1970 Dart radio removal tips

DrillNFill said
Thank you so much for the advice and photos. If I understand you correctly, The heater controls will come out attached to the bezel connected to those studs. OH, YOU WISH THAT WERE TRUE!!! YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE NUTS OFF WITH EVERYTHING IN THE DASH BECAUSE THE METAL DASH FRAME IS BETWEEN THE HEATER CONTROLS AND THE BEZEL YOU LEAVE THE HEATER CONTROLS IN PLACE AND THEN HAVE TO PUT THE NUTS BACK IN AT THE END - UNLESS YOU USE THE HOLES IN THE DASH FRAME TO SCREW THE HEATER CONTROLS IN PLACE INDEPENDENTLY OF THE BEZEL, LIKE I EXPLAINED. iF YOU DO IT THAT WAY, YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE YOUR FINGERS WITH THE NUT THROUGH THE HEATER CONTROL HOLE IN THE DASH WITH NO BEZEL IN THE WAY. Is there typically enough play in the heater controls to access the attaching nuts?
Also, (if I understand) there are nuts under the radio knobs attached to the shaft holding the radio in. Are these attached to the metal dash or the plastic bezel? LIKE THE SITUATION WITH THE HEATER CONTROL STUDS, THE METAL DASH FRAME AND THE BEZEL ARE SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE NUTS AND THE FACE OF THE RADIO, FORTUNATELY THESE NUTS ARE ON THE OUTSIDE RATHER THAN THE INSIDE OF THE DASH SO THEY ARE NO PROBLEM.
Sorry for all the noob questions but Ive never had this style of radio before. FIRST TIME I TOOK ONE APART, I PRIED THE BEZEL OFF BECAUSE i SAW NO MORE THINGS TO UNSCREW AND BROKE THE BEZEL ALL TO HECK. I WISH SOMEONE HAD CLUED ME IN (or that I had been smart enough to ask, I was 18) - SEE PICTURE OF DASH FRAME BELOW. The radio in my Caprice Classic was similarly bolted to the dash 7 ways to Sunday, but it didnt have the whole bolted-knob shafts thing!

If I understand you correctly, The heater controls will come out attached to the bezel connected to those studs. Is there typically enough play in the heater controls to access the attaching nuts?

In pic below, you can see the holes for the screws that you can see on the front of your bezel, the hole for the heater controls with tabs and holes where the heater controls are attached via the studs in the back of the bezel. You can just use those holes, put a flat or oval machine screw through the dash frame, and through the heater controls with a nut in the back (which you can now see with the bezel off) - you have to remove the metal studs in the bezel and can even cut back the plastic "posts" that the studs are screwed in. Now the bezel is free of the heater controls and held in place with the two upper screws, and the nuts for the radio.