97 Cheyenne Interior to 90-94 interior

[MALJr]

As the title says i have a 97 c1500
And was bouncing the idea of making it a "project". I have always liked the 88-98 Chevy trucks but I do prefer the 88-94 more. To make a long point short I just had a few questions.

1. Will a the older dash setup fit or work with the 97 cab?
2. Is better just to do a cab swap?
3. Or any ideas to spice up the 97 interior?

As a reminder this is just a discussion to throw some ideas around.

Ps i know a lot of opinoins are going to be that's it's a waste of money and time. But I have other vehicles to drive while working on the truck and a steadyish income (save up where I can and buy along the way). Also I have tried looking for a single cab 88-94 in my area but alas no results.

So any info and suggestions welcomed

 

[skylark]

It can be done. You will need to change the steering column support bracket which is welded to the firewall. It would be easiest to retain the 97 heater control in a center console. I believe that the cluster will work if you wire in a DRAC from a 92-94. Pain in the ass? Yep. If it is what you want though...

 

[MALJr]

Thanks for the reply.

The HVAC system is what I haven't really "researched". A/c would awesome but is optional but the heater part is what I'm not sure about.

Also as for the wiring of the IC it's really dependent on what I plan do. As in aftermarket gauges, Tablet tach. Also engine carbed or efi and trans swap(a/t to manual). So yea

I know I'm just rambling but it feels good
talking about. Thanks.

 

[JCribb]

While I haven’t personally done the swap, I would say spend a day at a salvage yard and study how the parts are removed and how difficult it is first, or since the project truck isn’t a daily, you could start there.

Unless you have crank windows instead of power, the wiring for electric windows is much different than the newer version, so there’s that hurdle. Another noteworthy item is the 88-94 door panels are pretty well beat to hell and back and finding good clean versions are in the area of slim to none. Keep in mind that manual door panels are harder to find over power ones, and the only NEW ones I have seen for the 88-94’s run about $400.

It can be done, but it’s going to be a serious undertaking, so have fun I guess.

Why aren’t there any 88-94’s in your area? Rust belt or what? Just curious is all.

 

[Supercharged111]

Don't forget about the asspain of the electrical system being geared toward a different powertrain. Again, can totally be done, but how savvy are you with wiring?

 

[gstubbz]

DON'T DO IT! DON'T DO IT!

It's a massive pain in the ass and extremely time consuming. I did it and I will never want to do another.

So many things are involved. Steering column mounting brackets are also entirely different and welded to the cab. Like mentioned above, power windows make it a bigger pain. But if you are going with a carbed engine and making a diy harness and don't care about a heater go for it. I personally would just leave it.

 

[BowtieBrody]

I would go with just spicing up the 97 interior,
A little bit of color matching on handle and window control bezels, swap in an Esky/Denali cluster (120 speedo) with some LEDs, hell, LEDs all throughout the interior, maybe some of the chrome Esky/Denali door handles if that's your taste.
Personally I think the 95-00 interiors look better and are more ergonomic (is that the right word for easy to work with?) and a hell of a lot easier to modify into something unique,

 

[98chevy2500SS]

Have to agree with @BowtieBrody here. I wanted to do this same setup in February of this year, but realized how much work was in it, ended up swapping out my 98 airbag dash to a 95 cup holder dash. Like Brody said, just spice up your interior, I am always trying to find a way to make my interior better than just blue and black. I have switched through so many re-designs in my truck it's not even funny. Had wood trim in it, ditched, chrome trim around bezel, ditched, and so many more. Now I am going to paint my wood trim gold metallic and add that to match my gold lightning cable for my phone (blue and gold looks pretty cool together so far) and maybe the door switches gold metallic too (different door switches of course, don't want to ruin my precious blue ones). Sorry for my rambling of my project.

A good interior spicer-upper is getting all chrome door handles + bezels, got a pair in my truck a boy do they look awesome! Pain to install, you have cut some of the bezel to make it fit, but it sure looks hella cool!

One thing I do like about the old interior is the boxiness, but I got over that once I realized how hard it was to switch everything over, I still dream of having a 88-94 pickup one day.

 

[JCribb]

I have acquired the parts to attempt the upgrade. I have never really cared for the boxy look, I bought mine for the 5 speed and dealt with the dated look. I still need a few more parts before I start my process.