dash pad interchange

[Germaneighter]

Anybody able to answer this one?

Will the dash pad of an '86-up with the long, one piece defrost vent fit earlier models...say a '79?

[plain fan]

Yep, but you have to make changes to the windshield vents near the glass. The holes where changed in the dash, you have to cut.....

[Kevin Stewart]

Hi yes you can put it in with out cutting, i put a 94 dash in my sc, most of the bolts line up, but when it came to the vent on the windshiend i used black sheet metal screws, if you had to you probably could do it with out removing the windshield, the leading edge of the dash near the windshield doesnt mount like the sc so it makes it possible, at first i was gonna cut the defrost vents then i just tried it with out the cut worked just fine or should i say as good as it used to, they are not perfectly lined up but good enough, Kevin

[Todd Simpson]

I tried to put an '86 dash in my '83SC. I remember it being more work than it was worth, the defrost vents were too different. I bought the used '86 dash for $250 and sold it for the same. A new SC vinyl dash (a few years ago) was around $375 and since I was paying for the labor anyway it made sense to get a pefect fit.

[plain fan]

The defrost vents are actually metal slots in the dash. I cut mine so that the air would be a little more deflected correctly to work with the new dash. I DID NOT cut a all the way across, just the two vents that are there.