GROAN....whatta PITA!
After removing all the screws, including the ones you can barely find, let alone see, I managed to get the dashpad out.
Yes, that's RUST. Toyota applied NO protective dip, coating, or paint on the steel parts behind the dash, and they start returning to their native state after a few years. Now I don't need to pull all these rusty bits to swap out the heater core, but they're coming out and getting sandblasted. I'll ask my guy at the powder coating place how much extra it will cost to have them powder coated vs my buying numerous cans of paint at $20 a pop. I'm guessing I'll just get them coated, as that way they're ready to go back in the car as soon as I get them home, versus taking a week or more to get them primed, cured, painted, and the paint cured.
SLW was worried I'd get Tetanus working in there until I reminded her that I had a TDAP shot six months ago.
Since the instrument cluster is out, I'm going to put new lamps in it, remove the plastic cover for polishing, and clean 40 years of dust (and two dead bugs!) out of it.
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If rust is only one layer thick, no scales, Ospho will turn it from iron oxide to iron phosphate. I used Lotsa Ospho on a drill ship we overhauled in Mobile bay. That required sandblasting first. I don't like the gel at all, but Ospho is Always in the shop. Might save you many hours and quite a few dollars. Clean it up, in place, apply, watch it turn black.
ReplyDeleteI've phosphated a lot of parts on the car already, like hardware, brackets, etc. These parts have to be removed to get at things behind them, so I won't do it in place. In this case, I'd sooner just spend the $$ to have it done, and the parts will be ready to put back when I bring them back.
ReplyDeleteMy body aches just thinking of all the bending and twisting you need to do for that job.
ReplyDeleteLooks a mess, but you got it under control.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Charleston, SC. Heading to GA later this morning, just north of JAX FL