Chim Radio panel drama ..
Discussion
Hi all ..
Well apart from a 12 mile trips to the MoT station the car has done 100 miles in 2.5 years so as it was a dry day today and after some careful visual checks I got the car out for its first run for a long while.
Touch wood the care ran beautifully after the first 5 miles of gentle driving to get the cobwebs out and then some spirited dual carriageways and B roads 50 or so miles was done!
About 5 miles from home I managed to hit an unfamiliar pot hole and although not that big the whole radio panel decided to make a break for freedom in the process!


So here are the questions:
Clearly the veneer was tired anyway so can I get a separate one from anywhere?
How is the steel frame secured to the car? it looks like it may have been just pushed in?
Any tips or tricks to disconnecting everything to get it out e.g do the ribbon cables only fit one way and how are the smithed secured
There is a LED which has broken away it look like it may have been glued in does it need cutting out and replacing?
As usual any help and comment would be appreciated!
Thanks
Chris
Well apart from a 12 mile trips to the MoT station the car has done 100 miles in 2.5 years so as it was a dry day today and after some careful visual checks I got the car out for its first run for a long while.
Touch wood the care ran beautifully after the first 5 miles of gentle driving to get the cobwebs out and then some spirited dual carriageways and B roads 50 or so miles was done!
About 5 miles from home I managed to hit an unfamiliar pot hole and although not that big the whole radio panel decided to make a break for freedom in the process!


So here are the questions:
Clearly the veneer was tired anyway so can I get a separate one from anywhere?
How is the steel frame secured to the car? it looks like it may have been just pushed in?
Any tips or tricks to disconnecting everything to get it out e.g do the ribbon cables only fit one way and how are the smithed secured
There is a LED which has broken away it look like it may have been glued in does it need cutting out and replacing?
As usual any help and comment would be appreciated!
Thanks
Chris
The screws holding the panel to the lower dash I can see in the photos. Its where the panel attaches that has failed. On my last Chimaera, I used 2 part epoxy resin to secure the little right angled brackets. It was an earlier panel with the buttons but the method is the same, a similar thread the other day:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Many thanks looks like a typical TVR Friday afternoon at the factory solution :-)
Assume therefore (always dangerous!) that ideally I need to take out the radio and undo this small screws to release the metal piece for glueing? My concern will be if that is correct would be the alignment?
As mentioned and as the ribbon cable all came off when it dropped out, is there any way to ensure correct refitting as apart from a small black dot on each of the small circuit boards there is no indication of a + end on the cables?

Assume therefore (always dangerous!) that ideally I need to take out the radio and undo this small screws to release the metal piece for glueing? My concern will be if that is correct would be the alignment?
As mentioned and as the ribbon cable all came off when it dropped out, is there any way to ensure correct refitting as apart from a small black dot on each of the small circuit boards there is no indication of a + end on the cables?

You need to remove the radio and any mounting cage it's in and then you'll get access to the two pairs of screws that fix the radio dash mounting brackets to the body. At least they do when they're attached to the radio dash!
I'm looking to replace the radio and instrument dash with stainless steel ones soon and will probably need to move the mounting brackets from the old dash to the new one.
I'm looking to replace the radio and instrument dash with stainless steel ones soon and will probably need to move the mounting brackets from the old dash to the new one.
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