Well, I just got my dash from the junk yard today, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed. It looks like the thing was just ripped out, a lot of the parts were damaged from thier removal method . On the bright side this gives me the freedom to hack away anyway possible, and not worry if I have to glue the dash back with popsicle sticks. After coming to that conculsion, I will probly take more time than I had planned for this, just so that I may experiment a bit and see how a few ideas work. One question before I go. Now that I have the dash I see how a kit would come in handy to speed up the process of instilation. One of the areas I was looking at was the back piece that goes from the gauges to the windshild needs a fiberglass adapter, in that piece, should I include front speakers, or should I just go with the door speakers for my sound??? Give me your opinions please.
Mine sound way better than I expected. There are about a billion 6 1/2" round speakers to choose from and they sound great. It would be more work to get them in the Firebird dash since it's not designed for them.
Here's a photo of my latest progress (same as on page 4 but now you don't have to page back there)
[This message has been edited by jscott1 (edited 11-19-2002).]
Now I could always keep the door speakers, and also have the dash speakers. What about that as well?
Let people do the speakers themselves. If they are that much af a stereo buff that the door panels, and B pillars arent enough, then I am sure they can simply cut a hole in the fiberglass before getting it upholstered.
If you start asking people about what size and stuff to put it, you will get every different answer you can think of. Make it basic, this install will take a lot of fabrication anyways, so if they can do this install, they can cut holes for speakers.
Thats my 2 cents anyways.
Edited: Cause I can't spell upholstered.. is that right?
[This message has been edited by soup (edited 11-19-2002).]
The filler piece that I made in not wide enough to use even the stock 4x10 speakers. My Firebird dash is fastened to the windshield flange lip and is only about 4-5" wide in the edges. You could cut a hole in that area but you'd need to add additional support to reduce the risk of breaking the filler during installation or removal. Making dash speaker placement even more difficult is my filler piece is not flat. There is a bulge behind the gauge housing tht smooths the transition from the dash to the bottom of the windshield.
I am putting 5 1/4" speakers in the doors because, for now, I'm not using the Firebird speaker housing and the 6 1/2" speakers were too deep to mount flush. I can upgrade later if I can adapt the Firebitd speaker housings but I may wait until I have a plan. Remember, I'm remaking the Fiero door panels to look simular to the Firebird but not exactly.
I have toyed with the idea of placing 3" mid range speakers in the corners of the filler panel. The 5 1/4" speakers are modular so another idea is to place the tweeters up on the filler or, if there is enough room, on the a-piller trim.
I'm starting the dash conversion this weekend so more details will be revealed soon. I can tell you that I now have a working Firebird environmental control panel -- so no more push buttons for me -- and will soon have a working Firebird headlight switch as well.
I've found a local Ontario Yard that's got a few 4th Gen donors, however, if they charge anymore then a few hundred i'm afraid I don't have the cash flow for it at this point in time. I think that this looks awesome and that I think it deserves it's own !webpage! so that idoits like myself don't get lost 1/2 through the conversion and go NUTS!.
This thread ROCKS! and anyone who wants 10MB of rogers space...e-mail me...we'll make it happen!
Keep it up!
------------------ Steven Rossi 2M4 Cadero Converted GT
Now I could always keep the door speakers, and also have the dash speakers. What about that as well?
I have been trying to figure out why you would want to keep the dash speakers? If the goal is to modernize the interior then dash speakers are definietly out of style.
Conventional wisdom is that the doors are the best place for imaging reasons. Tweeters can be up high like on the A pillar or as in the Firebird panel still on the door but up firing. Notice that I have dual tweeters, (on the main speakers and in the panel) That may be why my speakers sound better than I expected.
If the reason you want dash speakers is because you don't want to run the wires to the doors, then I say that you will be running wires anyway, what's another pair?
Lastly I have something else in mind for the spot on the driver's side dash, and I can't tell you what it is, but it's initials are H.U.D.
Pontiac Bonneville's had H.U.D.s in them from like 92-02+, see if you can find one at a junkyard, I know the earlier 90s models just had the speed and the later ones tell them radio station and what not, I think early 90s would be cheaper and easier.
Do you have a grille for those door speakers? I'd be worried about a careless passenger kicking the speakers in. Careless people are always smacking my door panels with their dirty feet!
The 97+ Grand Prixs also have the HUD. Has anyone checked to see if that one will work. That dash with the 3800 SC would be pretty nice since it will have the boost guage designed for that engine.
Keep up the great work guys That firbird dash looks like it belongs there. Can't wait until spring to try this myself.
BTW. I have an 84 4speed. If you guy don't get any pictures I can try and get one over the weekend. I think that the bend in the 84 shifter it would fit perfect.
Swanthog - My speakers do have grills on them. From the angle that they were photographed they appear transparent.
Klax - I am looking into the Bonneville HUD as part of phase II for my project.
thatguyfubu - If you have any pics of the '84 shifter I would like to see them. Especially if you have a shot that shows the comparison between 84 and later years.
ahhhh man that dash looks great. I hope somebody come up with an adaptor kit so one can just but the dash and door panels and consol from a yard and but the kit and put it in. Im definatley doing this whan i have the money
------------------ --Adam-- 1987 Blue GT 5-speed IM AOL: GTFiero Remember, always brush your milk, drink your teeth, dont do sleep and get eight hours of drugs
Drive it like you stole it...nice and slow so you dont get your @$$ caught by the cops
ahhhh man that dash looks great. I hope somebody come up with an adaptor kit so one can just but the dash and door panels and consol from a yard and but the kit and put it in. Im definatley doing this whan i have the money
I'm working on that as we speek
As I had said before, since I ended up with a dash that is not going to be installed in my car, I have the freedom to really tear into it and see what changes can be made for our cars. What I need from everyone is thier comments on what you have seen from jscott and mrfixit, let me know what you like and dislike, and why. I will be doing most of my work on this project after the holidays since i work retail, and the season for not having a life is at hand, after the new year I will be able to get down to business and work on gettting a kit together for this conversion.
that shifter looks like it has plenty of room, but would the dash fit with an auto trans?
That's a good question. I think the auto shifter goes more forward than the manual.
I have a manual shift console in my coupe (which is an auto) and I had to notch the boot ring by about a half inch to allow the shifter to go into "park".
It may be that autos that get converted to "Trans Fieros" will need the dash mounted more forward than what I have done similar to what Mrfixit58 (Roy) did.
Roy can provide more details of what he did to get the more forward mounting, but basically it involves cuting the supports for the steering column.
Prolly used Fbird parts - its evident that the door handle/window controls and speaker holes are the same -maybe fabricated them onto a new door or made a whole new one and used these in the holes - but yes very similar as the whole dash is (esp the center consol)
Ricky
------------------ Yeah, I have a cowl induction hood - with NON FUNCTIONAL GAUGES!! HELL YEAH - FieroRice
The pyranha has been my inspiration from day one. I too noticed the similarity between it and Trans Am dash and panels and realized I could get a Pyranha like interior just by using F-body parts.
He has already listed a few "good" parts like the cluster. I sent him an email and he responded that any part on the car is for sale. He has not listed the dash or door panels yet. If anyone is interested I would suggest making him an offer.
Although the bend in the 84 shifter is much more ratical than the 5-speed, the off-set looks the same. With them laying parallel, look at the distance between the bottom of the shifters and compare it to the distance at the top. It's almost, if not exactly, the same.
Although the bend in the 84 shifter is much more ratical than the 5-speed, the off-set looks the same. With them laying parallel, look at the distance between the bottom of the shifters and compare it to the distance at the top. It's almost, if not exactly, the same.
Roy
I don't know Roy, from the pic above the '84 appears shorter. Even if it's not, the vertical portion appears longer and it could be cut and rethreaded. I would like to try the 84 shifter just to see if it works better.
Yea, it does look about 3/4" shorter. But the offset looks simular. If your trying to reposition the shifter, have you considered haveing it heated and bent?
The 84 shifter is definetly shorter by almost an inch. Hard to tell on the angle of my picture.
mrfixit is right, after examining them side by side today, the off set is pretty close. I do believe the 84 has a little more offset, but it is close.
jscott1, I will send you a stock 84 shifter, and also I can make one with what ever offset, and heigth that you want.
It will be treaded on the end. What I do is cut the weld holding the shaft to the pivot assembly, and do the shortning / reworking of shape on that end, then reweld it and paint so that it looks stock.
I'd like to do one for your car, to see if we can figure out something more asthetically (sp) pleasing.
Maybe even angle the upper portion of the shifter ahead, so that it doesn't lay back so far when in 2nd, 4th & R.
I really like the F-body interior. I just fear that I do not have the motovation to do one myself.
I was thinking of either heating and then bending the shifter, or possibly seeing how much it would cost at my local machine shop to have a custom shift arm made, and then weld it in. Any thoughts on that.
The 84 shifter is definetly shorter by almost an inch. Hard to tell on the angle of my picture.
mrfixit is right, after examining them side by side today, the off set is pretty close. I do believe the 84 has a little more offset, but it is close.
jscott1, I will send you a stock 84 shifter, and also I can make one with what ever offset, and heigth that you want.
It will be treaded on the end. What I do is cut the weld holding the shaft to the pivot assembly, and do the shortning / reworking of shape on that end, then reweld it and paint so that it looks stock.
I'd like to do one for your car, to see if we can figure out something more asthetically (sp) pleasing.
Maybe even angle the upper portion of the shifter ahead, so that it doesn't lay back so far when in 2nd, 4th & R.
I really like the F-body interior. I just fear that I do not have the motovation to do one myself.
Jelly2M8 - The offset on the stock shifter isn't terrible, it's just too tall for my taste. I think the 84 will work about the same but look a lot better.
If you were to make a custom one I would suggest making it about an inch shorter than the 84 and maybe an inch more offset to the left. I think that would be about perfect. I'll know for sure when I get everything bolted down.
Mrfixit58 (Roy) is about to convert his 87GT in a weekend. This is after months of preparation though. If there were a kit I expect anyone could convert their car in a weekend starting from scratch. I think that would make this swap a no-brainer for everyone except the pure stock people.
. On the bright side this gives me the freedom to hack away anyway possible, and not worry if I have to glue the dash back with popsicle sticks. After coming to that conculsion, I will probly take more time than I had planned for this, just so that I may experiment a bit and see how a few ideas work. One question before I go. Now that I have the dash I see how a kit would come in handy to speed up the process of instilation. One of the areas I was looking at was the back piece that goes from the gauges to the windshild needs a fiberglass adapter, in that piece, should I include front speakers, or should I just go with the door speakers for my sound??? Give me your opinions please.
And definately the first with T-Tops... I RULE!.. sorry for my outburst there.
That firbird dash looks like it belongs there. Can't wait until spring to try this myself.
