Mark VIII Interior Swap

philstad28

Registered User
Hey everyone! Im starting to acquire parts for a mark viii interior swap in my 94 sc. Every piece in my interior is junk and messed up in some way so im swapping to a 97 mark viii one I found at the local pick n pull. I pulled the dash out yesterday (took forever lol) and I want to know what else I would need. Im just going to transfer over everything I can from my old interior as far as heater controls and the stereo and whatnot to make it less complicated. I have a few questions as for I know the swap has been done before. How does the ductwork in the mark dash go? Is it the same as the sc? and what other interior pieces would fit in mine? I know the door panels don't fit without some fab work but im just curious what else I should grab out of the donor car. Any information would be helpful :).

Thanks, Phil
 
Im doing the swap on my car this winter but Matt Haub (Dr Fishbone) is wiring all of the dash harness so it just plugs into my existing harness. We are also going to get all of the data center functions that I want to work, working and install the door panels as well as do the manual seat belt swap because mine is an early model. to use the door panels you have to cut the sheet metal out of the doors on the mark 8 and weld them into your car. the door handels also have to be modified on the inside. I will be able to help you more as mine progresses
 
I know when i did this swap prior too Carlilse the Dash harness in the Mark VIII was completely different than the one in the MN12. The Marks dash harness thru the firewall was Square and well the one's on the MN12s is Round.

If it were me I would use the harness from your SC Dash and mate it inside of the Mark Dash Pad.

As for the heater boxes etc, that was all the same (again if using your dash harness it will keep the same electronics). The dash mounting should be pretty much the same also. the 94+ firewall should be identical mounting as the Mark.


If you want details on the wiring to make the Dash VMM to display correctly I beleive those details are in the members section...might be worth a $15 membership to get all the details and writeups from there.


-Tim
 
Yeah getting the doors to work right is going to be a good aount of custom fab. I was going to just use the sc wiring and try to transfer what I could. it would be cool to get the message center to work but that seems like a whole lot of wiring that I don't know how to do lol. Looks like ill be spending $15 and becoming a member. Would the rear quarter sections in the mark fit in the sc?
 
The rear sections wont work as far as i know. If i cant find canadian early model panels in black i am going to use late model tbird sail panels and dye them black
 
Oh ok I was thinking they wouldn't but I was just making sure. For temporary im going to use the tbird door panels until I can get cheap mark viii doors with panels in them. Im trying to do the whole interior for under $300. So far for the pass seat, full dash and misc. trim pieces im at $85 :D lol
 
late panel swap

Dave,

Just did the late model panel/belt swap. I found some differences.

The a/c pillar panel (from dash to rear top of door) from the early model with passive restraints is 1/2 to 3/4 wider where it meets the rear panel, grab them from the late too. I just left mine early, not sure on the fit of the late units.

The bottom section of the rear panel is not 2 pieces for access to motor for belts, and is shaped differently around the bottom rear corner leaving some gaps around the rear seat bottom back corners (looks perfect for funneling little items into purgatory under the seat).

The insert to accept the bolt for the top mount of the shoulder belt (in the steel behind the interior panel) was in my '89, but was approx. 2" higher than the hole in the late interior panel. I tapped the insert 7/16-20 (? fine thread) and reused the original belt bolts which were self tappers when factory installed and drilled new holes in the int panel.

You will also need the sill scuff plates, as they cover the retractor and r different.

The belts will clip into the passive system on the seat just fine, but its not too hard to pull the manual stuff off the late seat, it is a direct swap, but not sure about the belt lights/chimes. Mine were always on to start with, chime didn't work, so I just pulled the bulb from the dash :cool:

My car is a $500 DD I rescued from the crusher (you'd never know to look at it now :D), but if you r making a show piece those little things may b a problem 4 u. The relocated hole for the belts is mostly covered, and the difference in seat bottom area may b as easy as swapping in a late seat bottom in the correct color/matl.


Adam
 
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Yep - there are some diagrams in the members only section...I don't think I've put everything up, but can help with specific questions there for what's missing.

There are different levels of "completeness" to the swap...you can go as far as getting everything working, if you really want to. There are plenty of hoops to jump through though. In my opinion, the door panels are the biggest pain in the butt for several reasons.
 
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