Hi, I have an 88gt formula. I want to do a dash upgrade. Ive been looking at the miata swap, the camaro and firebird swap and the 3kgt. Which is the easiest swap? Something I could do in a weekend, dash and doors. I really like the miata, but looks like a hassle. Please help!

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quote Originally posted by DavePatron: Hi, I have an 88gt formula. I want to do a dash upgrade. Ive been looking at the miata swap, the camaro and firebird swap and the 3kgt. Which is the easiest swap? Something I could do in a weekend, dash and doors. I really like the miata, but looks like a hassle. Please help!

A weekend dash swap doesn't exist. The closest you're going to get would be an amida custom dash. I have been researching a dash swap myself and the biggest issue I've found is the curvature of the IP where it meets the windshield, the Fiero dash is pretty flat along the windshield whereas a lot of newer cars are curved. The depth is another big deal too. Most newer cars have a large HVAC air box and the IP's are too deep to fit properly without major mods. Width is a tough one too, the Fiero is a wide car, a lot of IP's I measured were either too narrow or too wide. The Miata dash swap is cool and looks good but certainly isn't a weekend project.

A weekend dash swap doesn't exist...if you start from scratch and do all the work yourself.

Now if someone else did all the work and configured everything such that it's a bolt-in plug and play? Sure you could do it in a weekend. But you are going to have to pay the labor on all the work to configure it.

I've got enough parts to do another firebird interior, but I know that by the time I do all the work it's going to be more expensive than what most people would be willing to pay.

Easy and cheap are often the exact opposites.

Ok well maybe not a weekend, but either way, which dash fits best. Thanks

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Best is a relative term. I think the firebird dash fits pretty good and looks like it belongs there. I don't think it sits any higher than the stock dash, the only difference is that it's rounded instead of square.

This fits pretty good



And if you are looking for ease of install, go with what you know works and has been done many, many times, that would be the firebird dash.

[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 11-03-2013).]

good enough, thanks alot, Ive actually been looking into the firebird swap.

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correction, a weekend dash swap DOES exist. With all the write-ups out there on those same dashes he is interested in... he could have it done in 1-2 days. The door pieces i'm not sure about tho. I went with the 94 camaro dash pulled it myself at pick n pull along with door panels and other bits for 65$ put it in over the course of a weekend. Jscott has made all the information you need for the firebird/camaro dash swap readily available.

Rickaddy did this swap. You can always PM him for details.
He did this in 2008 on his LS4 Fiero. Don't remember which GM car he did the swap from though. What I do remember is that he brought it to Wesfest at the Brookdale Lodge in the Santa Cruz Mtns.
Kit

quote Originally posted by Pilot Abileen: correction, a weekend dash swap DOES exist. With all the write-ups out there on those same dashes he is interested in... he could have it done in 1-2 days. The door pieces i'm not sure about tho. I went with the 94 camaro dash pulled it myself at pick n pull along with door panels and other bits for 65$ put it in over the course of a weekend. Jscott has made all the information you need for the firebird/camaro dash swap readily available.

You do realize that it was JScott that just posted that it wouldn't happen in a weekend, right? I can see the physical swap being carried out, but to have it finished and fully functional? I'm not so sure on that one.

correct i know its jscott that said there is no weekend dash... however he states "if you start from scratch and do all the work yourself."

but with Jscotts build log and diagrams for wiring the cluster and dimmer he can get it done over the weekend. my dash install was quick but my wiring had issues that jscott didn't encounter. i have a 3800sc swap so i had to find the resistor in the wiring that katatak and mike did. other than that minor inconvenience the actual dash install took 2 days along with all the wiring (except pulling out the resistor circuit, which i found like 2 days later).

Perfecting it never stops

[This message has been edited by Pilot Abileen (edited 11-04-2013).]

looks like the firebird is the easiest swap. Just wondering how much wiring work will be needed. Im not anal about exact rpm and speed, its just a project hobbie car. so as long as it works is good with me.

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93-02 Firebird (there is differences between 93-97 and 98-02 but they are so unimportant that I will not list them as different)
aka 4th gen

quote Originally posted by seajai: A weekend dash swap doesn't exist. The closest you're going to get would be an amida custom dash.

Yeah, you only need a few hours to install that...

quote Originally posted by Pilot Abileen: correct i know its jscott that said there is no weekend dash... however he states "if you start from scratch and do all the work yourself." but with Jscotts build log and diagrams for wiring the cluster and dimmer he can get it done over the weekend. my dash install was quick but my wiring had issues that jscott didn't encounter. i have a 3800sc swap so i had to find the resistor in the wiring that katatak and mike did. other than that minor inconvenience the actual dash install took 2 days along with all the wiring (except pulling out the resistor circuit, which i found like 2 days later). Perfecting it never stops

Yes I have an 88 which does not have a resistor in the wiring.

so will the firebird speedo work in the fiero?

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quote Originally posted by DavePatron: so will the firebird speedo work in the fiero?

Why wouldn't it? The Firebird cluster was designed for the 1990 Fiero. After the Fiero cancellation it was re-purposed for the 4th gen Firebird.



In other words, yes.