New style dash in a foxbody(how hard would this be)

Thats sick. 5.0 mag had an issue with a couple fox's that did that and i remember them saying it took alot of work and trimming.

Looks amazing IMO

Keep an eye out, there has been a few threads about it recently. Also over on the other big Mustang site. It is pretty commonplace nowadays, at least to see online, as it is becoming pretty popular of a thing to do.

The split just below the radio looks terrible imo.

I have my dash conversion done. 2001 dash, 1981 notchback. I have pics at home I will post tonight for you in this thread. I will also take some detailed pics tomorrow to further inform what I am talking about. This is what I did.

Pull windshield and heater box. Install the 94-04 heater box. Now, have a friend or two..in my case (two) help you fit and trim. First, remove the defrost tube up top, because you want to trim it with that peice out. It will fit back and and work later on. I began by putting in the car and going from there. I made small cuts, fitting it every time inbetween. I ended up taking a lot out. Next, you have cut a peice off of the metal tube on the driver side so it will not hit the foxes body. REMEMBER: This metal tube flows heat and A/C to the driver side vent. What I did was I taped it up with some aluminum foil tape. (It is normally used in onld body shops to fix rust holes on junky cars) Anyways....there are some other areas of metal you have to cut down to get it tight.

Other things to consider: You have to get the dashboard mounting brakets drilled and chisled from a 94-04 car to hold the lower area of the dash in place. Without a donor car, these will be hard to acquire, and most JY's will not cut these off...(labor intensive) Another thing to consider, is that you have to make your own brackets to mount the top of the dash to the body/cowl area. I just mainly used metal from the newer dash. Whatever I could cut/bent/trim I used to mount it. You have to bent the bottom mounting tabs on the dash frame in to bolt them up to the fox a post. You also must drill holes to get new bolts in there.

Door handles: I have seen pics of people who have done this and the dash covered their door handles so they cannot get out. I have seen others that have relocated the handles lower like the 79 cars....or others who have gone crazy with ranger/taurus parts with custom door panels. I don't have this problem. My stock fox body door handles just clear the dash enabling me to use stock door panels, handles, and trim.

My dash fits tight, and my console lines up perfect. That pic above....he obviously welded the dash mounting brackets in the wrong area. The only thing I don't like is the windshield area. But what I am going to do is tint the bottom of the windshield a little bit to hide it from the outside...it doesn't look bad from the inside. I don't know how much to tint it until I get the windshield in.

BTW.....I spent 5 hours with 3 people the first day. I spent 5 hours the next day by myself, and a few misc hours after that. This is because I was being very very meticoulous on how this thing fit. If I had to do it again...I bet I could do it ALL in 2-3 hours.

Hang tight.

That misalignment below the radio is like that in my 01 GT, so it's not the job they did. I think they did that from the factory.

I didn't have a gap that big in any of my 94-94 Mustangs. You can play with it to close it. The holes that those bolts go through are huge and have plenty of room for adjustment.

Then again that good be an allusion, that is a small picture.

Cut dash bracket from 94-04 car
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x258/svt32vdohc/81notchproject022.jpg

Bolt dash bracket to dash....do not weld to tunnel until dash is in final position
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x258/svt32vdohc/81notchproject023.jpg

Dash and console.
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x258/svt32vdohc/81notchproject024.jpg

Dash before console
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x258/svt32vdohc/81notchproject018.jpg

Dash at windshield
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x258/svt32vdohc/81notchproject021.jpg

The last pick is why I am talking about tinit the bottom half of the windshield to hide that. The a pillr trim fit in perfect with no ugliness. There is tint already on new windshields, but if I need to go higher I will tint it with double limo, or run some black vinal on the inside. I am actually thinking of trying to use what I can from the 94-04 defrost vent trim. I have enough room to cut it and fit it in there....just to fill in some of the gap....we will see what happens with that months from now....that is the least of my concern right now.

This is what will take you a lond time. but it must be done to use the newer motor and trans and harness.

Money shot.....Motor in
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x258/svt32vdohc/81notchproject012.jpg

Strype said:

That misalignment below the radio is like that in my 01 GT, so it's not the job they did. I think they did that from the factory.

Click to expand...

Every time I see that dash it's there. It has to be factory.

Yeah, my mom's 94 Cobra had it too.

Personally I dont like that dash on the fox. WAY too curvey for its boxy lines. If you had a 94-98 front end and that dash it wouldnt be so bad...

With newer fox bodies, i believe the door handle issue is fairly serious.

Mustang5L5 said:

It's not as big as that particular car from the factory

View attachment 343331


I love my '03's interior. WHen it's clean it just feels so comfortable to be in. I wish i could retrofit it into my fox and still keep everything looking OEM. To me, the door panels are part of the dash and to mix the fox panels and SN95 dash might look weird.

at least my fox has an OEM black interior in it (swapped in)

Click to expand...

in your picture is that a 03 or is it the 03 interior in a fox???

I like the fox interior and dash......no need to swap!

I seen a thread on this and the dash too 9 hours to fit in a spare fox without the windshield...Then he had to transfer that all over to his. Actually this was in a MM&FF mag

corral has a post like this in the body shop that is like 8-9 pages long. lots of good info and pictures.