i recently removed the little extra piece of drivers side dash to allow about 2" more knee room. this piece of interior hangs off of the bottom of the drivers side dash below the stearing wheel and is presumably there to act as a knee gaurd in the even of an accident. however, seeing as how it caused me more knee colision issues that its preventing and is made of exactly the same materal as the dash itself it seemed just a useless piece of anoying fluff.

to remove this piece you'll need to drop the lower dash below your stearing wheel all together. you will find that this trim piece/kneeguard is plastic riveted in place and requires about a 1/2" drillbit to remove. about 7 holes are left after this is done (all but 3 are under the dash and out of sight) i covered this by peeling the vinal cover off of the removed piece and used industial glue and a little craftsmanship. my job turned out very nice but with a care and patience could look even better aka totally unnoticable.

figured taller guys or guys like me that had trouble with that thing wile heel/toing would appreciate this mod. if theres any question about which panel i'm refering to, look under your dash and find the panel that looks like the bottom half of an airplane wing stuck under your dash. oh and beware the plasic rivets are part of the panel itself and after being removed will not be usable.

 

Interesting solution....I will try it. Thanks!!!!

 

i'll try to remember to post a picture of my work to give you an idea. oh yeah, fyi don't use spray adhesive to attach the vinal or what ever trim you use to cover the holes. found out the hard way that it reacts with whatever paint it is thats used on our dashes and will cause it to blister.

 

Please show us some pics.
I've been wanting to do this myself, buit haven't had the courage to break it yet.

 

I've had the whole bottom from the insturment cluster down out two times, there's not much that holds it together. I'm only 5' 8" tall and two of my three legs are fairly short ,so I don't have much trouble fitting in the Crossfire.

 

I wonder if you will have to fiberglass a piece up and paint it to match the interior. I just don't see this mod looking good with out it. Although I do not know how it looks under the knee panel.

 

I've wondered about removing that knee bolster from day 1, but I never had enough nerve to do anything about it.
My concern is, "how much "under dash" paraphernalia (if any) can you see with it removed?"

 

it looks like crap under there, johnny is right you need another piece to cover it unless you dont care what your car looks like. oh and its there to protect you from the steel reinforcements right behind the thin flexible shiny plastic.

 

whats behind that is just the same material as the rest of the dash. as for the looks and covering the holes like i said the panel is trash after you drill out the rivets anyways so you can do like i did and use the vinal covering from the knee bolster itself to cover the bolt patern. its got that semi soft feeling because its its glued on with some type of foam. mine would look perfect if i had taken the time to scuff ALL of the foam material off of the vinal prior gluing in back on. but as i say even with the small amount of noticable deformaty from the left over foam it still looks astheticly pleasing. i just used the entire flat section of vinal from the knee bolster. mind you that only about 2 inches of this cover is actually visible from the drivers seat.

 

i have gutted my interior and i know for damn sure there are no rivets holding interior panels on first off and second that there is soft plastic behind the plastic panel under the steering wheel... are you sure your driving a crossfire?

 

Pleas post a pic.
There are othere here that want to do this but are afraid of what it might look like.
Thanks.

 

Has anyone ACTUALLY done this?
I have read a few threads and I'm one of those people that doesn't like to attempt something crafty without pictures..
I know it is there for safety, seems to be there to be a pita (I'm tall)

Just wanted to know if anyone has actually done this, with pics to show how-to

thank yah much

 

bump please

 

I would like to help you out and I would be the guinni pig for almost anything, but I have no idea what a "knee bolster" is. As long as I don't have to remove the cabin filter I can do it

 

I wouldn't see any reason not to do it. Seems to be just a separate piece held in place by a couple torx-head screws, and without it, the bottom of the dash would look just like the passenger side.

I'm going to take it off and enjoy the added knee space. Will advise of any down side.

 

Please take pics! :-D

 

I have a 2005 and the knee bolster is not mechanically attached (meaning torx screws etc.). The knee bolster has bosses/spigots which protrude through the lower dash panel and are then ultrasonically welded (melted) on the back/inside of the dash. So removing it will not allow easy reinstallation, and you will be left with holes in the lower dash (underneath but holes none the less). It may be possible to reattach it with PF screws (plastic thread) if you can find one to fit inside the boss on the bolster (if there is a hole in the spigot/boss (I can't remember) or a speed-nut (like a star washer) that fits over the outside of the boss.

 

I recall an indepth how to concerning this on this web site...a while back. He had tons of pics too.

 

I couldn't find it?

 

I can clearly see how removing the "knee" bolster from below the dash would give some much needed leg room to many.
But I have to wonder what the consequences would be in a severe front end collision.
The old adage, being "cut off" at the knee caps, comes to mind.