2004 396MY Salon AC Replacement

[Phrancus]

just a small tip: when parts are glued flat, you sometimes can 'saw' them off using a fishing line. Like a mirror or a CD changer glued to a panel. No need to get too destructively aggressive: a fishing line or a thin metal line will go a long way. Wrap the ends round a screwdriver or something like that for grip and there you go.

[thatchh]

I also have a 2004 ES. It is possible that the unit could come out through that panel by the stairs. I would look at that pretty carefully before giving up. I think it would involve a lot of swearing at best. As far as accessing through the closet, I don’t think that would be the best option. There is a bulkhead on the forward side of the closet as you can see in the picture. You would have to cut a pretty big hole in that and might catch some wires or hoses.
I think your best bet is to remove the entertainment center cabinet from the top of the vacuum cabinet. There is a big hole behind it, which I believe would be large enough to lift out the AC unit. As you can see from the pictures the upper cabinet was removed from the lower. It leaves an area of unfinished surface where the cabinet was. The cabinet was removed when I bought the boat, so I can't comment on how to do it, but having removed other cabinets from areas in the boat, I think it will simply be a few screws.
This may be a good time to consider a solution similar to mine to eliminate that top cabinet which is not large enough for a decent size flat screen anyway. I filled the hole with a sturdy piece of cherry veneer plywood and some trim and mounted a Costco TV bracket on it. This allows me to swing the TV multiple directions and store it flat against the wall. It works great this way, and I have a 40' TV, which weighs very little, fitting just right in the space. I can provide more detail on that project if desired. This panel is fairly easy to remove if you need access to the space. I have been meaning to post a separate post on that project. I also mounted a sound bar on the wall over the TV, so all I really have besides the TV, is a blu-ray player and a couple of cables up to the sound system. The previous owner left behind the top of the upper cabinet which has the same appearance as the lower cabinet and could be used with some trimming to fill in the unfinished area if desired. I plan to do that some day, but with the TV in place and the player, not much of the unfinished area even shows. There was a roughly cut piece in that area already that filled most of the unfinished section. It may have been part of the original cabinet as well. I just threw a piece of non- skid on it for now.