InteriorDiscussion about interior restoration, repairs, and modification.
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Do the and them go for a change. My car feels like I'm diving a new car now. It will make the car look so much better. Whatever you do just keep all the factory parts incase you decide to switch back somewhere down the road.
The swap is easy as pie. But i did mine in a t/a so yours is going to be different. I even started swapping in 4thgen a-b pillars so far the passenger side is done.
heres a photo , everything works includeing vents ,etc.
If you are going to do it DO IT RIGHT, the car i bought to replace my 85 had a half assed 4th gen dash install, the brackets were cut jagged, dash wasnt attached very well and the steering coloum was loose and most of the wiring was wrong. and worse of all the dash that was used was cracked to start, i deceided to trash the dash and swap back to a 3rd gen, which is still in progress
The swap is easy as pie. But i did mine in a t/a so yours is going to be different. I even started swapping in 4thgen a-b pillars so far the passenger side is done.
heres a photo , everything works includeing vents ,etc.
when you did this swap, did you keep the original steering column? and how much cutting/fabricating was involved? thinking about doing this to my 92 rs
when you did this swap, did you keep the original steering column? and how much cutting/fabricating was involved? thinking about doing this to my 92 rs
Yes ,original steering colum was used. The 4thgen dash colum mounts slide right into place on the 3rdgen no fabrication reqired. Wirieing was easy , all of the diagrams are posted on here. You have to bend or cut the third gen dash brackets off , i bent them in case I ever wanted to swap back dashes. For heater controls I have kept the stock thirdgen ones to avoid hassles. For the air box you basicley make the 4thgen air box look like the third gen box with a little trimming and adding a bit of foam. When its all in you can actually glue or duct tape foam if you have any leaking air areas. Mine works perfect this way. The top mounts of the dash all lineup with the third gen mounts execpt for one. You just drill a hole to accomidate it. If you do the swap I would gladly send step by step pics of what you need to do. Its really easy and the WOW factor I get from people is cool . Lastly you need to takre a good 8-10 inches off the 4thgen dash top. I simply measured from the middle of the dash when it was moutned ,grabbed my old third gen dash pad used it as a template and marked were I needed to cut.
hey i have a camaro and i have a dash out of a 1997 ss camaro with all the trim panels a pillars vents, trim plates , console (it already has a T56), and the 97 guage cluster. i was wanting to know if you know if you can hook up that guage cluster and if you could send me those pics too i would really appreicate it
knarley and i talk ona regular basis, and helped eachother out on the 4th gen swap, i installed one to. i dont have much pics im in the middle of the whole 4th gen interior swap but here is a video i took in my car with the 4th gen install, FYI there is no deck installed yet, and i have yet to install the top dash piece, the pillars, and the air bag cover, or the cover under neath the steering column as i need to install the trunk switch. this is just mock up but all gauges work. There was no cutting, except the plastic heater/defrost vent piece in the back, and it pretty much bolted right up. 3-4 holes up top lines up, and the 2 bolts for the steering column lined up.
hmmmm, what about the hvac controls has anyone tried to make the fourth gen controls work with a third gen heater box? i think the vaccuum would be the easy part just making the hot-cold cable work.... oh and would you have a diagram of how you wired your guages? what about the headlight switch? i think this wouldnt be too hard but i havnt looked into it yet. any heads up on that? one more thing how do you remove the airbag and retain the cover on top of the dash? THANKS!!!!
you cant remove air back from behind i tried to remove it from behind, but there are 2 bolt holding it in on top.
i have the hot/cold cable i just need to mount it, check out d10pins post he has specific details. but my heat comes out all my vents, and also all wiring works.
im really considering this swap also if you can send me sum pics and sum additonal information to my email i would gladly apperiate it....derrickvalure@yahoo.com
I am just curious as to how hard it was to install the 4th gen center console... My old 3rd gen console has finally wore out and I figured I might as well do the swap now while its all apart...
I have an automatic and didn't know how closely things would line up in the aspect of the shifter...
without the 4th gen dash there will be a gap, but they bolt in the existing holes on the floor. the auto will need to be modified and the manual is pretty much direct fit.
without the 4th gen dash there will be a gap, but they bolt in the existing holes on the floor. the auto will need to be modified and the manual is pretty much direct fit.
How much of a gap will it leave between the console and radio pod? I'm assuming thats where the gap will be that your talking about... I did a lot of reading of the existing threads about this swap last night and I noticed that people did have to hack off a little bit off the underside to allow movement into park... Is this the same modification your talking about?
just where the shifter mounts on the console, you may need to modify it a bit to fit. otherwise it does, or you could just pop out that piece altogether i believe it removable, i just went with the manual console. im too lazy.
Great job guys! I thought about putting a 4th gen dash into my 87....but I like the older looks better. I just added all autometer gauges to freshen it up a bit. I have to admit...I thought installing and wiring the LS1 was pretty easy...bu trying to rewire a dash intimidates the heck out of me.
Justin
Last edited by ghettocruiser; 10-18-2006 at 01:23 PM.
Here are some things I did on my dash swap(still a work in progress too):
Make sure you get the bracket that goes along the bottom of the 4th gen dash.
This is what i did to attach that bracket to the car. You have to cut out those small brackets that are welded to the thirdgen car but not completly cut them. Then, get a 4" corner iron. Bend it, cut it, grind it down, or whatever to get one end to lay flat up against the dash bracket and one to what's left of the bracket on the car. Drill and tap holes on either the brackets or the corner iron, whatever works best but only tap one. This way you can just bolt on the brackets together. Here are a few pics to give you an idea. Menards or most hardware stores should have this 4" corner iron. I plan on painting it black or covering it up with something later.
PICS on the passenger side:
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For the bottom hush panels I had best luck using the 4th gen drivers side hush panel and the thirdgen passenger side hush panel.
For the thirdgen p.s.h. panel, I know for sure I had to cut where the glovebox would go in at so the glovebox would fit.
For the forthgen d.s.h. panel, I had to cut in the corner, the corner where you would have the clutch, where it touches the back carpet.
Might have had to cut a little bit in other spot but can't remember.
Passenger side:
Last edited by Firebat; 10-19-2006 at 08:38 PM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
its every where i might even help you and give you a link 
. Lastly you need to takre a good 8-10 inches off the 4thgen dash top. I simply measured from the middle of the dash when it was moutned ,grabbed my old third gen dash pad used it as a template and marked were I needed to cut.
Thanks for the help. my email is 
