How To: 4th gen console in 3rd gen Firebird

I don't hop over here to the f-body section very often anymore as the Talon has primarily become my project but I decided to share this with you guys... I have been slowly working on a few things with the Firebird to add a custom touch to it...

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=628888


Anybody else ever tried to put a 4th gen console into a 3rd gen before? I'm wondering how rough this is gonna be since its an automatic... lol

Enjoy and let me hear your comments and opinions. :)

I've seen the console swap done before. You lucked out by having a Firebird and wanting to do the console swap, the boys with Camaro's wanting to do it have to cut their radio pod sice it's attached to their console. Most guys I've seen with auto's go with the manual console so you wont have to modify your shifter any. From what I've seen and been told, the auto's dont line up, so you have to "somehow" move your shifter farther back I believe. That's why most guys just get the console with the manual portion and just use the shift boot. Here's some examples:

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/attachments/body/82023d1099102453-can-u-guys-post-car-pics-9-003.jpg

http://www.transamws6.com/pics/P0003560.jpg

Some guys even swap out the entire dash and door panels, which I just think is awesome.

>> This pic is really freakin big << (http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/attachments/body/82589d1100125564-can-u-guys-post-car-012-low.jpg)

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/attachments/body/87832d1108530503-can-u-guys-post-door-pannel.jpg

And here's an idea of what you can do with your power window and mirror buttons:

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/attachments/body/81971d1098977214-can-u-guys-post-mvc-007x.jpg

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the pictures... That does help a good bit. I had no idea the door panels would fit that well...

I figured it would have been easier with a 6 speed console but I wanted it to look nice and factory and thats why I went with the auto... Hopefully it doesn't give me too many problems. I think tomorrow I will start working on it.

A good majoity of the interior can be adapted with middle effort. I saw a 3rd gen convertable with a 4th gen interior and it was, it looked, well let's just say I had to kiss my wife and the cheek and go to confession. :uhoh:

A good majoity of the interior can be adapted with middle effort. I saw a 3rd gen convertable with a 4th gen interior and it was, it looked, well let's just say I had to kiss my wife and the cheek and go to confession. :uhoh:
lol Thats awesome. Are that many other pieces really interchangeable?

It looked like the rear 1/4 pieces were the toughest. But I've heard the dash, doors and seats are relatively low on the difficulty scale. :dunno:

It looked like the rear 1/4 pieces were the toughest. But I've heard the dash, doors and seats are relatively low on the difficulty scale. :dunno:
Great, I don't see center console on that list... lol I hope this isn't gonna be harder than I thought it would be. :uhoh:

The only other thing I will probably swap out would be the seats next summer. If I still have it at that point...

Damn, that stock radio looks really great.. I want to go back to stock.. I dont like how mine looks and it is starting to show its age.

Damn, that stock radio looks really great.. I want to go back to stock.. I dont like how mine looks and it is starting to show its age.
Mine was too, plus the aftermarket cd player sucked compared to this new one... Just wait till I get the 4th gen console in there later this week. :wink:

Well guys, I got the console all in finally... Lemme tell ya. The trying to use the automatic shifter plate with the 4th gen console was a PITA. I had to cut the shifter mounting brackets off and beat the tranny tunnel down a good inch or so. But everything fits perfect now and works properly. All I have left to do is wire up this 4th gen mirror switch and mount it and my window switches. :) Nobody in the E/T/L section seems to care about the Firebird project so I'll just post the pictures up in here for ya.

Oh yeah, I also did some changing to the Monsoon brackets and now it is in perfectly straight and nice. lol Gonna look into a different T shifter too because that one is ugly with the new console in.

Whatcha think?

http://www.threadlinedesigns.com/consolecomplete1.jpg

http://www.threadlinedesigns.com/consolecomplete2.jpg

**EDIT**
Here is a picture of what it all used to look like. Just for comparison purposes to those who didn't know what it used to look like. lol

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/11/web/239000-239999/239740_9_full.jpg

Nice :thumbsup:

I thought you were putting the whole dahs and console in?

I still say, it adds the much needed pop lacking in a 3rd gen.

Nice :thumbsup:

I thought you were putting the whole dahs and console in?

I still say, it adds the much needed pop lacking in a 3rd gen.
Oh no, I love the dash my 3rd gen has. It has more of a racecar look to it than a 4th gen dash IMO... The consoles are just damn sexy from a 98+ though. lol

Now I've gotta do something about those door panels... :shakehead They just look horrible. Don't ask what I was thinking long ago when I was 16. lol

I'm thinking about just redoing them with new material with a tan/black mix.

Oh no, don't get me wrong, the overall blend is nice, I like :D

Wow, looks awesome man. Bet it's nice to finally have some cup holders lol.

That looks awesome, man. The door panel though is just hilarious looking. :rofl:

I stuck this thread for future reference for those who may be interested in doing this swap as well. And again, great job man.

I stuck this thread for future reference for those who may be interested in doing this swap as well. And again, great job man.
Awesomeness... In that case, I'll add some more details here for anybody else wanting to do it...


-------------------------------
Here is a quick little writeup on the process for swapping a 4th gen automatic console into your 3rd gen...

First things first. The auto shifters MUST be moved back as far as your TV cable will allow it to. It MUST be moved to the drivers side about 1/2 an inch, and it MUST be moved down about 2 inches... There is no way around it if you plan on using the auto shift plate in the console... Trust me, I tried everything I could to get around it...

First you need to tear out your old console and unbolt your shifter assembly from the shifter plate mount. See that teal piece of metal laying on my passenger floor? That was the old shifter plate mount. I drilled out all 8 rivits that hold it to the tranny tunnel and then used the dye grinder and cut it off from the mount that holds the airbag module in place. Which, by the way, can take one hell of a beating without going off. I accidently hit it once with the hammer and it didn't set off the airbags. lol

Anyways, once you have the mount removed then you will need a big hammer. I took a flat piece of steel and used it to keep the tranny tunnel flat for remounting the shifter assembly while I was smashing it down. Now here is a concern that most people might have. How do I not go too far that it hits the tranny tail. Don't worry about it, if you hit your tranny tail then you've gone waaaay too far. Theres a good 3 inches between the tranny tunnel and the tranny tail. This is the part that involves a lot of test fitting. Beat down the tranny tunnel from where your TV cable comes in, clear back to in front of the airbag module. I knocked mine down about an inch or so.

Remember, we removed the shifter plate mount so that dropped off about an inch of height right there. So get the tranny tunnel down about another inch and then put your console back in without the auto shift plate in it first.

Next you will need to remount your shifter... This is how I got all the slack out of my TV cable to make it reach... I picked it up and pulled straight back and up at about a 45 degre angle and pulled all the slack through... Another thing that you can do to help. Take the dye grinder and take a little bit of that black cusion away and some of the bottom of the hole the TV cable comes through. I also slotted the mounting hole slots a little further towards the front of the shifter...

After your done with all that and have the shifter about where it should be, you need to drill a small hole through the tranny tunnel. Don't worry about the bolts, they will self tap the rest of the metal out of there. Be sure to drill your holes where you have enough room to use the slots to your advantage for fine adjustments of the shifter assembly.

Before you test fit the auto shifter plate there is one more modification you need to do... The shifter assembly MUST be trimmed for it to fit the auto shift plate... Remove the U clip from your shift knob and pull the knob off. You will see a white extension within the hollow part of the shifter. Leave it there so you can move your shifter while you do your trimming. Ok, turn the key on and pull the shifter back into somewhere around 1st or 2nd gear... Now that its out of the way, you need to trim the Park stopper a little. You will notice its kind of a thick piece so you can trim off the front half of it like an upside down V with your dye grinder so that you still retain the stopper and most of its strength.

Now give it a little test and make sure your Park stopper still works good. Now, you will need to trim up around the base of the shifter shaft. See where its welded around and where it actually hits against the Park stopper? just to the left of that needs to be trimmed back about 3/8th's of an inch clear across and you can fade it into that angled part. This is just so that this piece will clear the white underside of the auto shift plate for your gear selector. I also shaved a tad off the tip of the white piece on the auto shift plate just so I was sure it would clear but you might not have to.

The key here is to just keep trimming and test fitting as you go. Some might have to take off more material than I did, others, less possibly. Each car will be different as all our tranny tunnels will not be beaten down the same amount.

When you go to put the auto shift plate on, I found it easier to pull the shifter back into 2nd gear and slid the plate down over it from an angle and then tip it into place. Once you start doing it you'll understand what I mean.

Thats pretty much the whole process, short of a few refits and pictures...

seat are also a direct bolt in fom a 4th gen to a 3rd gen

seat are also a direct bolt in fom a 4th gen to a 3rd gen


Do you know if the rear seats direct bolt up too?

Do you know if the rear seats direct bolt up too?
They do, but I think they leave a slight gap on the edges... But its nothing that noticable.

^what he said

im 17 and am going to buy the 1992 firebird can you tell me what liter it is or a information website about it and where to get spare parts.

cheers