I am posting this to hopefully help others if they decide to replace their ashtray compartment door. I did a lot of internet searching but could not find a good source for a procedure for removing and reinstalling this door. So, I decided to go ahead and replace the door and write up my procedure. If you have performed this task before, your feedback would be appreciated! Especially, if I could have done it a different way.

Background: When I purchased my 04Z the previous owner had placed one of those identification plates on the ashtray compartment door. The plate attaches using a pretty aggressive adhesive. Luckily, I was able to remove the plate, but the adhesive residue remained. I have tried just about every method to clean off the residue. The majority is off but there is still a ghost defect that shows up when the lighting is just right. It didn’t look real bad but being the "****" car guy that I am, it had to be fixed. Here is a "before" pic…



Item Purchased: You can find these covers from various sources. I decided to go with Zip because I have used them a fair amount over the last several years with a lot of success. The link below is the exact item I ordered….

https://www.zip-corvette.com/97-04-ash-tray-door.html

The ashtray door I received also came with the 2 push-pin rivet style fasteners. Here is a picture of what I received…


Removal/Installation Procedure:

• I decided to remove the radio bezel from the car to make the installation a little easier. There are several videos available on YouTube to help you with this. Since I recently installed a MGW shifter assembly, I re-used their video for assistance. This link will take you to the MGW video…

• Once you have the bezel removed, you can easily see that the door is held in place on each side by one of the push-pin rivet style fasteners, as well as a spring located on the passenger side of the door.

• Remove the spring arm that is attached to the door’s bracket. Gently flexing it will enable you to pull it through the hole.

• Using your fingernail or small needle nose pliers pull the pins from each side of the door. The rivet portion can then be pulled straight out as well.

• Installation of the new ashtray door is just a reverse of the above procedure.

New ashtray door installed in bezel…


Everything back together and I can relax now!!



I hope this proves helpful to someone wanting to replace their ashtray compartment door. It really is pretty simple. Removing the radio bezel is the hardest part, but it is good to know how to do that anyway.