The plastic face is wired to the main unit and has the card reader in it, you can unscrew it and remove it quite easily but you will have to cut and re-solder it to the main body. I am still unsure if the electronics that recognise the card are in the plastic face or the main body of the PGM. I presume the replacement you have is a complete unit that doesn't work or is it just the plastic part?

Once you have done it you may find that it no longer recognises the card. I have several PGM's in different states of damage so I am interested to hear the outcome.