94-96 Dash in 91 Wagon

Hey group,

Haven't posted in a while but thought I'd share what is going to be my next project. I'm going to put a dash from a 95 Caprice into my 91 Caprice Wagon. Many people have said this is not worth the effort or cannot be done without extensive welding and fabrication and that its simply easier and cheaper to just buy a different car. I won't be buying a different Caprice though since this has been in my family since new, but do want the newer dash, so I am going to figure it out.

I procured an entire dash with cluster, heater box, ductwork, climate control panel, wiring harness and the 94-96 specific metal dash brace from a junkyard for $50. The brace bolts onto the vehicle, it is not welded like some have said on other forums. On the driver's side, it definitely shares one bolt hole with the existing bracket for the fusebox, so that threaded hole will be there. I have yet to determine if any others are pre-existing. I know the wiring is all different, but I am going to attempt to use the majority of the 91 harness and splice on the 95 plugs. I don't want a functioning passenger airbag. I am also assuming I will not be able to get the digital cluster to work very easily, so I may go with a Z28 cluster.

If anyone has any knowledge of differences between the 91-93 and 94-96 cars with the dashes out I would love some input, otherwise I will post with results.

Thanks!
-Collin

Dang...smaller vents, prone to cracking, troublesome cluster electronics, and I don't believe your front door panels will line up with the new dash....I think if I were you I'd stop before you start and just sell that newer dash to get your money back. If you want to update the car, find an Olds Custom Cruiser or Roadmaster TBI full gauge cluster with tachometer. They look fantastic in a Caprice dash, and you are not diving into a project that is....frankly...not advised...and seems to be a possible car-destroying nightmare....

Custom Cruiser


Roadmaster


If you want a digital speedo look for the 9C1 police cluster/LTZ cluster Folks have done that on TBI Caprices and it's neat! You get full gauges, a tach and a digital speedo too!.

Honestly I'm with Mike, I like the TBI dashes better. Nicer material and factory tach dashes are available. The LT1 dash is kinda bland.

As far as your swap, you may be able to re-pin the LT1 harness to plug in. Get wiring diagrams and match up circuit numbers and wire colors between the 91 and 95, and it should work. You can cross reference sender part numbers on Rockauto to see what will work. No reason you can't use the stock digi dash.

OK, I'll take a little education here. I've got a '91 OCC, and the burgundy is just too much. I'm going to have the seats recovered in grey/black, but I don't know what to do about the dash. I have to do something, because the cover is cracking and coming off on its own, whether I like it or not. I've only seen OCCs with burgundy or blue interiors, and I've seen RMW's with peanut butter, but I don't recall ever seeing good 'ol grey.

Are there any easily interchangeable options out there that were grey?

Dr.Oldsmobile wrote:

OK, I'll take a little education here.  I've got a '91 OCC, and the burgundy is just too much.  I'm going to have the seats recovered in grey/black, but I don't know what to do about the dash.  I have to do something, because the cover is cracking and coming off on its own, whether I like it or not.  I've only seen OCCs with burgundy or blue interiors, and I've seen RMW's with peanut butter, but I don't recall ever seeing good 'ol grey.  

Are there any easily interchangeable options out there that were grey?

The Roadmaster sedans had the grey interior, but not the wagons. Happy Hunting!

(ps, I love red interior....but to each their own!)

81X11 wrote:

The Roadmaster sedans had the grey interior, but not the wagons.   Happy Hunting!

(ps, I love red interior....but to each their own!)

Thanks, Mike. I'm also changing the color of the car, and it will be drastic, so something more neutral on the inside will be less likely to make my wife sick. This is important, as it will be her daily driver for the next 10 years.

Am I correct in understanding that swapping in a '91-'93 Roadmaster sedan dash would be fairly straightforward, then (and that something drastic happened in '94 that I should steer well clear of)?

Dr.Oldsmobile wrote:

81X11 wrote:

The Roadmaster sedans had the grey interior, but not the wagons.   Happy Hunting!

(ps, I love red interior....but to each their own!)

Thanks, Mike.  I'm also changing the color of the car, and it will be drastic, so something more neutral on the inside will be less likely to make my wife sick.  This is important, as it will be her daily driver for the next 10 years.

Am I correct in understanding that swapping in a '91-'93 Roadmaster sedan dash would be fairly straightforward, then (and that something drastic happened in '94 that I should steer well clear of)?

The 91-93 Roadmaster and Custom Cruiser share the same basic dash with only differences in the actual trim. The upper dashpad and lower structure are the same.

Is that similar to what you are running,Dave?

Yes Andy, same model ,with the minor exception being that I went with the red version.
The difference in the "Street trend" version is that someone else fitted it into the cluster shell for you, and charged a couple hundred extra to do so.

i did not find cutting the shell up with a Dremel tool that intimidating of a deal, I have pictures of the process on my hard drive Though the wiring might be more than some want to tackle, all it took was a set of modular connectors from Radio Shack and some mounting hardware. Pinning the connectors is a pain in the butt.

Dave

The "Streetrends" dash is a Dakota Digital unit.

http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/category_id=423/mode=cat/cat423.htm

They make a version to replace both sweep speedo and tach dash...

Same thing for all practical purposes. You can get the intellitronix from from Summit  for under $400.00. Personally, I like the six gauge cluster better from Intellitronix, as compared to the five gauge unit from Dakota Digital.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/izl-dp10002b/overview/

Sorry to throw this topic offrail for a minute but will the dakota digital 94-96 digital Caprice dash work in a 95 RMW?

Hey Colin,

I say go for it! I'm up north of ya by Waterloo but if ya need a hand lemme know. I got a pretty good group of b body fanatic friends!

The sedan dash faces are different from the wagon dashes. They do not have the hole for the gate release/wiper/washer. The only Caprice dash face that accepts the wider LS and RM/OCC clusters without modification is the sedan dash. You can cut out a hole for the gate release/wiper/washer, but it will be a little different than the original design. The woodgrain is the only difference between the RM and OCC. All dash supports are the same in the 91-93s.

The 91-93 Caprice dash pad is the same for both the sedan and wagon.

The 91-93 dash does not fit with the 94-95 doors, and vice versa. The front top corner of the door interior is different.

With SEM Color Coat paint, you can change the interior to any color you want, and the paint will endure a tremendous amount of punishment. SEM paint is not cheap, and if you have it color matched, it is even more expensive.

Wiring is not all that hard. Any of the GM speedos should work with the 91. You may need to change VSS gears, or add a square wave modifier to get an accurate speedo. The GM tachs should also work. You will have to install wiring and senders for any gauges that are originally idiot lights.

91-93 Caprice wagons came in Dark Maple Red, Ruby Red (93 only), Camel, Dark Sapphire Blue, and Gray. OCCs came in Dark Maple Red, Camel, and Dark Sapphire Blue. 91-93 Roadmaster wagons came in the same colors as the OCCs and included Ruby Red in 93 only.

93 wagons came with a different spare cover and D pillar trim that had the spare cover fastener moved about 1/2 inch, and both must be changed to fit the 91-92 interiors.

I considered making a replacement for the woodgrain with either real wood, or engine turned aluminum (maybe even satin black powder coated engine turned aluminum). It would be time consuming to engine turn that much aluminum, but it would give the car a totally different look.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

The sedan dash faces are different from the wagon dashes. They do not have the hole for the gate release/wiper/washer. The only Caprice dash face that accepts the wider LS and RM/OCC clusters without modification is the sedan dash. You can cut out a hole for the gate release/wiper/washer, but it will be a little different than the original design.

I used the dash surround from a 9C1 for the 9C1 cluster and did NOT have to cut anything.... So maybe the 9C1 had extra buttons the LTZ did not?

I believe there is a plate that pops in that spot on the sedans.

The 9C1 just had a blank space there. But Interesting build if you do take it on. As much as I'd love an OCC cluster in mine, I'd probably have to do a door chime swap I've been putting off.

How did you get that?

This was from my earlier post. I have a number of pictures on my computer as to it was done. It fit into the plastic box that holds the factory dash nicely. I blanked off all the idiot lights.

lakeffect wrote:

Same thing for all practical purposes. You can get the intellitronix from from Summit  for under $400.00. Personally, I like the six gauge cluster better from Intellitronix, as compared to the five gauge unit from Dakota Digital.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/izl-dp10002b/overview/