Erm... in the end I took
everything out to clean it all up
Here are a few more pics with the dashboard out:
In this one you can see the recirculation air
inlet between the top of the HVAC box and the sound deadening. This is what the blower is switched to when you select recirc so it pulls air back in from under the dash.
You can see the servo motors for the HVAC here. The dash has to come out to get to these top ones which control airflow to the side vents. Also visible is where someone has hacked off the sound deadening to get to the inside cover for the ECU box, and also a nice rusty stain on the engine bay wiring at the bottom of that cover. This car had serious issues with water ingress due to a total lack of care
Yeah...
The other side was glued on with silicone sealant.
Top of the HVAC ready for fresh foam strip
I cleaned up the alcantara headlining while I was there. Considering this car had been smoked in, it cleaned up pretty well
The upper B pillars have to come out anyway to swap the seat belts so they will be cleaned on the bench. They are properly minging so need extra care anyway.
This was white when I started 🤢
Minging...
One everything apart from the roof lining was on the 'kill it with fire' pile I vacuumed thoroughly and then set the Aromatek running for a couple of hours to fumigate the remaining alcantara and sound deadening, then left the dehumidifier running overnight.
I still think this is doable in a weekend between two people, assuming the donor interior is prepared in advance and the recipient vehicle is actually in a decent state beforehand, but I'm taking my time and cleaning / repairing as I go along because I'm not in a rush.