I did this a few years back and need to confirm with my haynes manual, but when I removed my radio/ac wood surround (I didn't have a radio removal tool) - I started by removing the horizontal wood around the shifter first. This was done by removing the plastic surround square of the shifter. I slid a stiff credit card between wood and plastic to leverage up the surround, Then with the exposed opening I pulled straight up on the wood panel with the now open space. Everything else was pretty much as nikki said,