forgot my camera, but after 6 hours of thinking i made some progress.
i took a body saw and cut the whole top of the door. not like what ive seen in a search among different threads.
im talking hacked off. i will have to fab up some mounts/braces to allow reattachment of the window guide felts.
left a hook on in the front, and a couple of the reccessed hooked in the back.
so i will somewhat mount like it was designed to in the 1st place.
my fab work looks like chit where i cut holes for the hook.
i used a big drill bit to drill two holes then made one big one via a set of tin snips.
i could have made a pretty square hole with a grinder or a dremel, but i dont want to pit my nice new side windows.
i looked into some welding paper, but it was 80 bucks a roll, so i passed.
once the door panel is mounted you wont see the rat-chewed holes anyway.
hoope to make some more progress today if i can find a set of door handles and lock tabs.
i had this stuff stored for about 2 years now and finally got the gall to do the swap.
got the door panels and trim, no handles.... bleh. off to the boneyard.

 

If you cut to the point of felt you went WAAAAY to far! The stock mounting clips are useless and don't hold things tight enough.

 

Sounds like your getting really into it. Post some pics when you get a chance!

 

PICS! PICS! PICS! I have been waiting to see any detailed pics of this swap or a dash swap for that matter!!

 

got the panel massaged in the front and the door shuts fine.
panel lined up nice all around with matching weatherstrip from panel to door.
all gaps looking good.
for some reason, the panel will unhook it self when i open the door. its clear around all areas. im thinking it may be my new GM roof seals. they are pretty thick, and about the only thing that could be forcing the panel off the door.
its held on pretty tight. it takes effort to bend the panel and get the factory hooks to slide in the holes i made on the 3rd gen door.
also made a small bracket to hold the bottom of the panel.
did one in the rear of the map pocket, using a push fastener so no ugly screw is showing. plan to do one to the frontmost side of the map pocket as well to secure the bottom of the panel to the door.
if i could keep it from popping off the door, id be set on finishing up the door handle and cutting down my weatherstrip at the ends to fit the newer panel.

 

WOW you took way to much material off. All of those brackets along the top of the door should not have been cut. This also poses the problem of the door panel popping off at the top , the 4thgen panel must have someting to grip onto and by the looks of it you have taken too much off.

 

not too much off. maybe a different approach. i think the reason why it pops off is stress in that area.
the 3rd gen door is too wide at the top causing the panel to bow. the only thing cut off are the tabs that stuck up for the 3rd gen trim. it looks way worse being i hacked the rest of it off.

 

well, finally finished up the passenger side. its completely done, minus hitting it with some shine. i scrubbed it good with cleaner and its kinda dull looking right now. pics look funny to me.
no screws showing anywhere, panel is held completely tight.
i made a lil bracket and used some push fasteners to help hold the front corner.
it was flapping a bit, and i really didnt like that. cut one of the tabs off the speaker grill, and used the female portion of the connector for a base to hold the door panel tight.
also made some brackets and used push fasteners through the map pocket to hold it sturdy at the bottom of the door.
ive beat the door and cut as much of the panel as i could. it only sticks out from the door 1/16 visibly from the side and im sure the usual at the bottom(1") from what other people have posted, but you really cant tell unless you get down and dirty. the weatherstrip fits good everywhere. i think the flash is playing tricks on the gap in the pic. its got a but in the front and rear, with only 1/8" towards the middle. its not as bad as it looks in the pics.
im pretty happy with the way it turned out. i think.
start moving on the drivers side now that i think i wont have to buy and paint 2 new doors(haha)
gotta finish it up in time for cruisn the coast in 2 weeks.

 

dang that looks prety good!!

 

those dp are pretty damn clean what are they from?

 

"He hacked to much this" lol I think you did a dang good job man. looks good

 

Does it hit the dash like they do in Firebirds?

 

00-02 camaro correct panels. ebony leather.
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ive had a 4th gen dash in the car so everything lines up like factory.

 

can you take so more pics of the whole interior? I would love to see the whole car

 

looks great! Do you have any spacing at the bottom of the panel or did you find a way to mount them lower?

 

Oh, Yeah! I'm doin it for sure, now!! That turned out great!! Which dash did you use? Camaro or firebird?

 

cutting the door like i did prolly gave me just a hair bit to mount it lower.
it lines up with the door nice until near the speaker grill, it has a gap of about an 1" for about 6".
ive got some GM plastic from the junkyard that matches. im going to fill that area in with matching plastic.
if you took a pic with a flash, or if the sun was beaming in you might notice it, but 90% of the world wont ever notice it, imo.
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everything is camaro, minus the TA leather.

 

thats all ive got at the moment. thats an old interior pic from a couple years ago. i dont have any new pics with the finished panels yet.

 

I love everything from the interior to the outside except the rims, other then that it looks real good.

 

nice job man, looks real clean, its not often you see a 100% swap like yours most people dont complete the dash much less mod the door panels to fit, so good job!

 

looks great, inside and out. The stance is awsome with those tires.
I think you just inspired me to convert my interior.

once again, great job man, love the car

 

not sure if i read it right. but why did you cut that corner piece off? does it give it a better fit?

 

are you referring to the vertical cut at the edge of the door? i dont know why i cut it. saw it in some pics i had saved of the swap. ill say it prolly doesnt need to be cut exactly the way i cut it, but there is kinda a bump there that doesnt let the panel sit as flat as it can.
i can just about promise my drivers side will look nothing like this side.
the end product will, i hope.
haha.
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its a love-um or hate-um. which is cool.
gold isnt everyones color. neither is a pile of circles.
i will say this.
the pics do it no justice. it grows on you.
here is my old wheels.

 

Yea I like the older rims :-) Imo but its still a good looking car.

 

agreed, I like the old wheels also.
any chance you can get sum updated pics of the interior when your all done?

and
If the driver door is gona be different you gona do a write up on that side too?

Love the car tho

 

yea, im gonna take pics of everything, and ill have pics up when its all completed.
im going to work on it today. cruisin the coast is next weekend, and i have to work this weekend. so today is about my only free time.

 

man the interior is really nice....i just got myself some 4th gen seats, but i think thats as much 4th gen parts that im gonna put inthere...i like the look of the third gen stuff, just kinda feel that is a 3rd gen so i should keep it a 3rd gen lol...but thats justme

 

i have been slacking!
finally got out and took some decent pics.

 

Beautiful work with that car man!

 

wanna do my dash swap or dp swap for me
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Wanna do my 4th gen dash and dp swap for me i already got the console in lol

 

ill have to pass. all my friends and people i dont even know come up to me at cruise nights and ask me if i wanna build a motor, or wire this. i really dont have the patience to do my own work, let alone anyone else.
i like to tinker, i couldnt do it as a full time job.

 

its all good lol. thats a long drive for a interior swap

 

WOW nice, I was going to try to do the door panels but was scared to do it

 

Car looks good. i think ive seen a video of this car on youtube raceing someone on the highway ?

 

if i was winning, it was me.
heheh.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTUXAK_4-O8
?

 

Got any better pics/details on the A pillar cover thingys?

 

its only me on the internet. that race never actually took place on a real stretch of highway.
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its a 4th gen a pillar modified to fit in the 3rd gen spot.
not sure if that answers your question or not. i dont have any other pics that show the a pillar(i dont think) if you have a need for a certain pic, LMK, i can snap one.

 

So how did you account for the big gap at the top? Or did you merge the 4th and 3rd gen pillars together?

 

no 3rd gen piece at all, its all 4th gen.
i cut and cut on the front until the cruved portion fit the curve of the 3rd gen a pillar at the headliner. i also cut the groove thats all the way down the pillar, along with the clips that hold it to the 4th gen chassis.
i removed the 3rd gen clips from the roof rail, measured carefully, and drilled holes.
its held in by those lil push fasteners. christmas tree looking things.
its very clean, and its not an eye sore like a screw or anything of that nature.
if you look in the pic, you can almost see the flush heads if you stare at it.
there is only about an inch gap at the back by the seatbelt. the 4th gen pillar is just a hair short of a factory 3rd gen. its hardly noticable, unless you put a flashlight on it or take a pic with the flash. almost looks factory.

 

sent you a pm

 

If you dont mind snapping some pics around the top and bottom, ujst so i can see how it fits, that would be awesome.

Thanks,
Richard.

 

car is at my shop right now going under the knife for more power.
i should have some pics up by the weekend for you. the ones that are in there arent my best. i sourced a new set and will be putting careful touches on my next set.
they look really nice, but im just nit-picky.

 

Holy crap Stage! That car is slick! I love the paint and the wheel combo in those pictures. Very nice. Awesome work on the interior too! Its like a new car!

J.

 

Is it difficult to get the gagues to work??
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I noticed you don't have a e-brake handle. Is that a fittiment issue or you have not gotten to it yet?

 

i have a carb'd motor. the gauges werent that difficult, but i had to wire each gauge with a sendor. its an lt1 cluster, so my rpms read good. speedo works, all that stuff.

i dont have an ebrake.
car has drag brakes, and i never bothered to find a 4th gen handle to bolt in.
i should bolt in one for looks sake, anyway. none of the other equipment is there, its ditched.

 

what color paint is that

 

FORD!!!!
LOL.
dark shadow grey (CX)

 

thats what i thought... come to think of it i have a pic saved of your car with the old rims on my computer because i want to paint it the same color. beautiful car btw do you have any under hood pics... or just more pics in general

 

the whole interior looks fourth gen, looks awesome