i looked around for a thread about this already and didnt find anything, but i was wondering if anyone has swapped the dash from a newer model sunfire into a 98 cavalier? im sure it can be done, but i was wondering what all it would intale.
98 2dr 2200 5spd
you need the whole dash.... both door panels and also the dashes frame. and no, you cant use your cavi door panels
so its a pretty big project. is it just a bolt on procedure or what?
98 2dr 2200 5spd
scale of one to ten... mabe a 6. very time consuming because of all the nuts and bolts. ALOT> make sure you put them all back.. and if you pull a sunfire dash from the yard make sure you get all the nuts and bolt sfrom that fire also. i say this because the fire dash has more then the cavi dash. you will also need a steering wheel puller. you need to remove the steering wheel to remoive the cavi dash and install the sunfire dash...
so basically its just really time consuming and i would need another car to drive around until i get the project done. but the year wouldnt make a difference.
98 2dr 2200 5spd
not really ..2-3 hours max... as long as you have everything .. yes any year will do
well thats not bad at all. do you know if parts stores like autozone, pep boys, what have you, would rent a steering wheel puller?
98 2dr 2200 5spd
I bought one at oreilly's new for $12
Did I mention I drive a 2000 Lumina now?-----wigm-tuners.org member
autozone will rent you one for free... well you pay for it up front .. but you get your money back when you return it
the 1st time u do this it may take an hour or 2...but honestly once you pull it once, its like a 30-45min job the next time you do one lol...
don't quote me on this, cuz i've never personally done it, but i believe you need to cut up a 00-05 lower dash pretty good to fit the 95-99 cluster...so imo your best bet will be to fined a 95-99 lower dash, than run the 03-05 sunfire dash pad if thats the style you like.
I'm not 100% sure about swapping the dash and still fitting the cluster either.
I think it may require some work to get it in there.
Wait a minute, the '00+ electronics are very different from the '99 and prior. Even if the physical differences are do-able, I don't think an '03 to '98 swap (even if it was just Cavalier to Cavalier) will be easy.
well your not changing the electronics, just switching the plastic that holds them, so wont run into any problems there, the only thing i can think of is u may have to change the pig tail on the lighter...but other than that your not changing anything, but the clusters have different mounting areas from 95-99 00-02, i know it has been done, but what to cut and were is beyond me w/o looking at it.
Gary Frank wrote:the 1st time u do this it may take an hour or 2...but honestly once you pull it once, its like a 30-45min job the next time you do one lol...
don't quote me on this, cuz i've never personally done it, but i believe you need to cut up a 00-05 lower dash pretty good to fit the 95-99 cluster...so imo your best bet will be to fined a 95-99 lower dash, than run the 03-05 sunfire dash pad if thats the style you like.
you spoke from the truth, haha.. when i pull my cavy dash out it took only like 20minutes mabe for my first time. but then again. i only took out a few bolts then kicked and broke the dash into pieces haha fun times.
the hardest part of the swap is trying to wire in a sunfire cluster to work with the cavaliers body harnes . i took the easy way out and just trimmed little by litte on the lower fire dash until i got the cavi cluster to sit flush and was able to put the top dash on. almost exactly what GARY said.
if you need some pics bro to help with install let me know. i do have some pics still from when i did the swap.
