Heater Controls/Clock on S1

[legin]

Love my S1 but hate the black plastic plate that houses the heater controls and clock. I want to take it off and either replace with an alloy one or even spray it. I can get to the l/h nut easily enough but the r/h one !!!! Anybody managed to take one of these off? Has anyone tried improving theirs and if so how?

[birchy]

Bad news, well sort off.

You need to remove the nuts that hold the entire dashboard in place, four in total two around the transmission tunnel, two near the front edge adjacent to the doors. And two small screws at the rear of the transmission tunnel.

If you are lucky, you will be able to move the whole dash forward a couple of inches to get at the nut. If not you will need to disconnect the speedo cable and heater controls to get the required movement. It is a pain, took me an hour or so to get the movement without pulling anything off and a job for two.

Good luck

[legin]

Cheers Birchy.

I'll try that tonight (if possible)

[legin]

Ah ha success! I managed to remove the plate by only removing the two screws at the rear of the transmission tunnel and lifting the dash up slightly. This gave me just enough room to get to the r/h nut.
I have now concluded that the 'S' production line started with the heater control plate and the car built around it .
If anyone is thinking of doing this then remember to disconnect the battery. I used a small 10mm ring spanner to loosen the nuts (which you can see with a torch shining through the lower slot)