Gadgedizzle

There's a couple things I've noticed over the years, and one that stands out is that most import tuners or people that like to assume such role or title, simply Talk Talk Talk and Assume and whatever, but they never actually DO what they say they're going to do.. I said I was going to do a V8 Swap, I did it.. I Said I was going to make a big brake swap for 89-95 2wd trucks and build a MK3 Supra LSD solid axle, and I did.. I'm not trying to say I'm better than anyone else. I'm just saying, Don't say you're going to do something if you're not going to do it..

Now that that's out of the way...
Today, I have a treat.. I looked around and hadn't seen anyone write up the 2 piece to 1 piece dash swap before, and lots of people ask if it can be done, and let me tell you, it's MUCH simpler than you might think..

First thing I'll tell you is that the dash lower panels ARE different between tilt and non tilt trucks. when you get your 1 piece dash swap from a donor, make sure that is has the same column (Tilt or non tilt) that your current dash has.

First, remove your lower dash panel, lower center column panel, Glove box, gauge bezel, climate control face, instrument cluster and stereo. I'm not including pictures or how to on this part as it's discussed all over the site and is well documented.

Now all you should have is your empty dash and a few wires hanging..
On the driver side, there are 3 bolts that need to be removed.



Then move over to the climate control.. Remove the 2 remaining screws holding in the climate controls.



Then on the passenger side there's one bolt by the Fuel pump relay that needs to come out.



Back on the driver side, the only thing left to do is under the dash in the foot area, you see the black plastic vent tube for the heater crossing horizontally under the steering column, separate it from the 90 that turns up toward the driver side vent so you can lift the dash off.

You now should be able to bush the cluster wires back out of the way and give the dash a good tug. There are a bunch of plastic snaps that the dash locks into under the windshield, these will snap loose and the dash will come right out..



Now you have the problem of the VIN number not being correct. Easy fix..
get a soldering iron.. I used a 330 Watt soldering gun to heat the bottom of the rivet while lightly prying on the steel plate under the vin tab.. DO NOT pry on the vin tab itself.. It's aluminum and damages very easily.. As the rivet heats, the plastic melts, and the vin comes right out..



As you can see, I haven't touched the rivets, or the vin plates.. they're absolutely PERFECT.



Now, get yourself some clear silicone and dab some in the rivet holes, and with just a little force, press the rivet in the existing holes. both vins on my truck dashes literally snapped back in. a little dab of silicone on the back side helps keep the rivet from coming loose.



Here's what you end up with AFTER it's swapped. You can't even tell it was ever touched..



While the silicone is setting up, now is a good time to swap the center stereo brackets from the 2pc dash with the 1pc dash.. Yes, they're different. I found out the hard way.. Notice the gap and spacing difference between the plastic 1pc dash and the steel 2pc dash stereo brackets? Completely different.



After swapping that in, you should be ready to reinstall your dash.. Line the dash up, shove it against the firewall making sure the climate controls are lined up and wires are out of the way. put the bolts back in the dash, and reinstall the dash the way it came apart and you're golden.. I ended up using the 1pc dash glove box which is the same, and lower driver side panel since the truck I took the dash from was a fixed column and I had a tilt.. it's close, but not quite the same.. there's a couple screws that don't line up at all.. I'll find one at the junk yard here soon. But for now it works. Swap the brackets on your stereo and reinstall it, and you're on your way to having a swapped dash!

And this confirms that YES, they do swap.. And very easily I might say.. Swapping dashes between both trucks took me a total of about 2 hours (I was cleaning a bunch of stuff too..) I hope this was useful to you guys looking to swap..