I need to remove the bolwing ball piece and/or the plastic piece just below it on the driver's side of the center console, by the shifter. I want to run the connector for my phone's hands free unit under it and into the cup holder. But I need to remove and most importantly reinstall those pieces to drill a couple of small hole and run the wire. So where do I pull and in what direction? Do I need any tools?

 

About the trim pieces, pull them upward starting from the center console.
The plastic below it? Remove the center console by unscrew the 2 screws inside the center console (under the little piece of carpet), some more bolts and screws along the edge of the plastic piece.

 

I just had everything apart last weekend.
No one helped me with this here, so this is what I found out mostly from the nice people at the TL board. I also put in more details:


1) open the center console (lift the arm rest up)
2) now grab the end of the black marble trim, and pull up. You may have to use a bit of force, but nothing will break.
If you hear a clink sound, it was the metal clips. I found out that some of them were not pushed in all the way. Don't worry, they are easy to find, and new ones are only .23 at the dealer.
3) as you pull the trim up from the back, when you get 3/4 the way through, near to the bend, start to pull the trim to the back of the car. The last tab goes into the dash horizontal.

4) The easiest way to pull off the lower cover is to take other items apart. You can take it off by twisting/bending, but it is faster to do this:
5) Pop open the driver side fuse cover. It just pulls off
6) remove the one bottom screw, it will be holding a black plastic arm that is attached to the lower dash panel.
7) now pull off the lower dash panel, the panel that runs under the steering wheel. It is held in by some push-clips. Don't worry if the clips pop off, as not all of them were installed right at the factory.
Just start at the door end, and pull out horizontally.
8) looking at the panelless dash, sitting in the driver seat, you will see one screw on the right side. This holds in the lower console cover. Remove it.
9) There are 2 more screws that hold in the lower console cover. Look where you pulled off the plastic marble trim in step 3. You will notice 2 shiny machine screws that are securing two of the panel's tabs to the top of the console. Remove these 2 screws.
10) You can now pull off the lower console cover. Once again there are 2 clips that may pop off.
Note that this cover is also attached to the rear section of the console. It slides in two slots, but slides in from the front of the car. So you have to pull the lower cover from the middle, then work the front section to below the dash, then slide the cover to the front of the car, under the dash, to pull it out of the two back slots. (I hope this was clear). You can see it with a flashlight before you start pulling.

It sounds like a lot, but even taking your time will be under 15 minutes.

Good luck!!
(and if you get a chance, order some clips from the dealer)

And before you put everthing back together, push all the clips in tight. I noticed after I put my main dash panel back on, it cures several little noises!

[ 07-24-2001: Message edited by: fast_daddy_car ]