Swapping dashes in an 88

RYC CUKR · Oct 7, 2007

I found a 93 coupe at the local JY that still had its full interior. And the sand/beige interior in my 88 has seen better days, not to mention what a pain it is to even try to get parts. The 93 has a grey interior.

I think that everything should just swap over, rear interior quarter panels, console, seats, kick panels, etc. The one thing that I know is different is the dash. I know that the clusters are different between the 87-89 and the 90-93 due to the air bags. I plan on reusing my old cluster. But I also know that there are differences in the actual dashboard itself. The 87-89 have the fuse box under a panel on the dash board and the 90-93 have them under the dash on the DS. So my big question is can you swap a 93 dash into an 88 without too many modifications? The stock dash in my car isn't bad and if worst comes to worst I will dye/paint it but I would prefer to swap the dash so that I don't have to worry about the dye/paint peeling off down the road.

If anyone has done this before let me know if there are any big issues I need to know about. I have had the dash out of my 88 twice so the remove/reinstall isn't to big of a deal to me.

Thanks guys

Mustang5L5 · Oct 7, 2007

Yes it can be done. I have a complete back interior from a '90 in my '88.

The dash swaps fine. You can reuse your cluster, gauge pod and steering column trim and make the tilt wheel look OEM. For the fuse box, you can cut in a whole and mount it under the trim peice where your knees are, then you put that trim in place and you will never know it's there (but you will need tools to get to your fuses)

Need to use the newer 90-93 HVAC controls

Seat belts mount an inch higher, so you will need to drill a 1" hole for the new mounts.

Installing rear shoulder belts is a pain...finding 79-84 black rear lap belts is easy

Everything else is pretty straight forward

trbkrb · Oct 9, 2007

I put a 90 interior in my 87 just like Mike did. He pretty much nailed all the differences except for the dome light/map light. The 92 & 93 have a center mounted dome/map light combination instead of the front spotlight and a different mounting bracket on the roof. You can make it work, but it might require drilling and using different screws, along with extending wires. I could never get it to sit flat and ened up changing it to a 94-95 black dome/map light.

And here are a few pics of my fuse box mods to mount it in the dash. I didn't use the metal part of the knee panel, just the plastic part. It snaps in place with the 4 clips so it is just a little bit harder to remove/install than the stock 87-89 fuse box cover.

http://statefilingsoftware.com/pictures/fusebox1.jpg
http://statefilingsoftware.com/pictures/fusebox2.jpg
http://statefilingsoftware.com/pictures/fusebox3.jpg

Oh, and you will probably need to extend the yellow AC line if you use the 93 AC panel since the controls are on the opposite side. And you can install the rear sholder belts a bit easier on a coupe if you want them, especially if you can remove the 93 bracket on the package shelf. If not, just weld some seat belt bolts to the shelf from underneath and reinforce them like the stock brackets. Or just find some pre 90 model belts since the interior is grey. It should not be too much of a difference.

But do be aware, the 93 is a one year only color. Grey parts from 87-92 will not match.

Good luck on it!

Mustang5L5 · Oct 10, 2007

trbkrb said:
I put a 90 interior in my 87 just like Mike did. He pretty much nailed all the differences except for the dome light/map light. The 92 & 93 have a center mounted dome/map light combination instead of the front spotlight and a different mounting bracket on the roof. You can make it work, but it might require drilling and using different screws, along with extending wires. I could never get it to sit flat and ened up changing it to a 94-95 black dome/map light.it!

True, i forgot it because my car is a sunroof car so i never had to deal with it. I ended up dyeing my stock sunroof black since my parts car did not have a sunroof

RYC CUKR · Oct 10, 2007

Thanks for all the info guys.

I am heading down on Sat to get everything.

Swapping dashes in an 88

RYC CUKR

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

trbkrb

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

RYC CUKR

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Swapping dashes in an 88

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That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

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