the dashboard is back together (well, radio is still out) and clean as a whistle. hope replacing that $25 blend door motor fixes the heat issues. for those who like their Great American Novels finished, not just published... had everything off to the dash, it should have kicked loose. guessed right on the wide-stud shoulder issue. a few days of penetrating oil, jam a WonderBar up under the dash frame and some taps with a 2-1/2 pound cross-pein hammer, and pop! -- it's off. still couldn't find the control even after cutting a hand hole in the dash which is under a trim cover, so I finally got a good excuse to get a fiber-optic inspection camera. what was $250 for Ridgid at the Depot three years ago is $80 with a newspaper coupon at Harbor Freight. works well... really, they are cellphone parts in a different housing, so it's not serious engineering.
I also decided to replace a lock solenoid for the driver's door while I'm gutting things. problem I found after I took the door panel off is that I put the windows down for access... and the glass keeps me from getting to the solenoid. so tonight instead of falling asleep to The Denver Zingers Hour! starring Jim Lehrer, with special guests Willard and Barack, I will reconnect the battery and run up the window.
if it all goes well, we will escape to Cold Stone to celebrate.
if it bites... like for instance, if a cable got pinched and the car burns up... we push it into the street and call 911. I don't expect that. but being an old systems manager, I anticipate the possibility. the garage door will be up, the tranny in neutral, and the wheel chocks moved to one only on the easily-kicked side.
the radio, converted to a Kenwood that does iPhone, is a beast to get in, with all the converter connectors and such. it goes in this weekend, probably.
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