CF A/C Surround Installation

[Dave]

Low and behold the long-awaited CF climate control surround arrived today from the Indy Shop. It was a great excuse to leave work early to install. I've had a few questions about the installation, so I thought I take some pix along the way. You can use these instructions for removing to paint as well...

Pic 1: The carbon fiber surround is really a quality piece IMO, and a decent value @$200. No real imperfections that I could see.

Pic 2: The rear of the surround has only 2 screws (vs the 4 OEM) to mount the control board. They are much tighter than the OEM, and I found them sufficient anyway.

Pic 3: There are a couple of ways to dismount the surround. You can gently pinch down the top and slide straight out as I did. Or you can remove the two screws below the dash (circled red) and take out the entire bracket (red arrow). This might be an easier way than pulling straight out, as it's a tight fit.

Pic 4: Next, remove the 4 mounting screws for the control board, and pop off. Note, you don't need to pull any electrical connectors.

Pic 5: Reverse the order for installation, and you're in business.

[TOPGUN750]

I got mine too. It arrived last week and I installed it after asking you how to remove stock HVAC surround.

It is a nice piece...it could possibly use another coat of clearcoat as the surface is not as smooth or blemish free as the center console. All in all I like it a lot and it is a big improvement over stock.

Question for you Dave. Do you find that there is still a little play with the A/C controls toward the bottom ever so slightly as there are only 2 screws now and they are located at the top? Also did you surround snap in (mine didn't)? Currently mine is just being held in from the pressure. There is nor not really much play with it but more than with the stock HVAC which was more securly in place.

All in all it was worth the wait.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by TOPGUN750

Question for you Dave. Do you find that there is still a little play with the A/C controls toward the bottom ever so slightly as there are only 2 screws now and they are located at the top? Also did you surround snap in (mine didn't)?

Actually, I didn't have any issues with the 2 screw setup. When I first saw the surround, I did expect to. What might not be a bad idea is to add some RTV or similar compound to the bottom of the board edge. It would secure it a bit, and still allow for removal of the board for servicing. And no, the surround doesn't snap in, but seems secure using only the bottom rails for interlock.

[GOGO]

I had to use a small strip of Velcro on the top so I can just pull it out, but it will not move if lightly pulled or bumped around

[Randy Chase]

Thanks for this thread Dave. I did the same mod today. Just to add my 2 cents.

The CF Surround really looks much better than the stock one. I think a painted surround would also look good.

Removing the two bottom screws under the alum tray only loosens the bottom bracket. If you remove the screws all the way, you will have to line things back up. To be clear, you will not be able to pull out the surround and it's guts and the bracket at the same time. The bracket has two long slots that are captured by lips on the bracket.

I loosened the two bottom screws and then pushed the top in where two catches hook on the top of the surround to the alum tray (top). Then the whole surround assembly pulls out with some wiggling.

Pushing everything back in, it feels pretty snug. This module seems so simple when you get it apart, it would be easy to mod.. for example, to add a small dim LED to light up the knobs at night. Hmm...