HOW TO: Remove Front/Rear Dash and Install Deck, Remove Door Panels

[scott7]

Hi, new to the board and I have a question. The only information I've found was related to removing the stock head unit, but I was wondering if the stock head unit had any sort of audio inputs. My girlfriend might be getting a 2000 Cavalier z24 coupe, and I thought I'd wire an ipod adapter into the stereo like I did on my car, if it were possible. Now that I see you have to deal with taking off the whole dash and work near the passenger airbag, I might not even touch the thing for fear of messing up the airbag.

[koolcavalier]

Hi everyone, i'm new to this site. I have a 1996 Cavalier and I wanted to put in a new head unit. At first I had absolutely no idea on how to do this, since it was way different from the 1992 Cavalier that I had before. A cousin of mine told me that I had to take off the dash to do this. My first reaction was how the hell am I going to do that. So I searched the internet. And after lots of searching, I came across this site and found Classicrocjunkie's post on how to take apart the dash and install the new unit. Classicrocjunkie, thank you for posting how to do this on the internet. I read your post and all of the replies. It helped me so much. I had the job done in about an hour and a half. I think thats pretty good for someone who never took the dash apart before. Your instructions and the pics were perfect. Now I know exactly how to do this in the future. I just wanted to take the time and say thank you Classicrocjunkie for your post.

[Cold_Silence]

Great post CRJ, just installed my rear pioneers today with a friend, took my time everything went smooth! They thump!


Did anyone notice that the 6x9 speakers in the rear deck arent fully exposed? The metal drilled out that expose the speakers face dont look big enough, its wasting potential sound distribution I was thinking of drilling new holes so i could center it better, or an even messier way is to drill the hole out bigger so more is exposed. I just left them be in the stock holes etc and they sound great, j/w if anyone else has noticed this "problem"

[ubercav]

hey classicroc,
first of all your directions for removing the rear dash were perfect. Thanks for outlining that. Now, in your directions for removing the door panels, you say you need a GM-Tool to remove the window crank, if i went to a chevy dealer and asked for one, would they know what i was talking about and would they sell me one?

[colinlesser]

go to advance auto parts, and get the tool its like$5

[Classicrocjunkie]

Originally Posted by ubercav

hey classicroc,
first of all your directions for removing the rear dash were perfect. Thanks for outlining that. Now, in your directions for removing the door panels, you say you need a GM-Tool to remove the window crank, if i went to a chevy dealer and asked for one, would they know what i was talking about and would they sell me one?

Or you can use a rag and if you jimmy it right it wil come out, just be sure to watch out where the clip goes, they are tricky little sons of bitches and like to go flying.

[CavLCD128]

NO

NO NO NO NO NO...flat head....screwdriver....is the only speical "tool" you need...just push the door back a little....pull the window crank forward a little....and wedge that little bastard out of there...and while ur doing that think of what you can do with the 10-15 bucks u just saved urself cuz u didnt have 2 buy the tool

[ubercav]

perfect! thanks a bunch

[Tonto Kowalski]

Question about door panels: After you remove all the screws and the window crank, does the door panel come off or are there some kind of clips holding it in place that you have to break?

[Classicrocjunkie]

Start pulling from the bottom, it has a gruve where it holds onto the window. Wiggeling is the best way and where it feels snagged just pull there. Just make sure you get alll the screws out first.

[Tonto Kowalski]

Ok, and when I go to put it back on, do I just put the screws back in or are there some clips that need to snap into place? Are there any clips that get broken when you take it off, which need to be replaced before you can put it back on?

[Classicrocjunkie]

you just have to make sure you get the part near the window on correctly and the rest just falls in place and lines up. there are no clips, just screws.

[ILoveMyCavalier]

Just a quick question, do you have to remove the whole dash like that just to install a new CD player? I have a '96 Cavalier with the original radio/tape player, and I bought a compatable CD player. I can see the section of the dash that covers the edges of the radio, but I don't know how to get it off. Any help would be great! Thanks!

[PsychoJJ]

Thats the greatest thing I dislike about cavalier is needing to take apart the whole dash for anything.

[Lances133]

Wow, I never thought of that....that sucks a bunch.