Any pointers on putting in 4th gen hardtop a pillars in a hardtop thirdgen with a 4th gen dash?

I'm working on it right now and not sure if its going to work really good without having to bond the thirdgen and forthgen a pillars together with fiberglass. So far I've just done a little cutting on the 4th gen a pillar cover on the section that touches the dash and windshield.

 

im in the same boat as you just haven't got that far yet let me know how they turn out

 

Ok I am about 90% done my a-b pillar swap. Basicly the amount of fuss goes with which dash you swapped in. If you have a t/a dash you have a larger gap on the driver side then a guy with a 97-02 camaro dash will but he will also have a large gap on the passenger side wereas you have one on the drivers side. Anyways i pulled the original thirdgen pillars off you dont need them other then for plastic parts. Mind you my car has t-tops.
Since you guys are hardtop owners I wont go into detail about how i did it. The onyl flaw you will be left with is up near the top of the windsheild there will be that small opening. But I will add that from a 4thgen headliner with some fiberglassing.

 

Yes I know the edge of my dashpad need more velcro

 

yep, i'm seeing a huge gap like that by the headliner.

Only for hardtops:
I think i'm also going to see a huge gap between the a-pillar and the sail panel speaker covers in the back. Seeing a couple other areas too, where it isn't matching up very well.

I think I'm going to fiberglass and shape the thirdgen and forthgen a-pillars together. I'm just seeing too many gaps.

 

I have cut one side as close as I can get it to fit but there are some areas that are not covered. I am now trying to decide if i want to glass the 3rd gen and the 4th gen pillars together like what firebat is doing. Maybe even just building onto the 4thgen pillar with 40/40.
I to am seeing a 1 1/2 inch gap between the sail panel and the 4th gen a pillar. and a gap when looking inside, with the windows down where it bends to meet the headliner. But then I would have to figure out a fastening system, as where with the bonding of both of them would be provided by the original pillar.
Let us know how it turns out for you.

 

With the way the convertible piece attaches at the top of the windshield, I had to mold the two together. I'll preface the pictures by saying I hate fiberglass and bondo so I've only worked on it sparingly for the past year and I'm still not finished.



End result is as much coverage as the stock pillar with no gaps anywhere:



Plus if you use the 4th gen kick panels, you take care of the gap next to the dash. (Which, on a side note, if you center the dash when installing it you will have an equal gap on both sides regardless of what dash you use. That gap is the exact width of the 4th gen kick-panel/apillar 'fingers')




Kevin D.

 

hmm good info so far, i'm in the same boat as well, hartop 01 interior swap. anyone else with pix?

 

How exacley did you center the dash? Mines dead center with the steering colum. If I were to do that the panels would not fit around the steering colum properly. As well if I ever wanted to swap in 4thgen door panels there wouldent be much clearence.

I have the same gap as this guys swap , clearly you can see the gauges are centered

 

My gauges from steering wheel view

 

Shr00m's dash is in the same spot. Shr00m's car has the 4th gen a-pillar and 4th gen kick panel covering the gap. The kick panel crosses over the 4th gen door insulation. Then the door insulation lines up with that 3rd gen black piece thats behind the a pillar.

I am extremely impressed how Shr00m did that and I will be doing the same or something similar.

 

Good observations. My dash is actually a lot closer to the driver's side then the picture Gnarley posted. The 4th gen kick pieces are only as wide as the edge of the 3rd gen black piece behind the a-pillar. You can see in his pic there's at least an inch between the dash and it.

As far as how to center it and deal with the steering column... I don't know. Don't line up with the steering column?? I had a spare dash piece I used to get everything lined up. I bent the main bolt tabs on the metal brace to line up to the 3rd gen main bolt locations. That centered the dash to the car. It took a little effort to bolt the wheel back up, but nothing I would consider excessive effort. If the wheel is tilted towards the driver's side because of this, I can't notice it at all.

Kevin D.