how do you take the dashboard out?

What is your question?

Last fall the dashboard in the car suddenly began to smoke when my mother tried using the cigarette lighter. Apparently the wires heated up to the point it melted the insulation around the cigarette lighter wires and other wires' insulation. She just bought a new malibu because this one had over 150,000 miles on it and she said whichever one of us kids can manage to get the car fixed can have it. I'm a typical broke college student and if i can get it fixed it would be great. So i'm wondering how do you take the dashboard out, what kind of things should i take note of so i don't accidentally set an airbag off or get things switched up, and which wiring harness should i be looking to replace because now the dashboard gauges don't work except maybe the gas gauge and the battery may be getting drained when it's left hooked up(I'm not sure about this because this all happened while I was away for college, but my father seems convinced) . I don't smoke so i'm not even going to worry about getting the lighter working again. Thank you for your time and help