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2001 sunsetter / wakesetter kick panel removal?


Chatty21VLX

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I desperately want to get to my heater box behind the driver kick panel. I want to take the core out to test for leaks, but I can't remove the kick panel! I searched and searched for screw heads buried in the carpet, but found none. Is there a secret to early 2000's boats or what?

I guess I could test the core with it in place, but if it leaks I would still need to get to it.

I suspect it leaks because the hoses go to the motor, but they aren't connected.

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Take a screw driver and push/scrape against the carpet and rub it along the bottom edge of the kick panel. Imagine if you were installing it where would YOU put the screws. There will probably be three along the bottom edge about 1" up from the bottom spaced evenly across the bottom edge. There may also be one in the right hand corner coming off of whatever type cup holder type area was offered in your particular year. You may need to play with the angle of your screw gun to remove the screws but once you find the angle of one the others will follow the same.

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Chatty, There are three screws along the floor BURIED in the carpet and panel. There are two screws along the right side into the cup-holder ledge. There are four screws holding the heater snorkel bracket to the center back. I remember ripping it out when I installed the subwoofer and needed to fix the heater about 6 years ago. What a PITA it was.

Get the snorkle loose first. Then fish around with your hands if you can to find the screws by feel from behind. I seem to remember having to get the side screws out from within the cupholder ledge instead of from the kick panel.

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Thanks for the tips, guys. I think i'm going to try a stud finder or a putty knife instead of my fingers.

I could actually feel the back of one of the screws on the cup holder side. It felt like it was driven at an angle, but I couldn't even find the head of that one with my fingers.

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Remember the screws are SS so a magnetic stud finder won't work. I'll be going through all

this myself in the very near future! Sub move into the helm I hope.

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I just remember being infuriated and disgusted at how that kick panel was installed. It was never meant to come out again. The screws were almost driven all the way through the plastic and totally hidden by carpet.

The three screws along the bottom are evenly spaced and on my panel are about 3/4"-1" from the bottom. I seem to remember just removing the whole cup holder trim to get to the screws holding the side of the kick panel. At least that trim was held in with more normal hardware.

I feel your pain. Do yourself a favor and never put that panel back. Install a nice subwoofer instead.

Also, a word of caution. If you screw that trim piece back in, get that screw angle really shallow. If you go too steep you WILL punch through your outer hull. Now that sucks to fix the evening before Fourth of July while the boat hangs in a slip. :whistle:

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Oh I forgot to mention. Dare2goBare, if you want to see my subwoofer enclosure design I still have the sketchup drawing of it. I designed it for a ported 10" JL W6.2.

Here's pictures in this thread post.

That could be very helpful, I have the 12" RF Sub in the ski locker that I want to move, first thing I need to do is see if there's room to actually mount

this puppy under the helm on my TXi.

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Well, I finally got it removed. I had to remove the 5 or 6 screws holding the left side map pocket panel, and remove the entire cup holder assembly on the right side. There were only 2 screws holding the actual kick panel to the floor, and they were a PITA to find. Not to mention the head of one was stripped so I had to use my Dremel to cut a notch in it.

And yes, the core is leaking like a sieve...

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Well, I finally got it removed. I had to remove the 5 or 6 screws holding the left side map pocket panel, and remove the entire cup holder assembly on the right side. There were only 2 screws holding the actual kick panel to the floor, and they were a PITA to find. Not to mention the head of one was stripped so I had to use my Dremel to cut a notch in it.

And yes, the core is leaking like a sieve...

Wow, that's so different than how mine was put in. So much for consistency of assembly. Glad you got it out though. I've replaced my heater core twice in 15 years. I've also had it fall off that bulkhead a few times. After the last time I made a 3/4" wooden panel as a mounting plate with bolt studs for the heat core. And I made sure that panel would never come off the bulkhead.

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Of course anything older than 2005, and heatercraft wants you to buy a whole new box... I guess they changed designs or suppliers, and the new core won't fit in my old wrapper.

Time to try to get a cross match at napa since I don't really want to drop $350 on the heater at the end of the season.

I saw a post about a napa core, but it looks like it's for the 200H model? Mine's a 300H...

Edited by Chatty21VLX
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