quote Originally posted by Joe Torma: great sig!!! Dashes take forever to design & make from scratch...I know.

thanx for the compliment and I be expecting your donation any day now

I think I'll go and work on some scetches right now and see how they look.

So how much are you saying that the F-body's dash is running? I was on for making my own dash, but the F-body's looks like it belongs there. Besides, I know folks who think that the fiero came out in 97 or so, so I think it would fit well....

Just my thoughts.

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The more I look at it the more I want to do a kit for the T/A Camero dash, could always do a complete dash from scratch later. now all I need is a dash to volunteer for the carnage it will endure for a custom refit into the Fiero, and then be turned in to research, to find out how to make a kit out of it for the general public. Still, I'm not gonna give up on the idea of a kit from scratch, give me your thoughts on the T/A dash idea everyone, would you guys like for me to try and design a kit to make these dashes fit into our cars??? please respond, all coments good or bad welcomed.

I say do the retrofit dash now, and then produce the custom one. Way easier to retro than create.

If anyone is around Tucson, AZ, there is a Firebird dash on eBay with a starting bid of $20 and no reserve. He wants $180 to ship it which I think is outrageous... But if anyone is local, this could be a good one. It looks like it includes the vents and stuff too.. Even a steering wheel and column.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1871287538

[This message has been edited by Songman (edited 11-04-2002).]

well guys I got a dash, I will pick it up from the guy on thursday, right after that I need to go out of town for a week so I'm not sure when I will be able to give an update. I probly would not be able to put any real work into the dash untill after the new year though, I work retail .Before I foget, it is out of a 96 firebird with power windows and mirrors.

Would you mind letting us in on what you had to give for it? Just for an idea of what to expect if I can find a car around here to get the dash out of...

Got it for $125.00, that includes dash, gauge cluster, and both door pannels that had power windows and mirrors. But keep in mind that every junk yard will have different prices, I probly could have gotten a better price from Cophers in FL., since I will be there next week, but I decided to jump the gun and get the dash from a local junk yard.

quote Originally posted by OH10fiero: Got it for $125.00, that includes dash, gauge cluster, and both door pannels that had power windows and mirrors. But keep in mind that every junk yard will have different prices, I probly could have gotten a better price from Cophers in FL., since I will be there next week, but I decided to jump the gun and get the dash from a local junk yard.

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Now what are your plans for getting it in the car? I know you have to get started to know what's really involved, but looking at what you have in your grubby little paws what do you see

perk

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phitown.com

* 85 2M4 - red, custom int, lowered 3", 16" wheels
* 84 Fiero street-legal drag car - coming soon! (383sbc/NOS)
* 84 Fiero parts car
* 79 Camaro - 88 Chevy custom truck - 91 & 89 Accords

Any Idea who makes this dash?

And another pic...

[This message has been edited by Silver85GT (edited 11-04-2002).]

That looks like Pisa's wraparound dash. $1200, last time I checked.

quote Originally posted by perkidelic: Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Now what are your plans for getting it in the car? I know you have to get started to know what's really involved, but looking at what you have in your grubby little paws what do you see perk

I do not have the dash right now, but from what I was able to see from the dash in the car, I would be able to make a "ring" so to speak, mount the dash on the "ring," and then install. When I get the dash in the next few days I will be able to see if that is a option, also that would be an easy way to make a kit for all to do, I will know by this weekend and will post before I go to Florida to pick up the Targa Fiero from my friend on the forum (he showed me the forum as a matter of fact ) Cozmo.

No need to make a ring, just fabricate some brackets and bolt it up.

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 11-08-2002).]

looks great JScott. document it as you go please. if it works out alright i'll probably do it down the road too.

Thanks, I will start a separate thread at some point but Here are some teasers of what it will look like

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 11-08-2002).]

quote Originally posted by jscott1: Thanks, I will start a separate thread at some point but Here are some teasers of what it will look like

jscott1, just use this thread, this way no one has to use two threads for any info on the same conversion. If you want to do your own thread, put a link on this this one, I plan on doing updates everyonce and a while, and would like for others to be able to use any info you might have that I could have missed with out haveing to do a search.

No Problem, I'll post updates to this thread, but I may need some help keeping it active so it doesn't get buried so deep I can't find it.

Phase one of my project is the dash and the door panels. But also involved is a color change from beechwood to gray and black.

My goal for completion of phase one is by end of the calendar year.

Subject is an Red 88GT, (see sig I can't post pics from where I am now)

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jscott....
Man, That look's like it belong's there!! Can you give us a few detail's of year of car it came ot of, etc.. Just give us a few detail's please!! How did it fit <side2side>?? Keep us posted!!

Smooth!!

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SmoothFieroGT@Yahoo.com
Have you RATED me today??

Hey Smooth, thanks for the good words.

Side to side the Firebird dash is about 2 inches wider than the Fiero Dash. But, (and this is a big but) the Firebird dash is designed to go underneath the A pillar trim and the Fiero dash stops before it gets to the A pillar trim.n

Once you factor that in the side to side fit is nearly perfect. The edge of the dash rests comfortably up against the edge of the interior.

How much farther back into the car does the dash extend? How does it effect leg room? Shifter? etc...

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quote Originally posted by Songman: How much farther back into the car does the dash extend? How does it effect leg room? Shifter? etc...

The front face of the dash extends maybe 4 to 6 inches farther out into the passenger area than the stock Fiero. But that is typical for most modern cars. With the seat pushed back there should be ample leg room, since it doesn't affect the actual amount that you can outstretch your legs, only knee space.
But it's hard to know for sure because I haven't installed the seats yet. I'll keep you posted.

Jonathan (JScott1)

Gah! Jscott1 your interior is the best I've seen yet. I love the gauges you used; what are they? Would you ever be willing to market your interior as a kit?

Hi
I am intrigued (no reference to Olds intended) by the Firebird dash idea. My question is can you use the Fiero wire harness or is the Firebird one needed?
S.WIlliams

quote Originally posted by Wipe0ut: Gah! Jscott1 your interior is the best I've seen yet. I love the gauges you used; what are they? Would you ever be willing to market your interior as a kit?

My gauges are standard F-body gauges

I am building a custom harness to interface the three Fiero Gauge connectors to the single F-body connector. I will share the pin mapping when it's complete.

That's how this whole thing began. I started out to build a custom dash with F-body gauges and somewhere along the way I decided to do the whole F-body interior.

Then I found this

And discovered that it was nearly a perfect fit

So then I got these

And installed them

I'll get more pics of the dash after I complete the wiring for the gauges.

This is purely optional but I am also going to use the F-body radio, headlight and environmental controls.

Jonathan (JScott1)

<<Editied to repost images>>

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 11-08-2002).]

Johnathon,

The door panels look awesome. Looks like you just trimmed off the front upper corner and sliced off the back to size. Is that really all you had to do? Have you actually got the door latches hooked up to the Fiero Hardware in stock location?

I just realised mine being manual windows probably won't work with the panels your using. Dang it...

Give a walkthru of how you went about fitting them and how your dealing with areas you had to cut off... Please :-)

quote Originally posted by Scott-Wa: Jonathan, The door panels look awesome. Looks like you just trimmed off the front upper corner and sliced off the back to size. Is that really all you had to do? Have you actually got the door latches hooked up to the Fiero Hardware in stock location? I just realised mine being manual windows probably won't work with the panels your using. Dang it... Give a walkthru of how you went about fitting them and how your dealing with areas you had to cut off... Please :-)

Trimming of the front corner and slicing the rear to size is the gist of it, but it's a tad more involved than that.

The Fiero door mechanism is in the wrong position to fit in the F-body panels. I removed the Fiero hardware and installed the F-body hardware in a new location, and shortened the linkage.

Also the old handle brackets need to be removed and the f-body panel trimed and new attach points drilled.

I did the driver's side first and referenced from that to do the passenger

I also had to get F-body window and door lock switches, and since the Fiero only has one set I had to make a new harness to get power to both the driver's and passenger's side. The stock harness was actually long enough to be relocated from the center to the driver's door.

Sounds harder than it really is. I could do it in a few hours now that I know how to do it. As for how I'm dealing with the ends that were cut off I am surprised how often I am asked that. It simply needs to be closed out in a visually pleasing way. I haven't done that yet.

By the way, if your Fiero has manual windows, this would be a good time to upgrade. I installed power windows in my coupe and it's not that hard. Some people suggest swapping the whole door but in this case you are more than halfway there.

By the way no one has asked yet but my speakers are Pioneer TS-A1667 200 watt speakers mounted external to the panel(to make room for the huge magnet.) The sound quality exceeded my expectations.

Stay tuned for more

Jonathan (JScott1)

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 11-08-2002).]

ok... i absolutely Love this idea... and i really wish that someday i can do it to mine, but i have a question... what about the center counsel... are you planning on leaving the stock one in there? just a thought. that center counsel is what i hate the most, and obviously the f-body counsel won't fit right? i dont know... but yea, im excited!

86 4cyl. SE
86 V6 2.8 GT

I agree the stock center console leaves much to be desired. I have some ideas that I am trying out in my Fiero Design Studio (A.K.A. my dining room) but nothing final yet.

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 11-08-2002).]

ok great! im pretty hyped about this. i cant wait to see what you come up with

jscott.. how much did all those fbody parts cost? this is just the thing PWP needs

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Fierosite - Your Number One Resource for Fiero websites

Ok, Ok,... I guess it's about time I come out of hiding on this. I'm also installing the Firebird dash. Jonathan (jscott1) and I have been communicating back and forth on this topic for several months now. We've shared a lot of ideas but are taking a little different apporach to the project. He is attempting to install the dash without cutting any sheet metal while I feel free to boldly hack away with a sawsall.

I'm including a couple of pictures of my project-in-progress. I'm doing all the hack-work on a chassis I've dubed "the mule". It was a badly rear-ended car that I stripped and was bound for the scrap yard before this experiment. After I'm satisfied that it'll all work, my blue 87 GT will be converted. My target date for this is over the Thanksgiving holiday. If you like, I'll bring you along for the ride.

I have alot more pictures detailing my progress that I'll be sharing. I've already completed the dash filler and am well on the way with my custom door panels. What I hope to do is build a web site to detail the build-up.

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Roy
Just another stock Blue 87 GT
Suncoast Fieros

[This message has been edited by mrfixit58 (edited 11-08-2002).]

Welcome to the thread Roy!

As he said we have been communicating for the last several months, (alomst daily) after we accidently discovered that we were both working on Firebird interior retrofits.

Even though our approadches are different the goal is the same, so it's interesting to see different solutions to the same problems.

We had not planned to go public until further along towards completion but I saw some pointed and direct questions in this thread that I couldn't resist answering and therfore revealed my secret project.

As for cost, I bought all my parts off the internet and had them shipped to me, (at higher cost) I haven't totalled it all up, I my guess is that if you got the dash, switches and door panels locally you could get the entire kit for less than $500. Maybe a lot less if you are lucky at the junkyard, (afterall there are 10 years worth of 4th gen f-body parts out there).

After Roy and I finish documenting the build up, some enterprising person would easily put a kit together for the masses.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: After Roy and I finish documenting the build up, some enterprising person would easily put a kit together for the masses.

And that person is hopefully gonna be me I did not intend that the dash was gonna be the Firebird dash, but the forum spoke up and said that they wanted this dash, so.....
Any way, Roy, I will be at the meeting while I am in town to pick up the Targa from Cozmo, I will have a lot of questions for you if you do not mind too much any help that you can share will be greatly, and much appreciated. One of the reasons that I am happy to be doing this mod, is that in the end it will be an affordable mod that anyone will be able to do, and the end results will be very satisfying. You have to admit that dash looks like it belongs there in our little cars .

JS, could you post the pics of your door panels, I am assuming from what I read that you have them mounted as well?

quote Originally posted by OH10fiero: Any way, Roy, I will be at the meeting while I am in town to pick up the Targa from Cozmo, I will have a lot of questions for you if you do not mind too much any help that you can share will be greatly, and much appreciated. You have to admit that dash looks like it belongs there in our little cars .

As I said Roy and I have been communicating almost daily so I know what he's done. He had a bit of a head start on me, but since I'm skipping the "mule" stage I hope to catch up and hopefully have the world's first fully operational Firebird retrofitted Fiero interior. (That's a mouthful)

Due to the USA Image server going down I have re-posted the images on the NL image server. Thanks again to Cliff for letting us post images again, and at 640 x 480 no less!!!

OH10fiero -- I'm be at the meeting and will be happy to discuss my progress.

I look forward to seeing you again,
Roy

I think what you guys are doing is awesome. This is going to be a fairly inexpensive dash alternative for our Fieros. As usual keep us posted on everything and the more pics the better

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Josh Munilla

love the wraparound type dash, here's another pic of one in a Supra
http://www.autosoundmag.com/features/0205ass_supra05_zoom.jpg