[flouese]

Thanks for the advice.

After finding a flat head driver narrow enough to fit in the fasteners , I discovered it was too thick to fit in the slot. Took the bit to my belt sander, wore it down a bit, tried again, and the fasteners backed out effortlessly. additionally, I removed the corner piece of the dash and the vent piece, which gave me much more light to see up in there.
Is the word PORSCHE, German for "way harder than it needs to be?"