I pulled the lower knee panel under the steering column a few months ago to discover the PO had broken a few plastic things. I was able to repair most of this and reinstall the panel. The top clips were a little loose, but held OK. This week it came loose and was sagging at the top where it meets the dash.

It's a long story, but when I tried to fix it this time I broke one of the spring clips and dropped the other deep into the center dash. Looks like a trip to the Jag dealer for me. Hopefully these clips are still available.

Where I need help is with the retention of these clips in the dash itself. I do not see how these clips are held in place. Should there be another part that goes into the rectangular hole and the spring clip fits into that? The center panel for the 3 gauges has spring clips with spikes that grip the backside of the dash. The ones under the steering column do not.

What should it look like? I tried google to no avail and the right reverend Sam's video doesn't show this part.

 

This is a really good question Mike.

The bottom panel is called the knee bolster, and the dash is called the fascia. The parts diagram has a bolster to fascia spring clip listed without an illustration (part number GJA6014AA), so that would be my guess, but I am not certain.

They appear to just snap into place, but they do tend to get loose with repeated bolster removal.

Please let us know what you find out.

 

Thanks for the reply and part number. I will try to get to the dealer early in the week, depending on how busy we are at work.

For now I have a custom, body color matching temporary fix in place (blue painter's tape), although I have considered velcro.

 

Mike,

Here's the only pic I can find showing the Spring Clip in the fascia:



And here's a terrible ( ) sketch to show how it's held in place:



The Vee shaped Bolster Clip (in black) has a couple of 'teeth' (arrowed in blue) which press against the back of the fascia (in red) to stop the clip pulling back out.

Graham

 

Thanks Graham, that answers my question on it being one-piece or two. My guess is that the steel had simply aged out and (as many of us do) lost it's spring, thus no longer holding both the male insert and the back plate at the same time.

Update: Ordered clips from Jag dealer today. 2-3 days to arrive. So they are still available at the low, low price of just $12USD each. And yes, the parts guy verified that the tension when the male tab is in place holds the clip in place. No secondary piece needed.

 

Well after a second trip to the Jag dealer (the first time they ordered the wrong part) I got my clips. The clips are cheap, so to be safe I ordered two pair. This turned out to be a good thing.

When I installed them the first time, one side still would not hold. I switched clips from one side to the other and then it held. However, it was not tight and you could see a gap between the dash and bolster. Against my better judgement, I pulled it off after a few days to fit it better. Now it was worse! Remembering I had a spare set, I took out the offending springs and tried another pair. I had to push in harder than I really thought prudent, but it snapped in and has been holding so far with no gap.

I think part of the problem is that my striker piece (the plastic male part on bolster) is worn down and should be replaced as well. Remember how they got the wrong part on my first trip? Well guess which part that was.

So lessons learned are:

• the spring clips wear out quickly after just a few in & out fittings
• change both clips and the strikers if you replace these pieces
• and GGG's drawing is correct, no secondary housing is required

p.s. part numbers are: GJA6013AB (striker) and GJA6014AA (spring clip)

 

Thanks Mike!...Good to know the strikers are also available.