Dash Swap / only for the knowledged

Ok guys, here's my plan. Getting just the crx console won't cut it as looks goes so I'm going to get the whole freakin dash at the yard. Alright first off, my interior is blue, not pleasant but still better than red. This dash is black and gray (out of a dx), so how well will it look with a full black/gray dash up front and blue/gray all around?

hmm dont think it will look bad at all. Well hmm not sure. But i think it should be fine. Might look out of place until you get use to it. It is dark gray or light?

It's out of a dx crx and I believe it's light gray/black but not sure though. Aren't the Si's dark gray/black?

my crx dx dash is really dark grey.

Hmmm....I don't know if this would be good for resale value though.

Okay here's the another question concerning what's needed for the swap. I'm tite on money so the less I need, the better. Below is a pic I made of a crx dash. Now the Green box's indicate what I should get, correct? Should be everything from the center console up to the top of the dash and up. Then the red box's indicate what I'm thinking I don't need. It's the part of the dash from the vents down where the fuse panel cover, coin box, glove box, etc. is. I can use that from my exsisting dash, right?

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/156633Crx_dash_pic_3.jpg

u have to have the steering surround from the crx as well but u could use ur glove box and coin tray and fuse cover the colors wont match but they sould be cheap to pick up after u get the dash in as for the rest of the interior u can swap it piece by piece and end up with the grey/black interior u can use crx doors but if u get crx si doors they will have crx in the cloth part of the door but the black/grey int. looks by far the best imo

how much do they want for the dash and i would ack a little shitty to them if the do not want to give u all the piece of the crx dash throw a little shit fit if its at the junk yard about spliting up the dash pieces maybe u can get them to sell it to u as a hole for the same price

Thanxs Kiwi. Actually, i forgot all about a white crx up in the yard and remember seeing the dash laying right out from the car. It's blue so it'll match but I don't know how bad it is. the metal bracket would be rusty due the rain, but it might work. If either way the blue or the black one works out, I'm going to offer $50 plus the giving of my current dash. Both certainly have some scratches, but still solid. He's been good to me this far so I'll see what'll happen. So I am dead on certain to get this thing tommorow so Kiwi, or anyone else, can u please help me with a few more questions before tommorow morning? I need these answered right away.

- So I can use the dash part where it slopes down but need the plastic cover behind the actual steering wheel? Every thing on my hatchback of that will work with the crx dash?

- Are there any wires that are with the dash? Can they be used with my car?

- Do I need to lower the steering rod(long thing that goes under the dash) or can I just take off the wheel and wiper arms to get the dash off?

-Are there any bolts that are hidden that I need to get?

- And last, will the vents (both sides) on my dash fit with the crx dash? I'm just afriad some idiot might have broken one of them.

Guys, help me please. If you can answer these questions before tommorow morning, I would be the happiest man alive right now!

Thanxs Kiwi. Actually, i forgot all about a white crx up in the yard and remember seeing the dash laying right out from the car. It's blue so it'll match but I don't know how bad it is. the metal bracket would be rusty due the rain, but it might work. If either way the blue or the black one works out, I'm going to offer $50 plus the giving of my current dash. Both certainly have some scratches, but still solid. He's been good to me this far so I'll see what'll happen. So I am dead on certain to get this thing tommorow so Kiwi, or anyone else, can u please help me with a few more questions before tommorow morning? I need these answered right away.

- So I can use the dash part where it slopes down but need the plastic cover behind the actual steering wheel? Every thing on my hatchback of that will work with the crx dash?

- Are there any wires that are with the dash? Can they be used with my car?

- Do I need to lower the steering rod(long thing that goes under the dash) or can I just take off the wheel and wiper arms to get the dash off?

-Are there any bolts that are hidden that I need to get?

- And last, will the vents (both sides) on my dash fit with the crx dash? I'm just afriad some idiot might have broken one of them.

Guys, help me please. If you can answer these questions before tommorow morning, I would be the happiest man alive right now!

- im almost certain that the glove box is the same the fuse cover and coin tray r the same

- u can swap it out without moveing ur steering wheel or takeing any of it off only the black plastic piece around the key and turn signals need to be taken off and replaced with the one form a crx

- um bolts. i beleive there are only 6 bolts holding the dash to the car but there my be some thing that have to be taken off to get to them

- i think the vents r diff on the sides as well so u may have to find some of them later (no biggy just get the main stuff swaped first u can find the vents farely easy

like i said befor the bottom bolt dont line up 100% but u make it work and as for the rust on the metal bracket so what it will not be visable as long as no bolts or screews are seized up u will be fine. hope this helps

oh blah swap the wire harness off ur dash and use it with the new dash it will come out with the dash there r a few tab and clips holding it to the dash just take it off urs and run it where it was on the new dash

Just got back from the yard and man am I excited. We went up to find that the white crx I mentioned was infact ready to be crushed. The guy with the mover had it laying on the ground with a blue hatch (exactly like mine) on top. But the green crx dx was still sitting there and we looked at the dash. It was black and gray, it had everything on it still good, the center vent was not even touched, one vent on the side was broken, they took the center console off for the cig and ashtray plastic mold off. But other than that, it was perfect, then we spotted a problem. Right above the center vent where it goes straight down for the little tray on top, water had somehow got on it and warped the plastic a little. Me and my friend were a little worried about it, but figured every thing was there so we'd ask how much for it. I had $50 with me with the promise of giving of my current dash once the swap was done, but the guy was so nice he said $30 be alright. I bout shit my pants when I heard that.:p I was like hell yeah.:) So I paid him and got all of it except the cig and ashtray plastic piece for $30 spankin dollars.

Whats' actually funny is that there was two center conosle in the car (don't ask) and when we went to take the dash to my car, My friend grabbed one and I had grabbed one and when we got to the car, we saw we had both. So we both laughed and just threw them in there. The guy really didn't care much about what we had so we paid him.

I'm so damn happy. Thanks Kiwi for the info. :thumbsup: I'll post pics of it tommorow for ya guys to see.

now all u have to do is get a few little dash pieces and swap out out the blue int. for the black it will look so much better when ur done

Here's a few pics I snapped just today. Here you can see that the center vent and clock haven't even been touched.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/156633Dash_2-med.jpg

This is the only damage I can find on it. If you look closely about the vent on the plastic, there is a raised bulge there.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/156633Dash_3-med.jpg

Here is what it looks like on the other side. I didn't see any but water must have layed on them trays there for sometime. I'm going to see if I can tuck it under the dash with super glue or something.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/156633Dash_4-med.jpg

And once I get it in, I show some more pics for ya. Actually, since there isn't a good swap guide, I might start a how-to for the novice guys on here. Would u like that?

I just got done reviewing everything to put in tommorow so it will be a painless swap and everything went well in the planning except I'm not sure about something.

First, where the radio console (center console) goes down towards the shifter, there is two screw holes on each side. Is there supposed to be a bracket there off the crx or will my civic bracket work or is there supposed to be one there in the first place.

Second, is there supposed to be a rubber grommet around the shifter boot that fits the square opening for the shift boot? If so, I'm missing it.

Third, how hard is it to find the plastic part for the cig and ashtray part, cause I couldn't find it at the yard when I bought the dash?

Well, forget about those questions! ^^^ I went to another yard and found the remaining stuff. Actually, we started the swap saturday morning around 10:30 and didn't get done till 4:00. We just took our time and made sure everything was in the right spots. After words, it looks bitchin. It gives me that cockpit feel and now everyone is wondering if it came standard with the car. I LMAO. There was only one problem we ran into though. The gauge cluster cover wouldn't fit on right. Since mines a base model, I don't have tilt so we couldn't lower the steering any more. With some force and pushing, we got her on there but now we have some good size gaps around where the cover meets the dash on the sides. Any suggestions on how to fix this? I get pics for ya guys.

couldnt you have gotten the CRX gauge cluster? CRXs clusters have tachs dont they? (not sure....).....sorry for bringing this forum back from the dead!

Well actually, I'm running with a DX CRX Automatic gauge cluster in mine. It's not off the same crx I pulled the dash from but it works beautifully though, and since it's an automatic I just put a strip of electrical tape between the fuel and temp. gauges to hide the auto lights since my hatch is an manual. :D

Only the Dx and Si have tachs if I'm right, but I'm not sure, but any tach from either a 4-door, crx, hatchback and wagovan will work in any order only if you do them in the the times slots. 90-91 will only work with 90-91 models while 88-89 will only work with those years models.

Oh and to update my dash swap. I got the gaps gone. I had to lower the steering column myself and then bolt the gauge cluster on and it flushed right up with the dash. So with the people out that there that don't have tilt, do this.

if you don't have a tach isent ther a little green plug in the back some where for one?

I think that's the shift light for the hf cluster, but not sure.

definitely get the dash...
looked amazing when i had my hatch...
just find yourself either a black or red dx hatch or any si hatch and match up the rest of your interior black.

^^^ Sadly, I got a black dash with blue interior. The resale value is not going to be good, but who said I'm going to sell it :D