NoExpert, I hear what you're saying.. I, in fact, did have the whole dash out about 4 years ago, and i did, as you surmised, had parts all over the car. Took just the dash to an upholsterer, and a few years later, it was worse than when I first took it apart. This time all I removed were the front vents so that the upholsterer could tuck the material under the dash, which they did and it looks pretty good. That said, there was no reason for them to be behind the front seats at all. No reason to disconnect any wiring. No reason for the battery to be disconnected. I will concede that being there that long the battery may have gone flat. Still trying to sort this out.. will post here when it is resolved.