Defroster vent upgrade

[DAVES89]

Yesterday I had quite an interesting day. As my wife and I drove to my mom's 80th bday party, my Electrical Engine Control warning showed up on my touch screen. I knew right away that my Service Engine Soon bulb had burnt out as this happened to me on first day of ownership of this car. Imagine driving from Atlanta to Wi. listening to the warning beep every 30 seconds. This time it was only 70 miles.
Anyway I get there and asked for some tools and swapped out the bulb. Problem solved.
Then on my way back I hit a bump in the road and my pod lights go out. Thinking it was the inverter I removed the defroster vent and then the dash pad [don't forget the dash pad removal tool!]. It was not the inverter but the light switch [thanks Howard].
Anyhow as long as I had everything apart I took my dremel with the cutoff blade and cut/ground off all the little friction tabs on the windshield side of the defroster vent. I then lined up the vent to the pad and drilled 3 5/32"holes in the vent that line up to the pads screw holes. I then used a 5/16" bit to do a taper for the 3 dash pad screws. I put the pad back in place, locking down the front retainer clips, set the defroster vent in place [the friction tabs on the near side are not ground off and "lock" onto the dash pad, and run my screws thru the defroster vent, thru the dash pad and into the dash pad retaining clips.
The hard part of this project is the removal of the defroster vent, then the pad. The easiest part is the drilling of the holes and grinding off of the friction tabs.
Yes you can see the 3 screws, but now anytime I want to get in the upper dash, I no longer struggle with the defroster vent. [I have 3 defroster vents available if anyone needs one. lol]

[Dan Gibbs]

Good Lord Dave!!! You've permanently defaced and lowered the concours value of your Reatta!!!! Hehehehe...I'm just kidding of course. I just experienced the PITA (not the bread) that is the removal of the vent panel followed by the dash top filler panel. Your solution has occurred to me as well and may be implemented here too.

I state here and now:

"The Reatta dash vent is a Sadistic Torture Device designed by twisted engineers that detest the look of a fully exposed Phillips screw!"

Cheers,
Dan

[Howard]

Hey Dave! Just happen to stop into the forum today and saw your post. I'm glad my tip from years ago is still of some value. While I don't have my Reatta anymore, I do stop in from time to time to see what is happening in the crazy land that we call Reatta.

[Ronnie]

...Then on my way back I hit a bump in the road and my pod lights go out. Thinking it was the inverter I removed the defroster vent and then the dash pad [don't forget the dash pad removal tool!]. It was not the inverter but the light switch [thanks Howard]...

If anyone needs the tool Dave refers to you can find Daves instructions for making one here: Dash Pad Removal Instructions*-*ReattaOwner.com

[steveskyhawk]

In 92 or 93 the Rivieras all had that mod where holes are drilled through the defroster duct in order to remove them without removing the grill. It was a nice change.

[Squire Tom]

dan gibbs ,
i see that it was raining at the time of the picture. is that a factory anti sunroof leak preventer ? isn't it prone to blowing off at highway speed ?
l o l

[KDirk]

Squire Tom,

I think that is a prototype soft cover for the targa-top Reatta that never made it to production. Rumor has it that the RPO code was "SOL".

Ok, just joking (sorry, couldn't resist)

KDirk

[NCReatta]

Squire Tom,

I think that is a prototype soft cover for the targa-top Reatta that never made it to production. Rumor has it that the RPO code was "SOL".

Ok, just joking (sorry, couldn't resist)

KDirk

Hmm.. Really? I heard it was "TRP".

[padgett]

Problem with the targa was that once off, they had no place to store it. T-Tops are much easier to store but in the Reatta may have put too much stress on the backlight. Someone just decided on the roof vent which I prefer anyway.