99 Interior to 93 Swap - Manual to Power, No tac to tac, etc

[nJohnson]

I just purchased a 99 Suburban with a rusted out, crappy body but a perfect interior. I have a 93 with a perfect body but a trashed interior. I am planning on using the 99 interior in the 93 but there are many challenges I can foresee and need some answers. First, how will the connectors work? Since the 99 is Vortec and the other is TBI - One is OBD1 and the other OBD2 - The newer one has a Tac, which I want, and the other does not. Also, I would like to still use the TBI but get the advantages of the better heads and the roller cam in the Vortec. I also have manual windows and locks in the 93 but the 99 has power, so How hard is that to change over? I could just swap the entire engine and wiring harness but the 93 is a 3/4 ton with the 4L80, which I obviously don't want to give up. I realize I could go multi-port and get rid of the Spider pop its, but the TBI is so much simpler and this will be a hunting rig and simplicity is great when you have problems in the mountains. Basically, I have a mess on my hands and I'm looking for some sound advice. I'm leaning towards pulling the motor from the 99 and keeping my OBD1 and trying to figure out how the heck to wire all that crap, but WOW. I have never attempted anything like this before.

 

[Gearhead1]

The amount of work involved in the change over you describe is immense. All the wiring harnesses, the dash, door panels, inner door panels and handles, computer, steering column support, have to be swapped. I am not sure if the HVAC system and anti-lock brake components also do, but I suspect the answer is yes. Finding a nice used 1992-94 interior to replace what your 1993 has and then overhauling the engine however you wish would save loads of work.

 

[nJohnson]

Understood. That being said, someone told me that an instrument cluster from a 95 doesn't run through the computer so the instrument cluster swap wouldn't be hard as I could find a 95 and that matches the 99.

 

[Donald Mitchell]

Every one here has a degree in wiring, so just ask!

 

[GoToGuy]

Does it still have crappet injection, the upgrade is great. I would drop the Vortec in your truck, keeping the 4l80. If your not highly skilled, it will be a big challenge. Good luck.

 

[AK49BWL]

The clusters between 92-99 are actually electrically very similar; the wiring for them is forward and backward compatible between 92-99 - you just have to re-pin the connectors to the correct pin-outs.

The stereo connectors are the same between all 88-99 - 95+ lack dash speakers however, having moved them to the front doors.

HVAC systems are physically the same, electrically different between 88-94/95+; but they're on a completely separate harness from the rest of the dash electronics, so all you'd need to do is swap the door motors and wiring/resistor module to use the newer HVAC controller.. Might need to repin and/or splice two or three connections for the A/C, grounds, power, etc... But it's pretty easy to figure out. Or just keep the electronic controller and retrofit it into the newer dash. The heater box itself is identical 88-99 tho.

Depending on which steering column/wheel you want to use... If you stick with the 93's column, no change needs to be made - however if you decide to go with the 99's column, you'll need to completely rewire the ignition system in the cab, swap the column support bracket that's spot-welded to the firewall, and change the transmission shifting linkage setup to the cable setup the later models use.

For the door panels, you'll need the exterior panels (with the switches and stuff) and the interior panels (that hold the window motor, lock actuator, lock and handle rods, and wiring). The interior panels are directly swappable, no modifications needed, and the windows and tracks are all the same 88-99.

I went the other direction: 97 truck, 94 interior. I ended up fully custom-rewiring the entire interior. It's one hell of a job lol. For your 93, you can get a brand new dash core from LMC for $400 ooh their price when up to $460 now -- personally I would do that (and did) before trying to retrofit the newer interior, unless that's just what you want.

 

[nJohnson]

Every one here has a degree in wiring, so just ask!

LOL. Love the picture.

 

[nJohnson]

Does it still have crappet injection, the upgrade is great. I would drop the Vortec in your truck, keeping the 4l80. If your not highly skilled, it will be a big challenge. Good luck.

Yeah, it's got the crappit. But I could always put the TBI on top of the Vortec.

 

[nJohnson]

The clusters between 92-99 are actually electrically very similar; the wiring for them is forward and backward compatible between 92-99 - you just have to re-pin the connectors to the correct pin-outs.

The stereo connectors are the same between all 88-99 - 95+ lack dash speakers however, having moved them to the front doors.

HVAC systems are physically the same, electrically different between 88-94/95+; but they're on a completely separate harness from the rest of the dash electronics, so all you'd need to do is swap the door motors and wiring/resistor module to use the newer HVAC controller.. Might need to repin and/or splice two or three connections for the A/C, grounds, power, etc... But it's pretty easy to figure out. Or just keep the electronic controller and retrofit it into the newer dash. The heater box itself is identical 88-99 tho.

Depending on which steering column/wheel you want to use... If you stick with the 93's column, no change needs to be made - however if you decide to go with the 99's column, you'll need to completely rewire the ignition system in the cab, swap the column support bracket that's spot-welded to the firewall, and change the transmission shifting linkage setup to the cable setup the later models use.

For the door panels, you'll need the exterior panels (with the switches and stuff) and the interior panels (that hold the window motor, lock actuator, lock and handle rods, and wiring). The interior panels are directly swappable, no modifications needed, and the windows and tracks are all the same 88-99.

I went the other direction: 97 truck, 94 interior. I ended up fully custom-rewiring the entire interior. It's one hell of a job lol. For your 93, you can get a brand new dash core from LMC for $400 ooh their price when up to $460 now -- personally I would do that (and did) before trying to retrofit the newer interior, unless that's just what you want.

Good to know. I did talk to one of the wire harness and TBI harness builders and he did say that the speedometer doesn't run through the old OBD1 computer in the 93 but does in the 99.

 

[AK49BWL]

No it doesn't, there's a small "DRAC" module behind the glove box that handles the speedometer in the 92-95 models, but if you just leave that where it is there, you don't need to worry about the cluster still.