ls1 dash swap. who has done it?
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 633
Likes: 4
From: Phoenix, AZ
To the guys that have done it did you use your 93-96 hvac ducting or did you use the 97+ ducting? It is the only thing stopping me from ripping mine out now. i have an 02 Pontiac dash waiting. Also did you reuse the bottom metal brace(runs the length of the dash, holds wiring in place) from your car or the 97+ brace?
I've done the swap. Me and my fiance did the entire dash swap into our 95 z in an afternoon. I had a 97 parts car and a cluster from a 93 iirc trans am. We pulled both apart and swapped everything over.
We used the upper ducting to the a pillars since the 97 up ones have the side defrost in them instead of the dash so the ducting there is different. The inside firewall box is all the same though. I also left all of the metal bracing in our 95. The new dash bolted right to it. Was the same for both styles.
All I did was google wiring diagrams for the pinouts of the 93 cluster and the 95 cluster. After that it was just a matter of comparing which wires did what, and connecting them where they needed to go. Aside from that and extending a few other wires and changing a couple plugs it was a straightforward, almost plug and play swap.
Just need to be patient and take your time. With the diagrams side by side (had both windows open on the laptop and toggled between them, in hindsight, printouts would have been easier lol) I'd say it took less than an hour to wire the cluster in.
To the guys that have done it did you use your 93-96 hvac ducting or did you use the 97+ ducting? It is the only thing stopping me from ripping mine out now. i have an 02 Pontiac dash waiting. Also did you reuse the bottom metal brace(runs the length of the dash, holds wiring in place) from your car or the 97+ brace?
All I did was google wiring diagrams for the pinouts of the 93 cluster and the 95 cluster. After that it was just a matter of comparing which wires did what, and connecting them where they needed to go. Aside from that and extending a few other wires and changing a couple plugs it was a straightforward, almost plug and play swap.
Just need to be patient and take your time. With the diagrams side by side (had both windows open on the laptop and toggled between them, in hindsight, printouts would have been easier lol) I'd say it took less than an hour to wire the cluster in.
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Brett Foote
11 Second Club
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,707
Likes: 13
From: New Orleans, LA
Doubt a 98 would work, the LS1 tachometer count is different in the PCM from LT1s, on 24X cars you have to fix this in the tune to make the tachometer read correctly. The fuel sending unit is also different so the gas gauge wouldn't work correctly. Far as finding a 97 cluster, good luck, getting hard to find.
11 Second Club
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,707
Likes: 13
From: New Orleans, LA
Well when I was on the market for clusters when I was doing my dash swap all the sellers we're advertising their clusters as 97/98 meaning they both are the same I would guess.. I bought two of them (one for back up because their rare) and they both work fine..
any idea where to locate the part number for the plug that goes in the back of the 97 cluster?
