86 to 87 or newer INTERIOR conversion

[DJTR]

WHY WHY WHY WHY????


Ok Maby I'm just a sucker for punishment but I got a weird one for ya. I currently have an 86 GT - TRoof I'm restoring and building. I picked this car up REALLY cheap because the owner accidently smashed out the drivers door window (I'm still looking for one if anyone has one window or complete door) and then left it open the the elements sitting on his front lawn. The Dash has some big cuts in it and honestly I'm not going to sit there for hours filling cracks and looking for hardware to replace missing parts when I like the 87-93 style Dash and Interior. Now here's the hard part.......... will it work?.....has anyone done it? Anyone have pics of a work in progress or know of where I can find any information on this? I know 90% of the interior is completely interchangable between fox models.....but.......Cluster? heating controls? Am I gonna hafta completely strip everything and just upgrade everything?? (please tell me no) This car has all kinds of potential it just needs some love! Honestly the interior thats in it is so trashed that if its not gonna work out I'm just gonna stip it and part it out. Some Advise would be much appreciated! Oh

Oh! Afterthought..... Anyone who has parts for sale let me know (Canadians Especialy )

 

[Matts89LX5.0]

very clean looking stang. I'm pretty sure the dashes are interchangeable as well as the rest of the interior...someone correct me if i'm wrong

Matt

 

[85GTlover]

I remember reading something about part of the dash not directly bolting in but it has and can be done for sure check all the threads there is info there. I have extra glass in Hamilton ontario.

 

[siege]

this was done to my car by its previous owner, so I don't know how involved it is. but yeah, it can be done. One thing I know, stick with 87-89 interior, as in 90 (I think) they put in the airbag so the shape of the cluster around the steering column is different. from what I've seen of mine, the guage cluster looks like it plugged in without modification to the harness

 

[bud168]

I have done about 4 of those interior swaps, I did one where I searched to get all of the parts I needed which is a pain in the ass.. What I did was find a wrecked car that had full interior with all of the wiring harnesses in tacked.. All of the parts will fit pretty well in the car, for the dash you will have to do some custom work or backets to get it to stay up in the car, you will need a emergency brake setup for the newer interior, 86 and under had it in the middle, 87-93 is off set a little.. You will run into a couple things though, its not to bad to do if you have all of the parts..

Hope this helps...

 

[trbkrb]

A parts car is a good idea. A friend put a 92 interior in his 86, and he just got all the wiring harnesses and actually got all the electrical accessories (wiper, hatch latch, PW & PL, etc) from the newer car, so it was basically a plug in. You have to add brackets or use longer screws for the dash mounting , and get the bracket for the armrest and the newer ebrake like was mentioned, along with the center ebrake cable. It will take some work, but at least you have a 86 with the EFI, so much of the wiring should be compatable. Plan on taking a while, though. Also, if you want the 87-93 rear quarter panels, the rear window panel part will need to be trimmed or the 87-93 windows used.

Good luck...... his turned out great, hope yours does too.

 

[mustang_monty1]

interior swap

I did this in a 82 mustang.I used the interior from a 87.I had to cut new holes for the heater/ac unit.I spliced in the inst cluster Big mistake!Please use the donor harness.I don't have any pictures.I just moved to Rhode Island from Arizona and the car is still in arizona.I have all the info from the swap in storage. I'll get it asap and post it or e-mail it to ya. Right now i'm suffering from U-Haul lag I and my bro in law drove non stop from AZ to RI 2,846 miles.It took us 54 hours.As soon as i get my brain functioning normal again i'll get u the info.I know the 82 has some differences than the 86 so u can pick the info that can help u and also there are some web sites u can go to for references.Mike Croke and GTLuke can help u out. Their knowledge helped me out.

 

[DJTR]

Spare Glass in Hamilton eh? Hmmm you got any other spare parts? Email me a list and prices will ya? Thanks Bro!

 

[speedfreek95GT]

I know this is a VERY old thread; however, I'm in the process of doing just this in an 86 coupe right now. I've ran into the issues already mentioned with the 86/87-93 ebrake handle being different. Can anyone shed light on exactly what was done to change over to the new ebrake handle? I've looked at the factory cutout for the 86 ebrake and the bolt holes are offset differently, as well as spaced differently from the front of the base of the brake handle to the back. This is one of the major hold ups on getting the interior swap completed. Any help/advice/pics would be appreciated.