[MAC'n89Blckstng]

Its only 2.5 inch exhaust tubing I had lying around. I was gonna do it in 1.5 thick wall but Im actually happier with the way it is now. The big tube is more proportionate to the rest of the rad support.

[66sprint6]

WOW...cars shapin up nicely, like all the work your puttin into the small details, itll make it stand out for sure!!! I just put a set of the black Cobra R's in your pic on my 90 Coupe and really dig how they look, best lookin 4 lug Cobra R i could find. Good luck and keep us posted!!!
Matt

[satanas]

Since you have done a great job on your engine bay why don't you smooth out the back area behind the struts, I will make it look even better.IMO.


By the way I like the way you midified the lower radiator support...Great job on it

[MAC'n89Blckstng]

I thought about it, hell I may even do it when I do the dash swap since I will have to modify the firewall for the SN steering column. I just wanted to shoot some primer on the bay to get it sealed up for the winter so it doesn't rust up at all and this will show me where I may need to touch up some spots on it. I think my favorite part of the whole bay is the rad support lol even tho its going to be completely hiddin by everything. The intercooler piping should look cool running next to and around that thing. Oh yea, these are the wheels that are going on my car, not the black cobra r's:

[satanas]

My favorite section of my car is the whole engine bay specially the rear of it since it has to be nice due to my hood set up.

[MAC'n89Blckstng]

So I got back to working on my car. I started the dash swap Yesterday and got some pretty good progress going. I think it's damn sexy but I will NEVER be doing this swap again unless Im getting paid to do it. I've had the dash in and out maybe ten or more times. I am using the SN heaterbox which helps out alot with the h vac all working. I need to locate the heater vents, radio bezel to complete my parts. I was originally going to use SN door panels but its a ton of work and I dont think its going to fit with the way I have the dash in place. I think the black fox door panels I have are gonna look fine for me. Plus that puts me THAT much farther away from driving this thing by the end of summer. The dash should be all done mounted in place tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to move onto installing the steering column into the car and welding in the firewall bushing. I am also using a powersteering rack from the wrecked 98 I bought. The connection is like a square versus the splined shaft for the Fox rack. I hope I will just be able to use fox tie rod ends. The rack itself is the same length as the fox. Anyways, Im tired. Here are two quick pics I took with it just lying in the car.

[SFC_R0CK]

Lots of work so far and it all looks great. It will surely look great when finished and keep the information coming. Do you have any detail pics of what had to be trimmed / changed to fit that dash and console in?

[1991notchbackLX]

wow, that's gonna look damn good when you're done... stupid question but are you going to dye/paint the panels black? (of course you are )

[QUICK91LX]

Awesome dude...really looking good.

My only issue with an SN dash swap with fox door panels is the location of the inside door handles...behind the wrap-around part of the dash. I bet you can make the SN door panels work! I will help out if you need it man just give me a call/text

[MAC'n89Blckstng]

Originally Posted by SFC_R0CK

Lots of work so far and it all looks great. It will surely look great when finished and keep the information coming. Do you have any detail pics of what had to be trimmed / changed to fit that dash and console in?

No I didn't take any detailed pictures. I just traced the top part of the fox dash and put it up to the SN dash. It fits pretty well but I need the defroster cover to really see how it looks.


And yes I am going to be dying the console and dash black unless I can find both for really cheap.


And I WAS going to use the SN door panels but I dont think they are going to fit. I'm probably going to use the fox door panels I have and then try to get a set of grey or red door panels to try an fab up some after I get everything in. I just want the dash in for now, then I gotta start working on wiring and hiding everything. Im so sick of this project, I just want to drive the damn thing!!!

[ryan218]

looking good man. didnt know you were doing the dash swap. how dose wiring in the new cluter go? or by chance are the connecters the same? its a project im seriously considering for winter 09.

[SickSix]

Looking really good man

[25thmustang]

Make the SN door panels fit, or make some custom ones...

I know you can do it, and would add just that much more to the car.

Sick work, can't wait to see it, in SC perhaps?

[MAC'n89Blckstng]

I think Im going to be using the fox door panels for a little while and then getting a set of gray door panels and custom making some to fit. I just want to get the dash done and work on getting that out of the way and then moving on to wire hiding and stuff like that. As for the gauges, I will be getting a Florida 5.0 autometer gauge cluster to make the install that much easier. Plus I love the way that looks. Other wise all the wiring will be from the 89. Im gonna need to get the wiring diagrams for the 98 and the 89 for the multifunction switch and the headlight switch. Its alot of work but it'll get done sooner or later. An as for Mustang week this year, I think that may be pushing it. If I finish it close to it I wont be going because I'm gonna want to drive it alot locally to make sure I have all the bugs out of it. Well see. Im about to head home to get ready to go to the shop. Havin this week off of work has really allowed me to get alot of work done.

[82CapriRS]

ok im not one to admit this usually, but im jealous already of what this car is gonna look like when your done. good work bro. oh..an i might have to pay you to do the dash swap...one day, when i find the fox i want lol. keep postin pics

[MAC'n89Blckstng]

hahah thanks tyler, I'm hopin this thing is gonna come out nice. We'll see tho. Here are a couple more pics. I AM gonna end up doing the SN style door panels. I bought a set of white 7 up door panels for 30 bucks off ebay to hack up and attach the sn section onto and then fiberglass something up to make it look all good. I also got the car steering with the SN steering column with the bearing in the firewall and used the SN steering rack and simply screwed on the Fox inner tie rods. I also hacked up the SN and Fox A pillar trim to match up to the dash. They fit pretty well. I will be molding on a tweeter mount and fleecing it and then covering it with black vinyl to make it look pretty. I also bought a defroster vent cover and cut that to fit. The dash fits up to the firewall perfectly now and pretty much looks factory. I can't wait to finish all the wiring and stuff so this thing will be in for good!!
Enjoy:




Action shot!!!

Yes I know they look haggard for now but it will look nice when I'm done with it.

[Cobra912]

wow is that a project! keep up the good work!

[SickSix]

wow man..lookin really good keep em commin

[MAC'n89Blckstng]

Progress is going to slow down because I will only be able to work on it on weekends now. I may be able to work on it during the week after work but we'll see. I had all last week off of work so I think I used that time pretty affectively to get some solid progress goin on her. Thanks for the comments guys!

[QUICK91LX]

Dude...that mock-up of the door panels looks awesome. You GOTTA go that direction. I know you can make it work really well. You are doing a really nice job, keep taking your time like this to do things right, it will pay off.

Let me know when you open your own shop. I wanna work for you...or at least bring my car to you for work! After seeing that 82 GT in your shop AND the progress on your car...I'm a beleiver.

[Rick James]

Car looks great.....plus its t-tops,its gonna be sick(good sick)lol.Where in jersey are you?I see you can weld,wanna weld up some torque boxes?I would rather weld them before they break, if i am gonna run a sticky tire this year.

[MAC'n89Blckstng]

Thanks Bill!! Thanks to my friends I got really motivated on the door panel thing. I'm still meaning to get some pics up on here of the 82. Hopefully in the next month or so I will be bringing that thing into the shop to start the body work on it. Its gonna be gorgeous. And I'm hoping one day I will be able to buy the shop I'm currently at. Its a bit small but there are always options of expanding.

And as to Rick James, if you want, you can bring your car by my shop to get an estimate. I will be installing the battle boxes on my buddies 85 so I could give you a pretty good estimate on how long it would take me. I'm located in Morris County NJ.

[Rick James]

Cool ,i am in union county so i will get in touch with you soon.Good luck,keep updating the progress.

[SVT32VDOHC]

Nice job so far. Since Hack Job is gone, somebody had to do an SN95 dash swap!! lol

A couple of tips and things to be aware of for you.

Since you are using the 94+ door panels and handle you need to consider what you will to do for the door latch. The fox handle uses a hard rod to push the door latch to release it. The 94+ handle uses a cable to pull the door latch to release it. I saw one guy just get two 94+ door latches and cut that portion off and weld it to the fox latch. It worked fine. Another thing you can do...which I would not want to attempt this is to: Get the two 94+ door latches and two 94+ strikers. You would have to weld up the old 3 holes in the fox doors and drill 3 new ones for the 94+ latch. The bolt pattern on the newer latch is much smaller than on the fox. Just two options for you.

If the molding of the A-pillar trim doesn't go well...and I'm not saying it will go bad....you can get 86 and older A-pillars. They have a different shape at the meeting of the dash and fill the gap pretty good. That's what I did on Hack Job.

Make sure when you are bolting the column in the dash you have the steering shaft and rack and pinion fully bolted in. You just want to make sure everything is square. I fought getting my column straight, but I fianlly got it with some small tweaks here and there.

Do you plan on using a 94+ E-brake handle? I found that I had to because with the position of the new console, the fox handle would not work.

I'm just throwing these things out there for you because everybody does this dash swap different. No two dashboards are going to be cut and bolted in the same, so everybody can get away with doing things their own way. When I did this swap, I had questions and nobody could ever answer them. All the site like Modular Fords and modfox...they didn't help at all. Very little action on those sites.

Also...if you need ANY parts to complete this swap, PM me and we can handle it that way. I have tons of parts and if you are missing any, I'll help you out at a reasonable price.

[ryan218]

looks great man!!!!