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On 20 Jul 2005 at 9:44, Per Lindgren wrote: > No, not my precious 73 ;-) > > A friend of mine located a 73 Square in a junkyard. This car is a > complete US spec car, with the fuel injected engine and everything! Wow, VERY nice find! Congratulations. > How do I remove this dash pad without destroying it? Remove the steering wheel; save it if it is not cracked. While you're there, remove and save the TS switch, wiper switch, and the ignition switch. Remove the 3 dash gauges and the brite trim under the dash. Remove the screws that were hidden under the trim. The dash should come off easily now. The pad has a metal core which stiffens it. You should store it in a cool (but not freezing) place, probably sealed in a long plastic sleeve if you can find something like that. The vinyl shrinks as the plasticizers in it slowly evaporate. There's nothing you can do to reverse this, but you can minimize further evaporation by keeping it cool. > Another thing I want advice on how to remove is the fresh air box. It comes out rather easily. Take out the radio and the glove box. Save the glove box if it and the hood release cable are good. From under the dash, pull out the various plastic air ducts. The dash air vents come out, toward you, if you squeeze them just right. Pull off the 2 air vent dash knobs, and unscrew the 2 screws that hold the knob mechanism. With a 10mm socket, reach up and undo the four 6mm nuts (bolts?) that hold the airbox in place. Pull the airbox down and rearward (to release it from the short drain hose) and remove it along with the knob assy. and control cables. Save both drain hoses if they are in good shape. > I plan to get as much as I can from this car, but of course, some things > arent worth removing. All four fenders have the typical rust, as do the > bumpers, and the window gaskets are in bad shape as well, I was told on > the phone. I'm hoping the unique 73 chrome is good though. Not all '73s got the weird "chrome" trim. As far as I can tell, the fake chrome was installed randomly in '73 production. If your '73 has the plastic "chrome" you might want to save this trim if it is real. The plastic stuff is pretty awful; has yours shrunk, leaving big gaps at the joints? > I am of course getting the complete engine (tips on removing the wiring > is welcome, so I dont destroy anything), left inner rear fender (the > carburetted cars have no location for the ECU, so I might need that > later if I convert to FI on one of my cars), the transmission, front and > rear suspension w/brakes, wiring harness, doors, the rear hatch, the > hood, instruments, windows, lights, badges (hoping for the correct 73 > badges, with the brushed finish), fuel tank, master cylinder and pretty > much everything else in good shape that is not listed here. To get the FI wiring harness out, you have to remove the harness plug from the computer, then remove the back from the big computer end plug, so it can slide out the hole in the body once the big grommet has been pushed out of the body hole. The wires will be free to pull out of the connector at this point, but if you're careful, you can do this without any of them coming free. If they do get loose, they are each numbered, so it's rather easy to put them back in the right places. Note that on FI engines there are TWO fuel lines: a supply and a return. You have to disconnect (cut) both of them. Once you get everything out, remove the FI fuel pump and the fuel injectors and store them immersed in kerosene (parafin.) This will keep them from rusting in storage and maximize your chances that they will be usable should you ever want them. Save all the fuel pump mounting brackets, but you'll have to destroy the rubber pump mounts. Don't forget to disconnect the shift rod at the coupler BEFORE you start to drop the engine/tranny.If you drop the engine first, don't just let the tranny hang from its front mount and coupler. Save the shift coupler if you can. Don't forget to undo the tranny ground strap and clutch cable. You can usually save the clutch cable and Bowden tube. I usually save the pedal clusters also. It's also a good idea to unbolt the CV bolts while someone holds the wheels to keep them from turning. The CV bolts take an 8mm XZN bit; make sure to clean out the sockets before you try to use the bit in there. If the bit doesn't go all the way in, the bit or the bolt head will strip. Save the fuel tank overflow hose if it's good, but it's probably bad. Save any glass which is still good. Sounds like fun. ;-) -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~