older dash pad on newer dash..?

[rob h]

Im looking on the imput on putting a late 70s(78-79) pad on my 83 dash, my 83 has the wipers on the dash and the high beams on the floor like the older trucks...will the pad bolt up, even if i gota drill new holes. Will i need an older bezel too..? Hopefully someone here has done this swap.

 

[ryoken]

I'm pretty certain it doesn't work because the earlier dashes have that angled back section on the right side.. the actual dash metal underneath is in the way iirc...

if i didn't have a cage thru my dash, i could actually check this, i have a mint tan 77 pad up in the attic...

 

[sweetk30]

swap the frame work and it will fit.

 

[tRustyK5]

The dash frame is the same from old to new, it's only the dash pad that is different. Here is a pic of a '78 dash pad on my '90 Blazer.

You'll need the older bezel though, these two pics show the difference between the older and newer bezels. It's mostly depth...

Older style:

Newer style, which is about 3/4" deeper everywhere.

Probably the biggest issue I see so far is the older style dash pad covers the VIN on the newer rigs...

The older bezel doesn't fit my truck, the headlight switch is in a different position. Looks to be about 1" higher than where the old style one was. This red dash I have is in pretty good shape, and would fit my needs as I'm also swapping to a 70's front clip. I may try to make a clean VIN window and possibly carve the newer bezel so it'll fit the older dash pad.

Rene

 

[rob h]

Ok, thanks for the pics...It seems to fit rather well. Ill have to get an older bezel tho since i have a newer one. A friend of mine has a brand new 78 pad still in the box that i can get super cheap. I wonder if my newer wheel would look funny with the older dash. Thanks again for the pics of the fitament etc...much appreciated.