Removing the Dash in a Ford Probe Mk II (93-97)

October 5, 2022
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This is my first non CM/tech entry, not sure if there will be more. I was not able to find much on this topic going into the project and maybe I can save someone else some time. Credit to Craig Tate as his video on YouTube was all the information I could find to get going on this part of my restoration.

Being a YouTube Certified Automobile Technician, I have been wanting a project car for a while and I finally got one.

This summer I managed to get my hands on a 1993 Probe that had spent its life in California. There were a couple small surface rust spots (less than 1cm), but nothing at all like any cars of that era that spent their life here in Minnesota with our salted Winter roads.

The flipside of that coin is the California sun did a number on the dashboard. It was cracked so bad I don’t think it was repairable. I considered all the methods I could find on YouTube, but I didn’t think any of them short of a full fiberglass rebuild would work. I kept my eyes on cars for sale and recently found another 93 Probe that is a MN car, rusted to heck, no motor or trans, a real junker. The interior wasn’t bad though, the dash only had a couple tiny cracks, but was the wrong color. Color I can fix, so I drove to Wisconsin where the car was and got it cheap.

NOTE: The 93 is a unique dash from 94-97 in that the 93 has no passenger airbag, but 94+ does. There is a slight shape change with how it blends to the door trim so if putting a 94+ dash in a 93, plan on getting the door trim panels as well.

I am not going to cover the repairs and painting of the dash, I just want to document the removal/installation.

NOTE: Do NOT attempt to remove the dash trim that is next to the windshield. It is attached to the dash assemble from beneath via screws and will come out with the dash.

Start by removing the trim around the radio, HVAC, and switches, then remove the trim around the gear shift and e-brake.

Inside the armrest console, you will find two screws, remove those then the liner of the armrest can be removed.
Now slide the rear seat ashtray (yes, cars used to have those) out and you will find two bolts (10mm) underneath. Remove them.
Two more screws between the gear shift and e-brake
Now you need to remove the panels by the driver and passenger foot wells. There is one screw and one trim pin on each.
Once the footwell trim is removed, you will be able to get at the screws holding the center console assembly to the dash assembly.

You should now be able to remove the center console.

Under the center console going up into the dash are connections for the antenna and some other wires, disconnect those.

Back in the passenger foot well you will need to remove the trim on the bottom of the dash.

There are two trim pins and I think there are supposed to be screws at the forward edge (my car didn’t have any)

On the drivers side, the trim under the steering wheel is next.

The picture is out of focus, but there is one screw on the right side
On the left, the panel is held in by the hood release, there is a nut on the back edge you need to loosen to be able to remove the handle/cable
Next is the steering column cover. There are four, I repeat four, screws to remove here. I missed the one on left and broke my cover.
Now above the steering where, there are two bolts (12mm) holding the wheel and steering column up. Remove those bolts and lower the wheel. If the drivers seat is all the way back, the wheel will be able to get to the floor, but you may have to push the seat padding in to get the wheel past the front edge.

On the passenger side, fully open the glove box to expose a set of vacuum lines and a wire harness to disconnect.

On the side of the dash assembly pedestal, there are two wire harnesses to unplug.
Behind the dash is the HVAC blender door cable. Shown here with the dash pulled forward, but you can reach via the fully open glove box.
On left side of the dash pedestal is a set of vacuum lines to disconnect

Now we are ready to get to the actual removal.

On both ends of the dash, hidden behind a trim panel you pull off, there are two bolts (10mm).
On both sides of the pedestal, there are two bolts (12mm) to remove
In the top center of the dash there is a ~1″ square piece of trim to pop out and you will find a single 10mm bolt under it. That is the last thing holding the dash in so when you remove it, remember to support the dash in case it isn’t in as snug as it should be.

You can now rock the dash towards the rear of the car and get at two more wire harnesses, both at the far left end of the dash.

One last check to make sure everything is disconnected, then you should be able to roll the dash on to the seats. From there I was able to lift out of the car on my own using the pipe that runs down the center of the dash.

Reverse the process to reinstall and enjoy your new/repaired dash.

I am also re-doing the door panels to get rid of the original perforated leather and to reattach the two halves together. The 93 (and maybe 94) have two piece door panels that didn’t like to stay attached long term. Ford dropped these for a single piece design in a mid gen refresh. You can see the mostly finished passenger door here, just some painting to finish it up.

Here is a before pic of the door in all its 90s glory.

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