I'm tellin ya.. The torx bolts also hold down the seat. Look under the seat belt clips and find the other piece of metal and trace that back to the back seat piece. Than you will see what I am talking about...

 

Im also looking into doing this. Pretty cheap too.. You can buy the cluster off ebay even. Then its plug and play.. just replace the old one with the new one and voila.. you have a tach.

 

Correct-a-mondo. My buddy did it and it worked flawlessly!!

 

now im confused, who is right?.... do i need to just pull or take out the torx bolts? i think its the torx....

thanks for the info on the tach gauge cluster, ill look into it and order one next week.

 

Klerrick is right on this for 1st gen cars trimmed at Highline and above. ACR/Base models may have been different, since I believe they got the solid back rather than the split fold-down. Don't think bolting the back would be necessary on the solid back and would save a bit of weight. Can anyone with an early ACR or base model confirm this?

As the Highline split-seatback came from the factory, you have to remove the seatbelt bolts with a T-55 before you can lift the seatback clips off the sheetmetal.

 

On first gen neons they do not hold the back of the seat in.

Now if you want to completely remove the back of the seat from the car then yes, you are going to need to also remove the seatbelts.

But since you are only replacing some 6x9's removing the seatbelts and the seats completely is more work than it is worth. Hell, you didn't even need to remove the bottom of the seat. Just grab the top of the back of the seat and pull up, it will pop out. Pull it foward a bit, then slide the deck-cover off the rear deck and fold that down in front, or behind the back of the seat. Proceed to remove the screws for the 6x9's and remove them, install your new ones and viola! you are done.

Put the deck-cover back on the rear deck, push the back of the seat back into the holes the clips came out of and you are done.

 

No you do not. I have a 1999 Plymouth HIGHLINE. And I do not have to remove the tT-55 torx bits to take out or unclip the back of the seat.

 

Oh yeah, you can also go to the junk yard and pull the tach/gauge cluster you want from one of the cars in there and install it in your car.

To change the mileage to match what your's is if it's a 1st gen there is a clip with screws that hold the whole assembly together. Remove the whole assembly and you can either hand turn it to match your mileage or just change the assemblies.

 

thanks, I am going to sears to get the t55 torx bit b/c i need it b/c after much pulling it wont come off.
and thanks for answering a question i was just about to ask. (the milege)

 

I have a 98 base model and mine is not bolted, I also replaced my 6X9, and honestly all I did was take a little time and play with the rear deck cover and it came up and out without removing anything else, its plasic it will bend a little.