88 to 97 complete interior swap

[Crichey6559]

Sorry for the long post I’ve been trying to search but couldn’t find a lot on this. Feel free to point me to other threads if easier. I have a 1988 regular cab short bed Cheyenne. No power windows, locks, seats or anything else. I have a chance to pull anything I want out of a 1997 regular cab sierra sle with power everything. The airbags are blown in the dash but I was lookin at using my steering wheel and maybe fabricating something for the blown pass bag like a cubby. What would it take to swap everything over. The door cards, dash and seat and add all the power items. The other things I noticed is the hood release is in a different spot and the ac controls are manual vs the electronic box, what would I need to change these? My interior is not in good shape and this one is near perfect and free to me. So I wanted to swap everything over. I found a video on line about swapping the gauges by doing wiring and gettin some box. So I think I have instructions for that already. Any help is appreciated. I know that most of the interior I can just swap straight but the dash and wiring looked like the daunting part and I would really appreciate any help. Thanks so much

 

[GoToGuy]

Remove the dash and related components, just strip it of everything , even the small pieces you think you don't need. Assume your an assembly line worker you need everything.
Everything has weatherpak connectors. Just gentle removing them, sharpie and masking tape, prevent brain damage( where did this go again, sh..t) take photos , not angled views but like your writing an assembly picture book.
The firewall connectors, called " convience center " where flashers, turn signal flasher plug into, and others , grab it all. You probably have to choose which major firewall block you'll use as the years are different. Be ready for here and there modifications.
It ALWAYS is better, easier, faster, less painful to have more than you need than the " ah crap " or " your kidding me , really " . For want of a two pin connector the project crashed.
If I had smart phone in my younger life , I would more hair and less grey hair.
Boeing or Lockheed tried to put manuals on an electric device, small handheld years ago. You could have bought a new car for what they wanted for it. Even the military said " oh hell no ".
Now my fancy smart phone, full of manuals, photos, tech data. Makes that thing look like rotary dial phone. Some of you may have look that up.

 

[AK49BWL]

If you want to save some effort in fabricating a cubby for the blown airbag spot on the passenger side, most 2500-3500 trucks 97+ had one instead of the airbag... Now, I don't know if they're actually part of the dash or a removable piece... Logic tells me it ought to be removable tho.

Connectors are MetriPack tho, not WeatherPak. Most of the 88-94s used mainly MetriPack 280 or 480 connectors and terminals, with a few 150s thrown in. If you need terminals for repinning connectors, you can buy them in bulk from places like Mouser.com and the likes.

HVAC system is completely standalone for the most part - from the control head to the various door actuators is all a separate harness from the main dash harness. You will have to swap everything out tho, as the actuators between the early and late interiors are not compatible. The HVAC box itself is the same, however (the part that mounts to the firewall and contains the evaporator and heater cores) - but while you're there, you may as well tear it down and check the various doors for rubber rot, clean it out, stuff like that.

 

[Crichey6559]

If you want to save some effort in fabricating a cubby for the blown airbag spot on the passenger side, most 2500-3500 trucks 97+ had one instead of the airbag... Now, I don't know if they're actually part of the dash or a removable piece... Logic tells me it ought to be removable tho.

Connectors are MetriPack tho, not WeatherPak. Most of the 88-94s used mainly MetriPack 280 or 480 connectors and terminals, with a few 150s thrown in. If you need terminals for repinning connectors, you can buy them in bulk from places like Mouser.com and the likes.

HVAC system is completely standalone for the most part - from the control head to the various door actuators is all a separate harness from the main dash harness. You will have to swap everything out tho, as the actuators between the early and late interiors are not compatible. The HVAC box itself is the same, however (the part that mounts to the firewall and contains the evaporator and heater cores) - but while you're there, you may as well tear it down and check the various doors for rubber rot, clean it out, stuff like that.

I didn’t even think about the cubby on the 2500/3500, that’s a great suggestion.
So I should be able to disconnect the main harness from the firewall and just replace the entire harness from the main harness to the control unit to use the later model controls if inresf that right.
Excuse my ignorance but I don’t know what metropack or weatherpack connectors are. Does this mean I’ll have to redo the probably all or most of the connectors on one of the harnesses?

 

[KansasOBS]

Man, Id about be up for doing the opposite. I like power windows, cause dog doesn't know how to crank a handle, but really would rather have power nothing. Part of why newer vehicles are such a mess to work on.

The cubby from a 3500 or whatever should swap with the bag insert. They unbolt.

I'm not digging for them, but a there is a lot of information on the site here, guys done the swap, etc. I do not imagine you can just plug and play the harness at the firewall. There are differences in the later wiring, let alone swapping between trucks 10 years apart.