Interior swap?

I just bought another 91 OCC..... This one has a perfect blue cloth interior, but may need un-repairable bodywork....
Is it feasible (or even possible) to swap out a saddle tan leather interior for a blue cloth interior? Can the panels and headliner be removed without being destroyed?
I'm wondering if I shouldn't re-sell this car to an enthusiast with body repair skills and hope to find another one (?)

Chris (Brokecello) swapped his tan interior for red on his Roady wagon, so it can be done, but it's a BIG project!

Is it worth the effort to you?

-Mike

What do you have in the white car tan? If you swap the tan (leather?) to the blue car and decide to sell please let me know. Jeff

I'm assuming you are talking one Olds to another? It is possible, but of course the dash will be different if it is not an Olds, and I know the door panel style changed early 90's, so I assume the wiring would be different. Your best bet is to tell what year and model car you might want to swap the blue interior into, and resident guru Fred will certainly chime in and let you know what is involved.

Sorry I wasn't clear.... They are both 91 OCC's....The white one is saddle tan leather and the interior is less than perfect, but the paint and body is better and it has more options.....I bought the blue one from a low-end flipper to be a replacement, but now thinking of combining the best stuff on the white car......When I'm done, I'm going to be selling one of these cars for about what the drivetrain is worth to somebody that commits to saving it (rather than taking the drivetrain for my 69 van project)

As I mentioned let me know when you want to sell it and are you going to to make both full complete swaps? I would be saving it and have a parts car already. Jeff

Yes Chris did it, more time consuming than difficult as I've disassembled a couple already. both being 91 OCCs it just unscrew/bolt and replace. Take your time and lay it out so you don't miss anything. I would think a weekend project. then again while you have the whole interior ouot of the target car, check for leaks, reseal, dynamat, etc etc etc.

You can do it!  Get a buddy to help....Take apart the pieces you don't care as much about FIRST (to practice)...then do the parts you care about SECOND.  

If you go to the build pics in my sig link..you can see what I did.  The hardest part for you will be the 3rd seat area and the headliner.  Have a friend help you when it comes time to take it out.  Since you have the Vista Roof...you automatically have a weak spot at that point.  Don't let the headliner bend at the Vista roof cutout!  

Otherwise, everything else is just a walk in the park.  Get a good trim removal tool for sure.

 Chris

brokecello wrote:

 Since you have the Vista Roof...you automatically have a weak spot at that point.  Don't let the headliner bend at the Vista roof cutout!   Chris

...So I guess that I want to remove all the headliner fasteners ahead of the window first (?) I'm a little intimidated by most of the fasteners being hidden and the FSM does not show or explain things well.... You are right in saying that I should take apart the tan first (to learn how not to break blue pieces) Gonna be another week before I retrieve the new car from Phx, so lots of time to ponder...

The Velcro fasteners for the headliner are exceptionally tough to get apart. They usually rip loose from the headliner, and you have to glue them back in place. When you have the headliner out, reinforce the sides at the vista opening with some light fiberglass and resin. It will make installation easier. 3-4 plies of 1 oz. fiberglass is sufficient. I used some scrap 5 oz. carbon fiber on mine, and I think I could use it for a diving board. If you have an early 91 and it does not have the center clips for the visors, there will be a couple of Velcro fasteners at the center front of the headliner. If the replacement interior has the center clips for the visors, make sure you do not use a really long screw to attach them. The exterior roof is not far away.

You have to take the second row seat out to remove the C pillar trim. The whole piece from top to bottom comes out together. Use extreme care when removing the rear seat belt bezels on the speaker cover, they have fragile hooks on them. The bezels for the wing window latches are also fragile.

Carefully remove the inspection panel from under the steering column. The top clip tangs are easy to break.

Two final items...The three Phillips head "screws" that appear to hold the rear headliner reveal are just locks for the clips. You have to remove them, then reach under the molding with a screw driver and push the side of the clip until it lets go. I have spares for both. Finally, when removing the center fastener for the rear of the headliner, use a body tool, and a pivot off of the headliner. If you try to put the tool under the headliner to remove the fastener you will crush the headliner, and if you try to put the tool on top without the pivot, it will also crush the headliner. If you crush the headliner at that spot it can not be easily repaired.

Thanks Fred!
Your descriptions of this stuff paint a clearer picture than the FSM reveals (it's VERY vague!)..... I'm intimidated by most GM interior stuff built after about 1985 because of all the different kinds of hidden fasteners that are easily broken..... Hopefully I can afford bodywork on the blue car and leave the interiors alone.....

Is your goal to own two wagons, or just take the best of both and sell the other? I know you stated earlier that you don't want to part the damaged one, which is good since they are so rare. Once you get the car home, post some pictures of the damage. Tail gates are cheap, but of course the quarter panel will need to be fixed. You are lucky, being in a dry climate, so body work for you is just that, body work, and not rust work. Good luck, and I'm sure we are all looking forward to seeing your new car and what you ultimately plan to do with it.

My goal is to end up with one really nice wagon with the blue cloth interior. I've never really intended to own more than one, but I'll start looking at one and find that it has some nicer parts than mine and soon it follows me home....My wife thinks it's a little crazy that I now have two of these wagons(again) in addition to a 94 crewcab dually, 68 burb (3 door), Sportster, v-drive daycruiser (boat) car trailer, m/c trailer, and my 69 chevy 108 project, which is now sidetracked.....
Actually, I could use the complete drivetrain out of either of these wagons to build the van into something really cool, but I really would prefer to sell the running car to someone who will preserve it, even if it costs me more to find a suitable drivetrain elsewhere!
I appreciate all the input and support I get here and you guys will get first crack at whatever car I eventually sell....

Did you get the other car yet? Pictures!

Here's some pics of what I got.... A previous owner attempted bodywork by seperating the sheetmetal from the structure... The bash goes clear up into the window area and the top of the plastic siide trim has broken plastic fasteners missing. The rear of the body sheetmetal lip (at the taillight) is AFU and the structure at the top of the bumper behind where the corner trim is missing is screwed up, as well.....

Yea needs a quarter panel and some body work skill.

A local body guy says he can fix what's here for $400.....After evaluating the whole car, I've decided to swap the interiors and I've already swapped the third row.... Next up is the dash and steering column.....The blue headliner was less than perfect, so I'm going to leave it alone and just get the tan one redone by a local upholsterer ($325)....
Does anybody have a source for a new dashpad or know a way to fix one that is severely cracked?

My interior guy only charges $75 for a headliner.

I have some dash pads in excellent condition. I am not sure what colors I have, so you may have to repaint them with SEM color matched paint. Shipping is expensive, because they are long. I have painted a couple of them, and they turned out really nice. 2-3 years and still look nice. You have to treat them as painted surfaces instead of vinyl. I would like $95 plus shipping by Greyhound.

Thanks Fred!.... My local upholstery guy has taken on the dashpad......
The project is progressing, but not real fast.....I've got the third row swapped on both cars and the rear shoulders belts (which mounted differently) completed....I've installed the tan dash face in the blue car and done a little resto work on the Blue Dash Face....I painted the parts of the dash skeleton that show SEM shadow blue (a perfect match!) as well as the steering column.....I'm going to have the headliner done before swapping the seats, carpeting, and door panels. I'm finding a lot of fasteners that were previously broke and I've maybe also broken some myself....I'm getting pretty good at repairing and/or improvising!

Are you going to keep both cars, or sell or part the other?

AzDon wrote:

Thanks Fred!.... My local upholstery guy has taken on the dashpad......
The project is progressing, but not real fast.....I've got the third row swapped on both cars and the rear shoulders belts (which mounted differently) completed....I've installed the tan dash face in the blue car and done a little resto work on the Blue Dash Face....I painted the parts of the dash skeleton that show SEM shadow blue (a perfect match!) as well as the steering column.....I'm going to have the headliner done before swapping the seats, carpeting, and door panels. I'm finding a lot of fasteners that were previously broke and I've maybe also broken some myself....I'm getting pretty good at repairing and/or improvising!

I have often thought about stripping the dash down to the core, and having new padding and a vinyl or leather cover made for it.

My mission was originally to change out every saddle tan piece for every blue piece....THEN I found that a lot of this stuff was not created in colored plastic, but painted by GM, so I gave myself permission to repaint parts that would be excessive work to change out.....Both Dash-top pads were completely blitzed down thru the foam, which then separated from the plastic backing tray. I really didn't think the pad could be re-done, but the upholstery shop says yes it can...When I'm done with the swap, The blue car will be for sale..... It runs good, (supposedly) has a new trans and brakes and is completely rust-free. Honestly though, the car is a bit rough and the engine/trans/diff/tbi/ecm are worth well over a grand to my 69 chevy van project AND I'm in western AZ, which probably makes it geographically unfeasable for anybody needing a rust-free shell......I'd really like to work some kind of deal with a wagon guy that preserves the car and still gets me a good drivetrain for my other project, but I seriously doubt there's enough value here to justify the travel or shipping

Update: I swapped the headliners and I've got the Blue dash put back together in the white car, including the re-covered dash pad......I've got the blue seats, trims,and seatbelts loose and ready to swap once I get the new carpet......MOVIN RIGHT ALONG!

way to go

FINAL UPDATE--- The swap is complete and I've got both cars completely re-assembled.... I broke the job into several separate projects, each taking about a half-day per car.....First, I swapped the third row and dis-assembled the c-pillars. Next, I dis-assembled the dash and sent the pad for upholstery. Next, I swapped all remaining pillar trims and swapped the headiners and replaced the trims. Next,put the dash completely back together. Last was the first two rows, carpet, kickpanels and threshhold trim. Because the last segment was a big job, I broke it into three operations: 1) removing all the stuff from the blue car 2) doing the complete swap into the white car 3) re-assembling the blue car. In total, I probably worked ten days, and do not regret the experience.... I've learned a lot about how these cars are put together! I also found that both floor pans are completely pristine without even a single hint of any rust spots under the carpet. I'll post some pics when I get a chance...
I'm now officially ready to sell the blue wagon or take the drivetrain for my 69 chevy van project....
I really don't want to cut the wagon up, but I will if it doesnt sell pretty quick..... Here's a link to my CL ad: http://mohave.craigslist.org/cto/4757275675.html

Wish I had the money to come and grab it.
I would love to have a second wagon around.
Heck, I would do it for the drivetrain alone.
Good luck on selling it. Hope it goes to a good home.

I REALLLLY want to sell this wagon to somebody that is going to save it......I already have priced it at a substantial loss and I'll go lower for the right buyer...