2002 dash and console in 70 Camaro. Very fast install.

[CAMAROBOY69]

I did this is for Teddys 1970 Camaro today. Made excellent progress. The total time to install all this only took about 4-5 hours.
Dash is in, steering column, console, and the 2002 transition piece between the old and new dash is 90% finished. Only needs trimmed.
7 brackets for the dash and 3 so far for the console. I designed cut and fabricated every bracket myself. It sure helps using a plasma cutter and a great mig welder that Teddys friend had. The extra helping hands were nice too. Im not used to that but definetly appreciate it.
Time for pics beginning to almost end. This is most of the mock up.
If you look close you can see the new trick gauge in the center between the tach and speedo from Dakota digital. See the thread about that here. https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11188
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (http://img370.imageshack.us/my.php?image=11jb1.jpg)https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (http://img8.imageshack.us/my.php?image=25nm.jpg)https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (http://img370.imageshack.us/my.php?image=36yk1.jpg)

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[F70t/a]

That looks really good :cool:

[mdprovee]

Nice job you guys, it looks real good.

[Todds69]

That things looks sweet. I think that will fit the lines on the 2nd Gen nicely. :1st:

[CAMAROBOY69]

Thanks for the compliments. I can say from personal experience that it went into the 2nd gen Camaros easier than the first gen Camaros. :yeah:

[toofun]

Love the look. So gotta ask you. We talked before and you mentioned that you made adustable brackets for your camaro when you put yours in your own car. Did you ever think of putting together an installation kit for this console complete with a video? I know alot of people would probably love to do this swap but are afraid to tackle it for fear of where to start, what to cut and where to line up the brackets!! Bet you could really do well selling a kit like that. I know that you have already done yours so making a video from the start would not be feasible with your vehicle, BUT I know a beautiful RED CONVERTIBLE 69 north of Boston you could use to do the install on... What do you say? I ll bring the video and the beer!!! (LOL!!!)

[CAMAROBOY69]

Bring the car the video and the beer and I say heck yeah. :lol: :cheers:
Thanks for the compliments. :)

[Steve Chryssos]

Fantastic job. :kewlpics:

[ProdigyCustoms]

Good work Adam

[texlurch]

Do you have any pics of how the 70 cowl and the front of the dash meet? I am working on the same thing for my 70, but haven't gotten the car and dash in the same place yet... just wondering how the transition ended up, since the 4th gen has such a long top.

thanks!

[blackbeast]

i really like the drivers side of the 4th gen dashes, but the passenger side is so dull and long. would be great to cut it in half,and kinda tilt the passenger side upwards so there's more of a flat space instead of a downward slope. I hate sitting in cars like that because the overhang cuts off my knees ( i'm 6'4'). oh well, just dreams

[blackbeast]

almost forgot. Great work!

[Hrod382]

That's slick, kinda wish I would've gone that route with my car.

[BonzoHansen]

Wow, looks great.

I've never had one of those late model dashes apart. Since the air bag can't be retro'd what's under there, a lot of nothing? I'm just thinking out loud, but maybe that air bag area&panel could be rigged into a glove box type arrangement, like the panel can lift up or something? I've seen so much great work here that I am beginning to think nothing is impossible!

[StRacerDuke]

How do you plan on fabricating the peice between the dash and the windshield? I know my uncle just did the same thing and made one. I'll see if I can turn him onto this thread for you.

[texlurch]

How do you plan on fabricating the peice between the dash and the windshield? I know my uncle just did the same thing and made one. I'll see if I can turn him onto this thread for you.

Yeah, that is what I want to see also. The defroster ducts will need to be fabbed also.

On the airbag area, I figure to either put my FI computer under there, or make it a pop up DVD screen...

[BonzoHansen]

...or make it a pop up DVD screen...I thought that one too. :)

[502454]

Thanks Ryan for telling me about this thread.
Here are a few pictures are of the late model Camaro dash in the 70 Camaro. A clay mold was made to fill the gap, be careful as there is little room once the windshield is in place. I then made a bottom piece to mate to the defroster duct openings, then glassed the two together and I will cut slots for air flow. A simple job that took 2 weeks to figure out, after many attempts to build the mold, this process worked best.
Tom

[MrQuick]

Hey Tom , where ya been? Hope to see more of your Camaro. Its close to done right???

[shortbed454]

are there any updated pictures of the install.

[jeffandre]

Is the newer dash heavier than the old type? If so, anybody have any idea how much? I'm guessing 20#+, but really have no idea.

[shortbed454]

this is a verey sweet install. i have seen a few people do this swap and i have decided to jump in and do it. im going down on tuesday to pick up a dash out of a 02 firebird. i found a guy who has one and he only wants $75 for it. i hope it goes as easy for me as it has for you.

[502454]

Lets see one daughter just got married, other daughter getting married, same daughter started her own business (with Mom and Dads help), Camaro in shop to complete, what has priority? As you have guessed they are in correct order, according to the Wife, she does “want the Car done this year” so all is not lost!
Back to business new dash is about the same weight as the original so not a big difference. Mounting, just a few brackets off the original mounting locations, no cutting of the sheet metal was necessary it just fits over the top and under the gauge cluster. I modified the defroster vent to mate up with Super Cooler, down hill from there. By the way the tilt column located the in and out alignment so that takes the guess work out of the swap. Not too bad so far just need more time.
Thanks,
Tom.

[CAMAROBOY69]

From person experience and from doing this 2002 install on 2 different cars. My suggestion for anyone that is going to attempt this would be to use the 2002 dash pad. Its the quickest way to fill the space from the new dash to the old dash. It just snaps in place once trimmed. Doesnt get any easier than that. Teddys dash was by far the fastest 2002 conversion I have seen. As I stated in the first post, it only me took around 4-5 hours.

[Rocko71]

So you used the factory '02 Camaro defroster grill to fill up the space from the pad to the metal dash, CamaroBoy? You didnt make a custom mold like 502454 did? Do you have pics of the front part of the dash with this trimmed piece on it? Any help would be appreciated. Also, what kind of door panels are you guys running with this dash?

[CAMAROBOY69]

So you used the factory '02 Camaro defroster grill to fill up the space from the pad to the metal dash, CamaroBoy? You didnt make a custom mold like 502454 did? Do you have pics of the front part of the dash with this trimmed piece on it? Any help would be appreciated. Also, what kind of door panels are you guys running with this dash?
You are correct. We just used the 02 defroster grill. I believe it is called a 02 dash pad. Just for the record I bolted the dash all up and the console. He is having someone else do all the final detail stuff like that defroster grill and the pillar pods. However it is a lot easier using the original 02 defroster grill instead of what I did for my Camaro.
I built the entire piece out of 16 gauge steel. I didnt want to do my car like everyone else would do it. I actually used the original 69 camaro vents and put them right into the center. You can see pics of my install here. http://www.adfabdesign.com/Illusion/Interior%20Page/Interior.html
It was quite a paint in the butt. I am still messing with how to keep it attached to the new dash. To answer your other question I will eventually make new leather door panels and have power windows.

[Boyd]

Hey Adam, sent you a PM about this also, but just trying to cover all bases.......I went to your website (very cool, by the way) to look at your installation pics of the Firebird dash. There are 2 pics that I would like to see in better detail, but when you click on them to make them larger- it brings up a different image. The 2 I want to see larger are the fabrication pics of the transition piece between the dash and windshield. The pic showing the metal lying on the ground with the cardboard template and cut-off wheel works fine, but the 2 pics following it show your finished dash when you click them. Could you e-mail me these pics or post them here in the dash thread? Also, did you cover the finished metal piece with fabric? It looks great. How hard was it to bend the section around the guage pod? That looks difficult.

[CAMAROBOY69]

Boyd
I received your PM but I will just reply in here since its the same thing. I fixed the pics so now they work. Thank you for telling me about the error. Also thank you for the compliments.
Currently the piece is just painted with black paint. I plan on covering it in leather to make it match the dash better. Getting those old 69 camaro vents in there was not an easy task at all.
For the section around the gauge pod. I just beat it on the floor with a hammer for about an hour or 2. Would have been nice to have an english wheel or something better but hey its all I had. Yeah I know a hammer and the floor. Good stuff isnt it. Poor mans english wheel. :lmao:
I bet I had that transition piece in and out of the car at least 50 times minimum. Not even exaggerating. And that was before the windshield was put back in.

[Boyd]

Thanks Adam. I know you were trying to be unique with the '02 dash install, but the more I see how nice it looks in your car, the more I want to do the conversion. I need to replace my dash anyway because of the dreaded 2nd gen warp problem, and at $300+ for a reproduction one, I figure I could do this swap instead. I'll try not to PM you with too many questions.. :)

[Rocko71]

Went to your website, very nice car. Alot of work, but it is very, very nice. I am seriously comtemplating this dash install in my 71 camaro. Any tips? could you email or post any second-gen specific useful information you may have on this install? How did you attatch the dash to the metal on top? and you fabricated brackets to mount the bottom i guess? Thanks a bunch for your help.

[texlurch]

On the 2nd Gen it looks like there is a small space left, and the 2nd Gen defroster vents could be used?
Still debating on what to use for a filler.. I am thinking of making a metal filler piece, covered with carbon fiber to match my dash insert I plan to build.
Anyone know if the dash pad is the same from 93-2002? I have a 93 Camaro dash I am getting for free, but his dash filler panel is trash.

[Rocko71]

Not sure if the camaros are the same 93-02, but I know the Camaros and Firebirds are different from each other.

[CAMAROBOY69]

Went to your website, very nice car. Alot of work, but it is very, very nice. I am seriously comtemplating this dash install in my 71 camaro. Any tips? could you email or post any second-gen specific useful information you may have on this install? How did you attatch the dash to the metal on top? and you fabricated brackets to mount the bottom i guess? Thanks a bunch for your help.
T/y for the compliments.
Tips. Hints. It takes 4 brackets on the top and 2 on the bottom (1 left side and 1 right side)to hold in the 4th gen dash. If you want to go the easy route with the gauges then do the autometer swap like I did. Saves a ton of time, wiring BS, and looks friggin awesome.



On the 2nd Gen it looks like there is a small space left, and the 2nd Gen defroster vents could be used?
Still debating on what to use for a filler.. I am thinking of making a metal filler piece, covered with carbon fiber to match my dash insert I plan to build.
Anyone know if the dash pad is the same from 93-2002? I have a 93 Camaro dash I am getting for free, but his dash filler panel is trash.
I think there is around 5"-6" between the 4th gen dash and old dash. Something like that.
If you make a filler piece yourself it wont be fun but at least you will be different like I am. Its not the easy way.
Now to answer your other question.
When I designed the gauge cluster piece for the Camaros and the Trans ams there are definely some things different.
93-02 T/A seem to be almost identicals
97-02 Camaro seem to be the same over all structure
93-96 Camaro are different from 97-02 Camaro.
Now I am not sure how this applies to that filler panel.

[barno68]

Adam- I have been thinking about doing the T/A seat swap. How do the mounts compare (both front and rear)? Any issues with mounting the shoulder belts? Thanks.

Brent

[CAMAROBOY69]

The seats and seat belts were so easy to the point of almost being no brainers. Even the fully functional 4th gen rear seats were easy. I think I did the entire back seat set up in a couple hours. Very easy.
The 3point front and rear seatbelts were a little harder but still quite easy. Just make sure you anchor them with thick washers so they dont pull thru in an accident.
My front seat belts almost work too well when im on the track. If I take a corner fast enough, the counterweights inside actually lock the belt in place which is awesome IMO. Obviously when I hit the brakes they work real well too. Just use a level and balance them.

[barno68]

Thanks. A seat belt breaking loose from the body will always make for a bad day :-)

[71FirebirdLS1]

I haven't been in here in a long time, but I'm also putting in the late model dash into a 71 Firebird. It's not a bad install... the hard part was taking the dash out of the 2001 TA. Here's my website that I'm re-arranging right now... www.extremefirebird.com (http://www.extremefirebird.com)

[CCorne1]

Hey Adam, did you cut the sheet metal up by the widshield to get this dash in or did you mount the T/A dash to it uncut?

Got any pics of the seatbelt mounts?

Illusion looks incredible too!