BigRondo, thanks for the pictures. I knew about the earlier thread, but without your clear directions I couldn't have done it. I'm not too mechanically inclined and it took me most of the day on my 2005 Ex. Here are things I had to do with mine.
1) The old actuator simply would not come out easily and the new one would not go in at all. I finally took the clips off the support strut (picture 4.a) to get the new one in. The clips on mine protruded about 1/8" inside and prevented the actuator from passing by. The clips are easy to remove and put back.
2) I didn't have a universal joint on the socket wrench, so to get the upper screw out, I started it with a box wrench (approach from the 10 o'clock position). Once this screw had backed out some, the socket wrench worked. Similarly I put the final tightening on with the box wrench
3) I didn't cut the dashboard and could not get the front screw back in. My fingers are too big to get it started by hand. I'm going to leave the actuator held in by two screws. If it doesn't work, I'll start over and cut the dashboard next time.
4) There are some minor differences getting the console out. Nothing that's not obvious, but a total neophyte might not notice the plastic push pins at the front.
Thanks again.
