I came across a NOS climate control unit for my '73 2.0 that I'd like to replace my current unit with. I've done a great deal of searching on 914World, Google, and YouTube, but could not find any step by step pics or vids on this process. The Haynes manual was not very helpful either.

Per the Haynes manual, there appears to be a single bolt on the back holding it in and about 4 wires and some bulbs also connected. But I haven't been able to find anything about how easy the cables are to remove from the old unit and reinstall to the new unit.

Is there a thread here that someone can point me to for more info?

Or a YouTube video that I'm not aware of?

Or just some friendly advice from someone who has done this removal/replacement/reinstall?

It's a pain because the cables don't want to move very far, no slack. If you can unhook the cable at the trunk side, you will have better access to the controls. Even the wiring is short. Just one 10mm hex head holding it on.

@Mike Bellis

Ok - thanks for the tip.

Where/how do I unhook on the trunk side?

Anybody else with any tips on this? Any videos or past threads on this topic that I wasn’t able to unearth via searching?

Thanks in advance.

Undo the cables in the front trunk. There are 10mm nuts holding them on. That will allow them to be pulled into the passenger compartment while you’re pulling the climate controls. Mark where each cable came from. Best to remove the center console (if you have one) and the knee pad. Undo the bolt holding the climate control to the firewall. You should be able to pull the climate control just a bit out of the dash and unhook the wires and bulbs.

That bolt to the firewall grounds the controls by the way.

@Rob-O

Wow. This just gave me a lot of encouragement. Thank you!

Remove the radio and you can reach in rather than access the unit from below. That nut is also easy to access once the radio is out.

What year is your car? The illumination for the ventilation control changed, the early ones only have two lamps and the later have four. The lamps are tiny and the lamp holders are fragile. I've seen bad solder joints on those little holders just pop off and it's a pain to resolder.

Before you take it apart, measure the amount of cable poking out the clamp nut. Getting the wire in the clamp nut can make you say bad words. Flashlight, headlight, and inspection mirror are handy. I'm over worked, tired, and have brain sores at the moment, but I think the fresh air cable is on the bottom or back side of the airbox and I don't remember if you can install the cable without pulling the air box.

I did this a couple months ago along with the flapper boxes and air box. I got the flapper boxes and the slave cables installed (you won't have to worry about those unless you've taken it all apart), and then fed the control cables from the dash. I put the cables on the driver's side and the air box, installed the air box, and then finished mounting the control unit and bezel.

I had to adjust the cables a little to center the control levers, but I had no reference.

I got lucky and it fit pretty well.