Same problem here. 04 DII SE with 60K miles. It has been a CA and FL car.
Dash was curling in about 3 places. Bought and installed the AB kit (probably a 4/5 on the bastard scale). The kit comes with no screws. In addition, you need to modify the instrument binnacle slightly.
I used 1 1/4 inch sheet metal screws (black) without the self tapping thing on the end. You need 12 of them, but I bought extras as I knew this would be a pita. I used the extras to make the 'pilot' holes (the heads got destroyed from all the slippage from the ratchet I used) then used the un-destroyed ones to screw it down permanently (the screws are obviously in your line-of-sight, so having nice looking ones is a bonus). I first used very thin (sharp) screws so that the sheet metal screws had something to bite on.
I got the impression that there was about 0.75" of rubber/foam, then hard plastic. A 1" screw will get a little into the hard plastic, but I used 1 1/4 to get a good grip.
Pulling out the a-pillar trim (it just pops out) helps a lot (it can be a pain unfastening the tweater connection though) and you'll need to remove the instrument binnacle; 2 screws behind the steering wheel - that you can get to by lowering the
steering wheel - and then it just pulls off towards you (needs a bit of force). You'll also need to pull out the connections for your buttons, and undo the variable dash light thing. Don't worry about the order, the connections only fit back into one terminal.
I used a 90d ratchet like this one http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-64250-Right-Ratcheting-Screwdriver/dp/B0002BC0S2 that I picked up from my local hardware store (~$10). Some down force was needed to get the screws to bite, and make sure you get a nice tight phillips fit between the driver and screw. It took about 90 mins to get both halves of the kit on.
Once in place, you might notice that the instrument binnacle snarls on the new kit. I chose to cut the binnacle back a bit by first making a cardboard template, and then using a dremel to slowly grind away until it was snug.
Overall, it looks better than a curling dash, and the cut away binnacle is only noticeable if you look really closely through the windscreen from outside. The kit actually blends well with the natural look of my (black) interior. I'm happy with it, but I expect some people might not be.
Dash was curling in about 3 places. Bought and installed the AB kit (probably a 4/5 on the bastard scale). The kit comes with no screws. In addition, you need to modify the instrument binnacle slightly.
I used 1 1/4 inch sheet metal screws (black) without the self tapping thing on the end. You need 12 of them, but I bought extras as I knew this would be a pita. I used the extras to make the 'pilot' holes (the heads got destroyed from all the slippage from the ratchet I used) then used the un-destroyed ones to screw it down permanently (the screws are obviously in your line-of-sight, so having nice looking ones is a bonus). I first used very thin (sharp) screws so that the sheet metal screws had something to bite on.
I got the impression that there was about 0.75" of rubber/foam, then hard plastic. A 1" screw will get a little into the hard plastic, but I used 1 1/4 to get a good grip.
Pulling out the a-pillar trim (it just pops out) helps a lot (it can be a pain unfastening the tweater connection though) and you'll need to remove the instrument binnacle; 2 screws behind the steering wheel - that you can get to by lowering the
steering wheel - and then it just pulls off towards you (needs a bit of force). You'll also need to pull out the connections for your buttons, and undo the variable dash light thing. Don't worry about the order, the connections only fit back into one terminal.
I used a 90d ratchet like this one http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-64250-Right-Ratcheting-Screwdriver/dp/B0002BC0S2 that I picked up from my local hardware store (~$10). Some down force was needed to get the screws to bite, and make sure you get a nice tight phillips fit between the driver and screw. It took about 90 mins to get both halves of the kit on.
Once in place, you might notice that the instrument binnacle snarls on the new kit. I chose to cut the binnacle back a bit by first making a cardboard template, and then using a dremel to slowly grind away until it was snug.
Overall, it looks better than a curling dash, and the cut away binnacle is only noticeable if you look really closely through the windscreen from outside. The kit actually blends well with the natural look of my (black) interior. I'm happy with it, but I expect some people might not be.
