I've searched the factory manual, Haynes manual, S Type hand book, this forum and the interwebby thing but can find no reference to how to get the little chrome fasteners off the front of the parcel shelf crash padding. I can't see or feel if they're nuts, push-on clips or held on by magic and, if they're threaded nuts as I suspect, what fits them because my fingers and pliers just won't grip them to turn. I've tried looking with mirror, lights and my camera on a bendy stick thing but all to no avail. Can someone enlighten me, please?

I left the thing in place to get the steering column out but it made the job harder than it needed to be. I almost resorted to hammer and angle grinder.

Ray, in Darkest East Anglia.

 

If I think you are referring to the chrome dome nuts on the back of the parcel shelf leave them alone. They do not hold anything in place that would stop you removing the parcel shelf. They are in fact a shell like nut that fits over a stud and you can remove them by getting a screw driver behind them and easing them up and at the same time rotate them with a spanner. You only need to remove these if you are replacing the vinyl cover on the parcel shelf or the wood above the radio and you would removed the whole parcel shelf first to do this.
If you are trying to remove the parcel shelf (I had mine out only a couple of weeks ago) it is held in place with perhaps half a dozen nuts and screws. The whole shelf comes out with the centre consul.
There are a couple of screws under each side of the shelf behind the door hinge area. To get to them you have to remove the kick panel There are a couple of screws at the very back of the consul down near the seat belt eye which are easy to get to if you first remove the front seat bases. The air vents under the parcel shelf need to be removed (four screws each) to release the cables. The chrome air vent which is removed. Adjacent to the edges of the wood at the back of the parcel shelf there are two screws hidden in the carpet pile that need to come out. Carefully remove the hot cold air slider control knob which has a small screw in the hole under the knob.The Wooden centre section needs to come out and this is removed by taking off the air vent panel making sure you do not break the plastic lugs that hold it in place. Behind this there are two screws which when removed allow the wood to be prised out of it resting place. The whole centre consul can now be lifted at the back and the parcel shelf eased backwards away from the dash. If you have speakers the cables need to be disconnected and there is the air hose for the back vent that needs to be taken out.
A fairly easy job but very fiddly especially when trying to get it back in as some of the screws are blind holes so trying to get the screws through the parcel shelf or vinyl and locate them in the holes they are supposed to match up with is a real pain.

 

It is a big dismantling job.

best to remove the front seats to have a comfortable work area and to access all mounting points easily.

then remove the kick panel cards, left and right. This will prevent damages, tears or scratches to the seat covers and other vinyl covered parts nearby.

Cass has it covered pretty thorough. The parcel shelf comes out together with the center console, trying to separate them is troublesome.

 

Thank you, Cass, for the excellent explanation. I'm still surprised there isn't any of this in the official and other manuals I've got, or in the forums. I presume all the Mk2s and 10s are the same as our S Types so there must be many owners who've had to work their way round this when taking out a steering column. They can't all be doing full renovations.

I took all the little screws out that I could find so managed to bend it out of the way a bit and it's gone back in place quite well. What a lash up at the design stage! It reminds me of replacing the battery on my 2 year old BMW GS bike back in the '80s. The factory had started with a 12 volt battery and built the frame and then the rest of the bike all round it.

Ray

 

Thanks again, Jose, I took the front seats and carpets all out, tried to get the centre console out as well but was baulked at the first post when the gear knob wouldn't come off without surgery.

I left that for another day but will have to tackle it sometime during the winter because the overdrive slowly packed up going in over the summer. It now only works down hills so I suspect low or no oil pressure from the pump. I've tried everything else I can think of.

Ray

 

The Mk2 does not have a parcel shelf but not sure a bout the Mk10. 420 possibly has one but can't remember the last time I looked at one. Tend to just walk past a 420. lol.
Old cars and bikes were designed by one person and assembled by humans. Todays are designed by computers or several humans who sit in separate rooms and don't talk to each other. Robots assemble partially built sections which are bolted together with no regard to maintenance in the future. I have a BMW Mini Cooper "S". Front suspension anti roll bar bushes needed replacing. The long bolts come down from the top into the subframe so the head of the bolt is hard up against the under side of the car. To remove it you have to drop the whole front subframe. I know people who have cut the bolt off, drilled it out an fitted a bolt with a nut going up from the bottom.The dealers charge nearly £500 to change two bushes. Lucky for me I have the skills, tools and a ramp.

 

Yes, Cass, bikes are the same. I've got a couple of dozen old motorcycles, several of which I use throughout the year, All have been developed from their original models with little thought of later maintenance. Most drain plugs are directly over a frame tube so the hot oil cascades everywhere, including up your sleeve if you're not quick enough. It's all just a love/hate relationship.

Ray.