I have an 87 GTA that needs some interior work. Everything was black with black carpet when i got the car about a year ago, but now everything is chipping. The dash is an original black for sure, but I need a new dash pad, the door panels were originally tan and the various rear pieces are a mix between black, tan, and grey. So yeah it needs some work.

Ive looked in salvage yards for interior, but I can mainly only find camaros and beat up black and grey. I cant find a good condition one with black interior, so Im thinking of just going with 4th gen interior while it can still be easily found in good condition.

Im thinking about making the dash and door panels fit, make custom kickpanels, and just sanding and repainting all of the the rear panels. If I do this though, I really need the absolute best interior dye that wont chip off! Im not going for show car look, but I hate when I find a chip in my interior.. of course the rear isnt really hightraffic so I dont think it will me much of an issue.

My only other choice is to recover the interior I have now, but the passenger side door panel is broken so I would def need anew one. What would you do?

 

4th gen swap! i got over on my local junk yard. i bought the whole 4th gen interior and brought back my 3rd gen interior for a complete refund!

 

The 4th gens Ive been in, I've hated the interior... it's so 90s... and fits together like crap. Just generic 90s bulbous, warped, plastic.

I think the thirdgen interior has a lot more character to it, and compared to the few fourthgens I've been in, I really do think the quality is higher in the thirdgens.

 

i do agree kinda, the third gen has better fit and finish but i think it lacks style, and just the opposite with the 4th gen, i hated the 4th gen camaro dash so i got the firebirds instead, but if your gonna do the conversion, u can always get the dash covered and stitched nicely . i just love the way it flows and it has more possibilities to me.

 

yeah, the 4th gen interior is just cheap plastic junk!

 

ok just out of curiosity. does any one know if u can buy 3rd gen interior new? im kinda in the same thing. mine is all gray and i want to change it to blk. but its a pain in the @ss finding the parts from people cuz most of the time they are real messed up. if any one knows if u can buy em new lmk

 

hawksthirdgenparts.com but don't expect anything to be cheap

 

Have any of u guys actually owed a 4th gen? Yes the interiors are plastic and boring as with most GM products but the quality is 100x better than any 3rd gen I've been in. I do love the analog gauges of the 87-92 firebird better than any 4th gen dash but everything else is better in the 4th gen. Door panels with built in speakers, seats not to mention cup holders. Don't even get me started on the terrible 3rd gen Camaro interior.

 

I've gotta say restore it to stock. Owning both cars, I definitely like my third gen's interior better. Fit and finish is MILES above my 4th gen, despite the fact that my 91 is more than twice as old as my 02 and has nearly 3x the miles.

Not to mention that the third gen just looks better. Fabric inserts on the door panels are much more interesting than one giant piece of hard molded plastic that cracks worse and worse every time I roll the windows down. Only thing I like better about the 4th gen is the center console and the seats, but I now have the seats thing taken care of as I found a set of damn nice cloth 87-92 GTA seats.

 

4th gen looks
3rd gen fit and finish

 

Why is everyone hating on the 90's interior? If you get the interior from a 97-2002 camaro its not the cheap plastic, its really NICE classy vinyl. My moms 2000 z28 had it, and my 97 rs had it. Its sick dude.

 

LOL maybe it's just the Firebirds then. Just seems like I'm surrounded by a ton of hard plastic.

 

wel, for an over the pond reaction.
sombody looked at my car and said my interior looked like a jet fighter cockpit. and actually it fits the aerodynamic yet blocky styling. the only thing I would change now about my interior is maybe an overhead console for my T-roof. and 4th gen seats. just because of the better side support.
but for the rest I like my interior

 

Well, Dr. Phil, do we have to tell you? Do we REALLY have to TELL you?!
Restore the interior. It will always look far better than the 4th gens stuffed int it, which would make it would like a children's toy.

if you would go through the trouble of trying to make a 4th gen panel fit, you might as well just put in a fiberglass panel speaker. the camaro's isn't terrible. at least in the fact that it isn't like the firebirds that every console splits apart.

 

I would never go through the trouble of putting 4th gen door panels in a 3rd gen either. I applaud those who have done it though. I scored a really nice set of black deluxe door panels that I plan on swapping out the cloth inserts for suede. I just hate the fact that there's no speakers in the door. Yes most of the Firebirds center consoles have the top that comes apart but IMO the blocky Camaro center looks terrible and the gauge panel looks cheap as hell. I do like the two tone cloth seats some 85-87 birds have grey/black or grey/red.