With the old interior torn out I realized I had bitten off way more than I could chew.
Ever take on a project that is a great idea but a headache beyond imagination once you are in the midst of it? That happened to me recently when I decided to try my hand at transforming the interior of my Red Sled project '91 Chevy extra cab. When I got this truck it had been sitting outside with a busted window for over a year so the interior was far from perfect. I don't usually mind driving a ratty old truck, so I lived with it for a few years. But then one day I rode in a friend's '95 Chevy, and really liked his modern, curvaceous, clean interior. He had the same body-style truck, but the interior was entirely more modern, so I wondered how hard it would be to update the Sled from the dated early '88-'94 interior to the more appealing '95-'98 style. I asked around and most folks thought it was a good idea, but few had actually done the swap. Then I called a few interior shops and though they agreed it was an interesting idea, none were available to help do the swap in my time frame. I finally surfed the Internet and found a whole bunch of guys that claimed they had done the swap easily in a weekend. I was soon reminded that what's on the Web isn't always true. So I figured I'd do it myself. How hard could it be? I can weld, I can wrench, I can even change tires, so there was no reason I shouldn't be able to tear out some seats, carpet, headliner, and a dash and then replace it all with new stuff. Boy, was I wrong.
Let me state for the record that this conversion in no way increased the off-road ability of my truck, and I should have learned right then and there that doing it was going to be a nightmare. You see if I had simply refurbished the stock dash I'd be driving my truck by now, but I had to get this hair-brained idea that I would swap in a dash that might or (most likely) might not work, and now I have a giant dead truck in my shop that is languishing like a beached whale, and it is nobody's fault but my own. In fact, many of the parts I used worked out great; unfortunately not all the parts I need are available through the aftermarket, and so I'm still looking for more junkyard-fresh parts to finish it. Will it eventually run again? Watch our Web site, www.4wheeloffroad.com, to find out, but here are the major steps to interior redesign on a truck I should have taken to a pro.
Here's how this all started: The interior of the Red Sled had sat with a busted window for over a year, thus the old bench seat had some funky stains, the dash was cracked, and there was no stereo. Plus I really hated the original square dash and late-'80s-style gauges. The headliner was also dropping on my head, the seat controls were busted, and the carpet smelled funny. Pretty normal for any of my personal trucks, but after I rode in a friend's newer version, I decided an interior swap was in the cards for the Sled. I had seen the '95-and-newer curved modern-style dash and since the body style had stayed the same from '88 to '98, I assumed the dash would drop right in.
1. I started by tracking down the new parts. LMC Truck is the complete shop for Chevy truck restoration and they have an excellent catalog of parts for Ford and Chevy trucks from 1947 up to today. However they hadn't done this swap before, so I had to first convince them it could be done and second figure out what parts I needed. I did both based on the hearsay of others that it was an easy swap, and quickly had a plethora of interior parts on the way. I also found a junkyard that had a '97 Suburban with the same red exterior color as my sled but with the more appealing gray interior trim. Since I knew I needed door panels, I got both front doors as well as returning multiple times for other parts. Then it was home to tear out the grungy old interior. | 
2. I tore the original parts out quickly and used my rechargeable Ingersoll Rand impact tools a fair bit for easy removal. This electric ratchet, a drill, an impact, and even a die grinder/cut-off wheel were very valuable. | 
3. With the dash out of both the Red Sled and red Suburban I realized that I would need the new steering column complete to the steering box. Since LMC had some parts like a new wheel but not the complete column, I dragged those junkyard parts home. I realized that I would also need to cut the firewall mounting brackets off both trucks and swap the new onto the older, which required drilling some spot welds out and welding back in. |
4. In addition to the steering-column bracket I also had to cut out the firewall from around the newer steering column and weld that patch onto the older truck in order to get a proper seal. There was a grab handle bracket off the passenger side and a hood-release mounting nut off the driver side that needed to be cut out and added to the older truck. It was about this point when I started wondering if simply keeping the older style dash and getting all new replacement parts for it from LMC wouldn't have been a better idea. | 
5. With the steering column/brake-pedal bracket welded back in, I started reassembly with the new LMC firewall insulation going in first. Being careful to route the wire correctly is a tricky part of this step. | 
6. Since the HVAC system had seen better days, I replaced the heater element and repaired some cracks in the ducting with two-part epoxy. I also replaced some of the old ducting with new LMC parts. |