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Interior swap from 1991 Suburban into 86 crew cab, does everything swap???

blowedupmotor87

blowedupmotor87

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I know it's been done by a lot of folks but, I don't know all the details of it-

My 86 K30's interior is pretty much trashed (pool company work truck), I found a CHERRY 1991 GMC Suburban for super cheap (blown head gasket) I was wondering if I can swap the whole interior over?? (One big question in this is the seat belts, my K30's are all busted) I know the flooring won't work but, what about everything else???

It would be a great swap for my truck as I would love to use the doors, whole front clip, and TBI too BUT, the biggest deal breaker would be whether or not the entire interior will swap over as that's how I would sell my wife on the idea! (since she thinks the K30 is disgusting right now, LOL!

Thanks!!!

Oh, and this may be a dumb question but, if I rebadge my Chevy entirely as a GMC (all interior and exterior badging), are there any legal issues with it??? Would I be asking for a hassle since it is (obviously) registered as a Chevy if I get pulled over or would an officer even take notice of it? Anybody dealt with that???
 
The TBI is a great idea. If the Burb is a 3/4 ton, which I am kind of doubting because I would assume you would have mentioned that, I would use the entire harness to get the 4:80E.
 
And if the cop notices, just explain to him that you swapped the interior. As long as the VIN matches your title your fine. If you really wanted to cover the bases, both titles would be great.

For the record, all the external pieces swap over as well. Even as patches for rockers and so on.
 
Really??? Hmmm, my K30's rockers are swiss cheese and the Suburban seems to have flawless rockers! This is sounding better and better! I hate to butcher such a pretty rig (the Burb) but, the economics of it certainly work out nicely! (I'm partly tempted to swap the K30's drivetrain into the Suburban BUT, the crew cab is a LOT more practical for an end product of the build- my dad and I are contemplating this as a joint build between us, and he doesn't have any use for an SUV)

Oh, I would also swap all the exterior badges to 89-91 GMC since I would be swapping the grille (K30's grille is pretty ratty looking) so, from any angle, the end product would look like an 89-91 GMC 3500. Hence my concern.

Hmm, just realized another nice thing, the Suburban tank will allow me to ditch the K30's saddle tanks! Oh, never mind on that, apparently it won't fit since we plan on switching to a shortbed.
 
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I don't think the back seat will work. I am pretty sure the crew back seat is the same as a reg cab front seat. Front seats should go but you will need to cut the inside seat track brackets off the blurb floor and weld to the crew floor if it has buckets and console.
 
72_jimmy said:
I don't think the back seat will work. I am pretty sure the crew back seat is the same as a reg cab front seat. Front seats should go but you will need to cut the inside seat track brackets off the blurb floor and weld to the crew floor if it has buckets and console.
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SO, I take it the bench doesn't have center mounts so the buckets need the mounts swapped over to have something to mount to?

For the back seat, can the necessary mounting brackets for the 'Burbs split bench be swapped over?

Or, if I retain the crew cab's back seat, does any company make a reupholstery cover for a crew cab seat that matches the Suburban's up trim cloth? (I don't think I have ever seen the same cloth pattern in a pickup as the 89-91 Suburbans, or am I wrong???) This cloth:
IMG_2226.jpg


Basically, I would like the interior to match, LOL!
 
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Your best solution for nice matching buckets and rear bench will be fronts from an 81-88' burb. Then call LMC or somewhere and get front bucket upholstery and a single cab front bench upholstery. Throw the covers on your burb buckets and existing rear bench.

The foam is different on the 89-91 seats. Good luck finding a nice front bench from an 89-91 single cab silverado or sierra classic with matching upholstery. Not saying it doesn't exist, but rare...
 
72_jimmy said:
Your best solution for nice matching buckets and rear bench will be fronts from an 81-88' burb. Then call LMC or somewhere and get front bucket upholstery and a single cab front bench upholstery. Throw the covers on your burb buckets and existing rear bench.

The foam is different on the 89-91 seats. Good luck finding a nice front bench from an 89-91 single cab silverado or sierra classic with matching upholstery. Not saying it doesn't exist, but rare...
Click to expand...

That's what I am wondering, does anyone even make new bench upholstery that matches those front buckets? I've never seen a bench that matches. I wouldn't mind buying a new bench upholstery set but never seen it!

So, I guess it boils down to this- in order to have matching seats, with front buckets, I can't run the Suburban's set since the padding structure differs??? So, would have to go all different seats???
 
10-4.

Crew or burb front bench from 89-91 will match if its a silverado or sierra classic. Those won't fold for behind the seat access.

Crew rear or reg cab front from 89-91 r/v series silverado or sierra classic will match and fold.

These seats do exist but are rare and $$$ if you do find them. Plus you would need to find one the same color.

81-88 burb bucketd are dime-a-dozen. Easier/cheaper solution imo.
 
You have no issues at all with changing badges, and no cop is going to ask you. All that matters is the vin number matches between the chassis and title.
 
72_jimmy said:
10-4.

Crew or burb front bench from 89-91 will match if its a silverado or sierra classic. Those won't fold for behind the seat access.

Crew rear or reg cab front from 89-91 r/v series silverado or sierra classic will match and fold.

These seats do exist but are rare and $$$ if you do find them. Plus you would need to find one the same color.

81-88 burb bucketd are dime-a-dozen. Easier/cheaper solution imo.
Click to expand...

Hmm, looks like this might be a little more involved than I thought, I was hoping to have a matching rear bench with the 'Burb buckets, I suppose I could get another set of 'Burb buckets and run 4 buckets.

The only issue I see with using the older seats with the rest of the 'Burb interior is the door panels have inserts that match the seats so, to make everything all matchy-matchy,I would have to change that portion out too.

Sounding like this might not be the awesome easy plan I originally thought.

rjfguitar said:
You have no issues at all with changing badges, and no cop is going to ask you. All that matters is the vin number matches between the chassis and title.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks man!!!
 
72_jimmy said:
Just find a 87 or 88 burb donor...dime-a-dozen...
Click to expand...

You would think that......

all of them I've found around here (that aren't $$$) have worse interiors than my K30! This is the best interior one I've found thus far, of any that are less than 3x its price.
 
72_jimmy said:
Don't need that great of interior if you recover...as long as the foam isn't totally trashed
Click to expand...

Well, I'm talking about the whole thing, LOL! (the insides of the doors, the seatbelts, the dash, everything!) Really my truck's seats aren't TERRIBLE, the front bench could use new foam on the bottom (feels like a worn out mattress) but, the seat upholstery cleaned up okay-ish, and only has one small (maybe 3/8") hole in it. (though the whole front seat's vinyl is dull, like very porous feeling, not sealed feeling like new vinyl, it was dyed brown with dirt but it scrubbed out) But, the 'Burb is blue cloth vs the K30 is tan vinyl. My truck's door panels are trashed, as as the seatbelts. Plus, even the doors themselves are rough!
 
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If you swapped in everything but the back seat, you should be able to take that to an upholstery shop and have them make you a cover to fit. Don't know what that would cost, but recovering my Suburban headliner (2 pieces) cost about $80 at my local shop. And I'm more than pleased with the color match. You should be able to dial up any color you want without any trouble.


I would also think that it wouldn't be much hassle to swap over the bracketry to make the Suburban seat work. I haven't done or seen this particular swap yet, but plenty of folks (including myself) have swapped seats out with just a little bit of fab work.
 
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