First time Viper owner Gen I RT 10 from Indiana Dash Removal HOWTO

[MyWifeHatesIt]

Greetings everyone!

I just fulfilled a childhood dream and bought my very first 93 Viper RT/10. Although the Blue/White GTS will always have a special place in my heart, it is the simple, raw, red Gen I RT/10 that always hung on my wall as a kid.

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I would like to give a very special thank you to Steve-Indy, who helped me out tremendously when I first got the car. I had been lurking on the forums (not even a member at this point), and I emailed Steve because he had offered assistance on a similar problem I was having, and he called me right up and we talked for a long time about all the wonderful idiosyncrasies these wonderful cars have. I learned many things and I will be posting a few of them here. Mostly because Steve and I found a couple of things that make the 93 a little different than some of the other years.

This post will also include a HOWTO on how to remove your dash trim. It all started because the factory radio was not working and I wanted an aftermarket in there anyway. I searched and searched the whole internet and could not find a single post. My conversation with Steve inspired me to share knowledge as I come across it. First thing to keep in mind is that these little plastic trim pieces are very fragile and very expensive. I already put a small crack in my AC/Heater bezel. So if you break anything or it doesn't go exactly like this, I take no responsibility. This is for informational purposes only. The posts limits me to 5 pics, so I am going to figure out how to get the rest posted after this initial post.

So, without further ado, here is How to Remove the Instrument Dash on a 1993 Dodge Viper RT/10.

1) I was scared to disconnect the battery, since I heard all these horror stories about the alarm and PCM settings. So, according to the service manual, you can pull the corresponding fuses instead, which is what I did.

Remove anything related to the dash as well as the lights (more on this later). So that is 2,3,4,5,7,8,15. (Fuse reference pic coming soon.) The fuse box is in the passenger area under kick panel.

2) First trim piece to remove is the Heater/Radio bezel. This was already somewhat loose when I got the car, so I don't have many details on it. I don't remember taking any screws out, but please look around and make sure there are not any. Take your time with all these trim pieces, and I would recommend not consuming adult beverages during this process.

You need to remove the ash tray first. Then I remember it just popping out. But, of course, I cracked this one, so be very careful and try to grab the strongest corner first. Once it is out, there are plugs under the fog light switches and connectors on the "Cigar" lighter (love how they call it that. I guess you must have been rich in 93 to own one). Remove the +/- connectors of the cigar lighter, then the plug for the fog switches. Mine was buried and I had to pull it out. I also noticed I only had one plug, but the manual says there are two.

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3) Take out all the Philips head screws from the left and right kick panels and the dash (there are two in the glove box). The kick panels are fairly easy. A few on the side and two underneath. I'll post pictures of the screw locations to follow.

4) Here comes the fun part. Once you have all the screws out, you will notice that the bottom of the upper instrument trim is pretty loose. But the top is still firmly in place. That is because there are 5 or 6 slotted attachment points along the top. The last dash trim I saw online was about $2k. So stop here if you have heart conditions.

Starting with the Speedometer, grab the "overhang" with both hands and firmly (but gently) rock it back and forth until it comes out. This felt like the strongest point and right above one of the clips. Do NOT start from the far left, as this is very weak. Go slow, this isn't a race. This took a very long time and a lot of patience. Once you see the pictures of the back of the trim, you will get the idea. Eventually, it will pop. Then move over to the RPM overhang and pull on it. The scariest one for me was the one above the 4 center gauges and the one towards the glove box. These felt weaker to me, but at this point, half of the panel was off, so I think that helped. Once the whole thing is loose, I would recommend taping off the A pillars so you don't scratch them when you remove it.

At this point, you will need to tilt the steering wheel down to its lowest point. Then unscrew the til knob. No special tools needed, just unscrew it counter clockwise. Mine was only hand tight, so some might need to cover it with a towel and use some pliers.

Now, last but not least, you need to remove the headlight pull switch. I noticed that the lights were left on when I pulled mine, that is why I had you pull those low beam fuses

There is a small button on the backside of the knob that can be pushed in that allows you to pull the whole lever out. There is a great video on YouTube about this. Just search for RT/10 Dash Removal. Unfortunately he left out a lot of the smaller details I'm including here.

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5) Now that the dash is loose, the tilt lever and headlight lever are out of the way, you should be able to pull it straight up and out.


If you are a little hesitant and want to talk over the phone, PM me and I'll give you a call.

Here are a few tips that Steve gave me that I didn't know

1) The sight gauge for the radiator overflow is in the passenger wheel well on this model. It is a rubber grommet rather than the vertical slit in other years. NEVER take off the radiator cap unless you know what you are doing.

2) The battery tender location is in the driver side engine compartment. Pictures to follow. Get a battery tender if you don't have one. The current draw will have the batteries dead in about 2-3 weeks.

3) When driving in 6th gear on the highway at about 1k RPM, you may not be turning the engine fast enough to charge the battery, so keep that in mind.

4) If the battery goes dead, there is a good chance the alarm will disable to vehicle. There is a way to recover from this, but I'm not an expert on this. People on this forum know how to recover from this. If you are a first time owner, I would strongly recommend learning how to recover from a dead battery and vehicle lockdown if you have an early gen Viper.

5) These engines tend to run hot. Mine went into the yellow when driving home in the city. I'm told that can be normal.

6) Don't forget to think about that head gasket. I've read they all disintegrate over time and all need to be replaced.

7) If you have AC, the controls are kinds weird. I think he told me heat only comes out in the defogger setting or floor vent. AC only comes out the main vents. This is in line with what I saw when I first tried it out. So keep that in mind, your heater probably isn't broke if there is not heat coming out the main vent.

8) You can't shift into second gear if your RPM is too low. I think this is some emission thing that some genius in Washington came up with. I hear you can disable this by bypassing the shift solenoid underneath. That is a future project that I will post. When I want to shift into second, by god, my car better go into second!

[MyWifeHatesIt]

More pics

Posts for Battery Tender:

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Fuses

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Unscrew Tilt Level

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Glove box screws

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[MyWifeHatesIt]

More screw locations. There are some pictures that I left out, but you can see most of them. Plus a couple near the radio, I believe.

Kick panels:

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Both sides of the car next to the door
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[Bill W]

Thanks for taking the time to post all this information. Congrats on the new-for-you car! Red RT/10, my favorite! Laughed out loud when I read your forum name...hope she learns to love it.

[Rich Davidson]

Where in Indiana are you and do you still have the car?