Cluster Hood and heater matrix

[Starbaby]

Two questions here...

How on EARTH do you remove the paint on the instrument cluster hood?

If I can't get it off I may have to turn it into a feature, getting everyone who looks at the car to leave one fingerprint behind....oh WAIT...that has already happened!

The second thing is that I am attempting to remove the carpet which is still under the...well I think its the heater matrix...the white box behind the dash. Everything is out of the car but that and it looks like 3 or 4 screws and one clamp to move it out of the way but what about the heater core pipes?

If I loosen everything else and gently pull up far enough to cut the carpet loose can I damage the heater core?

What is the best way to handle these two problems?

[— Phatmiata —]

There is no PAINT on the OEM gauge hood, my guess is that the prior owner of your Miata painted it and it never cured, or used a chemical cleaner that had a bad reaction which re-emulsified the paint to that sticky mess.

[Starbaby]

Well, that would make sense, thank you!

I assumed that since the dash is painted that they went whole hog on the instrument cluster.

I think I will try brake fluid or something along those lines, this thing is a sticky mess and getting worse!

As for the advice on the carpet removal, that would make things a great deal easier, I don't want to remove anything complex unless necessary and have been agonizing over breaking something while trying to do something else.

[— Phatmiata —]

for the carpet there is one carpet push pin located directly under the A/C box (that white box) if you want you can carefully cut the carpet on one side and you can slide it out. Otherwise you will have to remove that white box to access the carpet push pin.

[Demon I Am]

I just yanked the carpet as hard and fast as possible, and it broke the clip without tearing the carpet. I may have been lucky?

My tan 1993 gauge hood was painted black.

[— Phatmiata —]

You have a 1991 BRG, so most likely your Miata had the infamous Miata sticky dash syndrome. The dash was actually molded in Tan plastic and then the black area up top was painted by Mazda. However whatever paint they used back then does not hold up well to the chemicals folks use to clean their interiors these days, so the reaction is a re-emulsification of the paint making it sticky or tacky again. Best bet is to remove the dash and have it taken to a bodyshop for a paint with clearcoat. Or if you are a DIY guy you can probably get some good quality paint remover and take the paint off and repaint it yourself with a good quality automotive paint.

[Demon I Am]

Just make sure you get something that won't eat the underlying plastic, otherwise you'll have a weirdly textured mess

[— Phatmiata —]

Check out this Miata dash removal in case you need help

http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....uctions-w-pics!

[— vote4pedro —]

For some reason all NAs with tan interiors have painted gauge hoods.
Goof off is excellent for removing the paint and does not harm the plastic.

[— Phatmiata —]

For some reason all NAs with tan interiors have painted gauge hoods.
Goof off is excellent for removing the paint and does not harm the plastic.

my 1992 SE didn't. anyhow good info!!

[mx54life]

The white plastic case is the heater core housing which is held by 3 nuts. Removing it is not the issue it is the coolant that will make the job messy. BUT this is also the best time to see if your heater core is intact. If it is original check if you can see any signs of leaking (turn on your heat and you smell coolant inside the cabin then.....)thus removing the housing and changing the core will make sense and would make the carpet removal easy.

I am at this issue at the moment so feel free to ask. Good luck.

[Starbaby]

Wow! Thanks to all of you!

Phatmiata, thanks for the link, I had one similar but I missed this one which is far more complete

It will make putting the dash back in a great deal easier. At the moment I have the dash out completely and taped all the fittings and wiring ends with corresponding numbers in case it didn't make sense to me putting it all back IN.

I tried using brake fluid on the sticky part, didn't think of goof off but I think it will work better and faster!

The brake fluid softened it up enough to slowly drag the paint off in a small section but would take forever, it was almost as bad as taking the black gooped door plastic off but there was no other way around doing THAT!

The heater core does not leak at all however the foam pads inside the air conditioning box HAS seen better days, luckily I have some foam pads exactly that size in my stash.


I will come back and post the results of cleaning this mess, once I get the carpets completely out I am going to wash and wax all the exposed metal, I have the A pillars and all that off anyway so will give everything underneath a good scrub and wax before re-installing everything.

[Starbaby]

So far, Goo Gone, Goof Off, paint thinner have done nothing to remove the sticky mess
Brake fluid does loosen it to a certain extent but there will be a lot of paper towels involved, grabbing the sticky stuff and DRAG it off bit by bit.

I may have to buy enough brake fluid to soak various areas and allow it to soak in for a bit before wiping off.

However, Goo Gone does seem to remove the final film left over from the brake fluid.

[— Malibu Q —]

I used lacquer thinner to remove the original paint from my dash. Worked well.
While you are looking at the heater, it was the firewall grommets that I had to replace on mine. Took ages to find that vibrating noise.

[Starbaby]

I used lacquer thinner to remove the original paint from my dash. Worked well.
While you are looking at the heater, it was the firewall grommets that I had to replace on mine. Took ages to find that vibrating noise.

Ok...will try lacquer thinner.

good point on the grommets, I had those replaced along with the "cursed water fitting" plug on the back on the engine when all the engine hoses were replaced. I am slowly going through all the heater control doors, dash and electrical connectors replacing all the foam while I am in there as well.