Im going to do the 4 gen dash swap and i was wondering how to go about hooking a heater so at least i can get it to blow on the windshield. Should i use the 4 gen heater and controls or should i use the 3 gen heater and controls???

 

I believe that you'll need to use the 4th gen heater box, which will require some fairly major firewall modifications.

 

Yeah, it involves cutting a pretty major hole in the firewall, but it can be done.

 

Could someone go into more detail about this? I am thinking of getting a 4th gen dash installed... doing a whole 4th gen interior swap actually since I can get a dash/console/door panels in sweet condition locally for $700 Canadian ($400 US)... even if I have to pay an interior shop to give me a hand with it it still will be a "reasonable" price.

The only major obstacle I see (from my brief research) is the heater controls. How do we do this? Would it be wise to use 4th gen stuff or relocate thirdgen heater controls to the glove box?

Anyone? Also I checked 72GSX or whatever his name is web page... are there a couple others I can refer to? I'd like to print them all out so wheN i go to do this I have an idea on where to go.

Thanks for ANY help guys I think this would be an awesome interior 'mod'

Garett

 

you're going to have a hard time getting any details. that's not exactly a common swap. I only know of one person that did a complete swap that included a fully functional heater & AC system. There's one guy here that swapped a dash into his Formula, but he's got no heater stuff hooked up. You're more or less going to have to figure that out on your own... that's why this isn't a swap for the faint at heart.

 

You need to use the 4th gen heater/AC stuff. The 4th gen dash isn't even close to the 4th gen stuff and I cannot see it working no matter how hard you try with a 4th gen dash.

 

the 4th gen heater blower is way way different. The only way i can see doing it is getting a trans am dash and putting the third gen controls where the 4th gen controls are at now

 

If you plan on using the 3rd gen system how do you plan on getting the heater/AC ducts behind the dash to all line up?

 

thats the easy part. You can fab that up with some washer dryer hose some hose clamps and some duct tape

 

LOL, I seriously hope you do not expect to be able to run a rear heater system w/ duct tape and heater hoses, being the boxes are large, square, and have lots of little things moving around. I don't see how it would be feasible.
Douglas

 

all im worried about is defrost ad its not that hard to make a square tunnel with tin, pop rivets and a 1st grade skill level in arts and crafts

 

If all you want is defrost, then yeah, it is really easy. Probably easier to buy a seperate heater system, one of those aftermarket ones.
I personally am using a 4th gen box and will be modding the firewall to make it fit. I found that it would be much easier, much more functional, and in general more relaible.

 

Aww shucks, you can fix anything with duct-tape.

 

good luck trying to get that to fit. Defrost heats just as good as the vents.

 

LOL, well being I actually have the dash and complete AC/heater assembly and the dash of my car already tore out I know fairly well what it is going to take to get it to fit

 

the glove box sounds like a good idea, but wait, wheres my glovebox???? ohh yeah, i don't have one. heres what i would do, rig the current controls somewhere ya can't see 'em. Put an amp and temp meter or somethin in where the 4th gen controls go. You know what i always say, the more you think of an easy way to do something, the more complicated it gets. KISS-Keep It Simple Stupid!

 

You forget 4th gens have glove boxes. That is what he was refering to.

 

Okay, so far ti seems the most feasible/cheapest way of doing this is to use the stock thirdgen heater/ac setup. So this means we would relocate the heater stuff to the glovebox or somewhere similar, how involved of a process is this? How much labour?

 

Garrett, how soon are you planning on doing this? I should have it done in about 3 weeks, so if you want to wait I can tell you what is needed to get it done w/ the stock 4th gen box. If you want I also hang around Surrey/Langley BC a lot, so we could meet and you could take a look at the setup.

Douglas

 

why do you insist on making things difficult? Use your 3rd Gen stuff, Mount it wherever you like, put guages in the current setup on the 4th Gen Dash. All you want anywayz is the defroster, why go through the trouble of swapping in the 4th Gen Heater Core ??? Makes no sense. Follow igotslicksNchixs and mount the 3rdgen controls where someone can't see them and use the stock location for something else.

peace...

 

Did I ask you?

I was not the one that just wanted defrost, I want A/C, defrost, floor vents seperate from the chest level vents, and all that fun stuff. The only way I see doing it that won't fall apart is by a 4th gen box.

Does anyone else that liked to comment on this post actually have their dash completely out, including heater box/AC, and a 4th gen dash and heater box sitting in their garage?

 

armorgetRS: yes that would be a great idea! I was thinking of doing this over this coming winter... so I have a while to research this. The dash just looks SOOO good... and I could just imagine all silver-faced gauges staring at me mmmmm damn I'm a sucker for nice interiors.

Could yout ake pics and all of that? That would be great, hell if you make a nice comprehensive article that would help me a lot I could get you $20 to buy lunch or something.

I'm just looking for anyone's experience doign this to help make it easier, I'm only 19 so I am going to try and do some of this myself, I might need help of an interior shop but I know of a guy that does sweet work for about $30/hr labour...

anyhow I post on camaroz28.com under Pacific Northwest section as well....

thanks

garett