Opinions on swapping 98+ dash into a 97 GTS

[banton]

I recently purchased a 97 B&W GTS and first off, I love it. One of the things I am not as enamored with is the appearance of the flat black dash and shifter/radio surrounds. I am thinking of swapping in the textured 98+ dash and surrounds to update the appearance. Curious if others have done the same and would recommend doing this?

Thanks in advance,
Brad

 

[jdoc7]

I don't think anyone can speak for you. This is purely a cosmetic change, nothing functional at all, so the change would depend entirely on your desire to have the textured dash. Just remember that the 97's did not have the ability to turn off the passenger airbag so if you get a 98' dash, it will have two holes in it that would be out of place on your 97'.

 

[banton]

I understand this thread is more geared towards personal preference, but your reply still brought up an excellent point regarding the airbag buttons that I hadn't considered. So your input was still valueable to me and appreciated.

Brad

 

[DEVILDOG]

Maybe you might want to consider just enhancing what you have with one of the carbon fibre surround kits and some satin or chrome trim rings around the gauges.

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

1) This was done by one-time-Viper-Owner MarkO...looked GREAT! Added bonus of the airbag cutoff switch.

2) Good luck finding ALL of the parts! Likely there are now a bunch of donor cars....but I doubt they can be had new, from Dodge (The Wizard would know).

 

[hemibeep]

Also, power mirrors were not on 97'. Try Paul Scharf as he should have everything you need.

 

[DEVILDOG]

Also, power mirrors were not on 97'. Try Paul Scharf as he should have everything you need.

Power mirrors are not on the '98 either.

 

[banton]

Thanks again for the feedback.

Vipercharged: I have located the parts from a supplier on the boards. They would indeed be from a donor car.

Hemibeep: The power mirrors would be nice, but since I will be the one driving 99% of the time, I don't anticipate needing to adjust them enough to warrant the electric mirrors Brushed aluminum rings, MGW shifter and Snake-oyl floor mats will be on the initial list of interior items. The rest of my inital parts will be performance orientated.


Brad

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Sounds great.....I think you'll be happy with the change!!

 

[Matt]

1) This was done by one-time-Viper-Owner MarkO...looked GREAT! Added bonus of the airbag cutoff switch.

I have the car now and love the swapped-in pebble finish dash. It is easier to care for and the stock dash and air bag are tucked away safe and sound. I now also have the airbag cutoff switch if I need it.

Couple things to note:

1) The triangle door surrounds stay non textured. They did not have the pebble finish until '99 when that whole section became part of the door panel itself.

2) The radio/shifter bezel area could not be swapped out because the window switches differ from '96/'97 to '98+.

 

[banton]

I have the car now and love the swapped-in pebble finish dash. It is easier to care for and the stock dash and air bag are tucked away safe and sound. I now also have the airbag cutoff switch if I need it.

Couple things to note:

2) The radio/shifter bezel area could not be swapped out because the window switches differ from '96/'97 to '98+.

Excellent. Thanks for bringing up point #2....that fact saved me enough to purchase a MGW first strike shifter instead of spending it on a part I couldn't use

Brad

 

[banton]

Just a quick update in case others consider doing this swap. First I want to thank R & J Distributing (site vendor). I purchased the 98 dash through them and dash was exactly as described, reasonably priced and was at my door 3 days from the time I sent the money

The process to remove the dash was pretty straight forward. Just a couple of points I thought were worth mentioning:

- Be sure and mask your a-pillars if doing the job yourself as this will help avoid scraping the paint on pillars.

- When removing the shifter/radio surround, start from the back (armrest area) as it proved to come off easier this way.

- It is very tight getting the dash over/around the steering column, so be patient. Might suggest masking the tilt steering knob as well.

- The biggest thing to note is that the manual airbag control module that is integrated into the 98+ dash will not fit on the 97 GTS. I didn't want to have the open button/lock cylinder areas showing, so I used my wife's little table saw she uses for cutting stained glass. I took out the electronics and harness and then cut the box leaving just the mounting tabs and front section that holds the lock cylinder and "off" button. Then I was able to re-attach the section and no one would know it isn't functional. Otherwise you would have to do some cutting of the mounting support behind the dash.

Now that the newer textured style dash is in, I would personally say it was a very worthwhile cosmetic mod. Not very expensive and an easy DIY project to update the interior vs. the original smooth dash.

Think that is about it.

Brad

 

[Supercharged Vipermad]

Awewsome, thanks! Did you decide NOT to add the passenger cutoff switch? I am pretty sure when MarkO did his he did the full monty.

 

[banton]

Awewsome, thanks! Did you decide NOT to add the passenger cutoff switch? I am pretty sure when MarkO did his he did the full monty.

That is correct. I will admit I didn't look hard to see how difficult making it operational would be. I didn't see a matching harness to do a "plug-n-play", so am guessing I would have to do some splicing/wiring to take it to MarkO's level of install. Since there won't be young children or similar in the passenger seat, I chose to go with the non-functional route. Also, the dash didn't come with the key that would be needed to make this a fully functional set-up (didn't request or confirm inclusion of the key before the purchase either).

Brad

 

[Ron]

If anyone is interested, I do have a brand new OEM 1996/1997 airbag switch update package which includes the 1998 dash panel mentioned above, the airbag switch, the indicator light and all required factory wiring. Easy installation and I can e-mail the instructions if anyone is interested. It is designed to allow the passenger airbag to be selectively switched off for <13 year old / small passengers. [email protected]