80 Dash into 86 GT?

[Cobra912]

Guys, I'm in the middle of a dash swap on my 86 GT. I had the stupid idea of swapping out my grey 86 dash for a 80 black dash. NOT having fun doing it. What a PITA. I'm doing it because my gey one is badly cracked in several spots, dashes are extremely hard to come by around here and it was black.

Anyways a couple questions:

1) Is this 80 going to fit? They look the same.

2) What the heck is the oval shaped component underneath the dash pad that has two connectors coming out of it?

3) I have the column trim which appears longer, the a-pillar trims which need to be trimmed for my t-tops , is there anything else that is needed to be trimmed up?

HELP????

 

[Darkwriter77]

All the early dashes should be pretty much compatible between '79 and '86 - it's mostly just the trim appearance and gauges that are different. Steering columns and whatnot are basically the same.

The oval-shaped thing in the in the middle of the dash? Ummm ... a center speaker?

Dunno about hardtop vs. T-top interior trim pieces, though, sorry.

 

[1991notchbackLX]

i'd post this question on foureyedpride if i were you... you'd probably get a pretty quick response, those guys live for this stuff... wish i could be more help, good luck

 

[pedro]

2) What the heck is the oval shaped component underneath the dash pad that has two connectors coming out of it?

Early foxes had AM stereos and only 1 speaker in the dash so I'm pretty sure that's the oval shaped thing you're looking at.

 

[69clark]

Early foxes had AM stereos and only 1 speaker in the dash so I'm pretty sure that's the oval shaped thing you're looking at.

Thats a negative.

Yes, some came with AM stereos and one speaker, while others (with like premium sound or something it was called) had two speakers in the dash and an amp in the center. So look at it again and see if it is in the center.

For the OP the dash should swap with no problems as others have said.

 

[Cobra912]

well it's definetly not a speaker, I thought that it may be some type of amp or relay box. It's shaped like a speaker however. I don't have a stereo so I'd like to ditch it.

The steering column trim is deinetly different from the 80 to 86 in terms of length so I'm not sure if I can make it work.

And maybe it's my eyes but the 80 dash looked slightly wider. I tried measuring it but couldn't say for sure. Just didn't want to try putting it in to find out the hardway.........

What a mess.........a 23 year old car with lots of wires all over - yikes!

 

[deftsound]

What a mess.........a 23 year old car with lots of wires all over - yikes!

 

[Cobra912]

well just an update.......it's done and I will never do it again! what a PITA! it does fit, however there a few changes. The brackets are ever so slightly different, the steering column trim was different otherwise it went in the same.