How do you pop the side eyeball vent bezels out to put in a gauge. I read the writeup on miata.net and cannot get it to work. I think that they are talking about the center vents which are looser. Anybody done this before without doing damage??

 

I did it a long time ago... honestly I just started prying on **** until they came apart. Nothing broke.

 

you pry the eye ball from the hole with a screw driver. it bends the dash a little, but my formed back. once out to remove the cover you need to put a small flat head in, push down the tabs and pry up at the same time. Continue steps until it pops off. check out my photobucket for finished pictures.
http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l52/dow-tom/My%20Mx5/

 

just pull it out, use force, no worries...

 

You can use a shoe string to loop it in the bents so it would be easier to pull out.

 

I used 2 zip ties to get the proper angle, didn't do it on one of the side ones though, just the center.

 

yeah bend the tabs when you put it back in so that you can pull it out next time without tools and 4 letter words

 

Or you can follow this picture tutorial here:

http://www.diymiata.com/gauges.htm

Take a Ralphs card and wedge it in to push the metal tabs down and the vent will pop right out.

 

I went out and yanked on that eyeball almost as hard as I could and it did not pop out?? I am not sure what to do. I also tried prying it more......nope? Maybe I will mount them in a different spot.

 

Look at my friggin pictures are where the metal tabs are and jam a plastic card in there to depress the tab, then pull.

 

The vents consist of three pieces; a trim ring around the eyeball, the eyeball itself and a housing that extends a few inches back. Whenever I have pulled them out, the whole thing came out as one. I think i pried the outside of the trim ring the first time, but now after countless removals, i can pull the center of the eyeball and it just comes out. Once you get the whole thing out, you can see the tabs that need to be depressed to get it apart.

 

I looked at your pics iWeasel410 and saw where the tabs are but cannot get anything to slip past the bezel?? I will try harder I guess.....friggin thanks though!