No steering wheel removal necessary. It ain't no fast process thought...
http://www.whiteson.org/boxster/mods/obc/
I'm sure Jeff (Toolpants) has pictures of how to replace gauge faces step by step, and I hope he'll post them.
Until he does or if he can't do this quickly, here's some info to help you get along the way.
1. Use the link above to remove your instrument cluster.
2. When you've got it removed, bring it into your kitchen table so you can work on it.
3. Gently remove the two instrument pins in front of the cluster that set your dimmer and time. These pull straight out, and should not be twisted or bent to "pry" them out. Just pull straight out.
4. The front of your instrument cluster, containing the rings and clear plastic faces for all three gauges pops off the front of the unit. You will have to remove the left and right metal brackets on the far ends of the cluster (looking at it left to right) if I'm not mistaken... check that first. This front part of the cluster is a tight fit and it won't be easy to get off... so be gentle but firm.
5. After the face is removed, take a plastic fork and pry off the needles carefully, remembering their exact position when removed. Slide the fork underneath and use the curve of the fork to push them upward by pushing down on the handle end of the fork.
6. The existing faces can then be carefully removed by lifting up a corner with a sharp knife and pulling them away from the face carefully.
7. I have gotten this far with my old gauge cluster, but I haven't put on new faces. So, I cannot tell you what to use to affix the new faces to your cluster. Jeff or others will have to tell you what to use. I'd search renntech as well if I were you if Jeff doesn't chime in on this thread, and I hope he does because he's the expert.
8. Push needles back on, re-assemble the cluster face and side brackets, and go back to your car.
9. Plug in the plugs in the back, hook up your battery and turn on the ignition to insure it all works right before you put it back on the dash... try this after dark too to see how the gauges look and to insure you got them on there right (see note below).
NOTE: Let me say that it's really important for you to insure that the lowest part of the gauge face seats squarely on the bottom of the cluster, versus allowing any small spaces at the bottom. I say this because if you don't get the gauge faces flush with the bottom of all three semi-circles, light from the backlit LCD's will show through at night... the new cluster I bought had a manual gauge replaced on the right side and the person who did it did not get the face low enough. Now I have to look at a sliver of light peeking from behind the face during night driving. Very annoying.
Hope this helps!
If Toolpants doesn't go into his treasure trove of pictures to post them or show us all a link to the page on renntech where he's already done this, I will try to take some pics for you and post them here or just put up a new page on my web site for this maneuver.
Linear Mode
