is removed first. Slide the front seats all the
> way back, and remove an 8mm hex bolt from each side of the
> console (you first need to pry off the trim cap, you'll see
> it, just a few inches aft of the gear shift). Remove the
> rear ash tray. This will expose two 13mm nuts with large
> washers; remove them (there may be a third nut visible,
> that is visibly different; do not remove this one). Remove
> the rectangular rubber pad from the rectangular well to the
> right of the parking brake (in front of the phone jack); it
> just sits in there, not glued or anything. Now remove the
> phone jack assembly; it's a black box that sits in the
> rear of the rectangular well, and it is held in place by
> spring clips. Push the front edge of it aft, and lift it
> out. This will expose another 13mm nut that you need to remove.
>
> The rear part of the console is now essentially free, after
> removing 2 screws and three nuts. To lift it out, though,
> you need to first remove the parking brake trim. As you
> look at the parking brake, notice that the black plastic
> trim is in two pieces: the handgrip, about 5" or so long,
> and the rest of it, to the rear of the handgrip. You must
> first detach the handgrip from the larger rear trim. Where
> they meet, underneath, there is a square plastic "plug" that
> is pushed in from below. This plug is part of the handgrip,
> and must be removed by prying it downward. Once the plug is
> removed, the handgrip will slide forward and off. You can
> then slide the larger trim off (you may have to slide it
> forward and back a bit to loosen it, there is a piece of it
> near the top rear that fits into the parking brake handle).
>
> Once the parking brake trim is removed, you need to lift
> the console at the rear and slide it backwards a bit to free it
> from the front part of the console. First, though, you need
> to remove the diagnostic connector from the rear ashtray area;
> do this, by using a small flat-blade screwdriver and sliding it
> down along the grooves in the side of the connector housing, to
> free the connector catches. You'll be able to push the connector
> down and out of the console. The rear console is now free to
> remove.
>
> Remove the front part of the console as follows. The rear
> console must have been removed first, as above. In the driver's
> side footwell, there is a nut that must be removed. Pry off the
> trim cap in the side of the console, up near the gas pedal, and
> remove this nut. (The passenger's side doesn't have a nut, the
> console is held in place by a clip... sliding the console forward
> will free it off this clip). Remove the gear shift knob by
> unscrewing it. Pull the top of the leather shifter surround up and
> over the shifter. Remove the wood trim from around the switches/
> radio/climate control as follows: first, slide the radio forward.
> This will expose two 8mm hex screws, one on each side of the radio,
> that hold the wood trim in place. Remove these (and verify that
> they are indeed the screws that hold the wood trim, which is
> mounted to a plastic frame, in place!). The trim is also held
> in place by two spring clips, one on each side of the climate
> control. With the screws removed, you should be able to snap the
> wood trim out of these clips. Once these clips are free, the
> trim slides straight out (NOT up or down... there are slots
> above the switches, that tabs in the trim frame slide into for
> alignement, so the trim must be pulled straight back).
>
> Removing the wooden trim will expose the four 8mm bolts that
> you need to remove to free the console. It should slide straight
> back a bit, then you can remove it; you will first need to
> disconnect the cigarette lighter connector (the connector
> has a tab on each side of it; squeeze these tabs inward to
> remove the connector).
>
> ----------
>
> That's all I have for now; if anyone has any comments or
> additional info, send it to me and I'll include it here.
> Thanks!
>
> Dan Masi
> '96 A4Q, cracked parking brake trim, cracked wood trim
> frame, cracked pillar molding...
>
>
>
>