Capri dash in Festy?

[TominMO]

I'm wondering how difficult it would be to modify a Capri XR2 dash to stick into the Festy, to make it look like it belonged there. There's one in my local JY, so I might go check it out this week. And there's two Festys right near it! :icon_smile: So I can easily do back-and-forth measuring.

Edit found this thread on Capri dash swap--but no pics! :banghead:

[TominMO]

From the linked thread above, he sez the Capri dash is < 1/2" wider than the Festy's (post #27)! I gather that the shape at the front of the dash (i.e. near the windshield) is different. Perhaps both could be cut to hybrid them together, in order to use the Festy dash vents. And joined with silicon or epoxy, then painted. Need to keep the part of the Festy dash that has the VIN, too.

[bravekozak]

Tomin, I would consider a Saipa dash for a direct fit with no mods.
I already tried to see if a Plymouth dash would fit.

[TominMO]

Tomin, I would consider a Saipa dash for a direct fit with no mods.
I already tried to see if a Chevy dash would fit.

Not sure what our current trade relationships with the Iranians are these days.....Someone else chimed in that a B-series truck dash might be worth looking into as well, so I'll check that out at the JY tmw too.

I could also see going with the no-dash rallye look, and a naked cluster, heater, etc. Just have to fab up mounts for the heater controls and radio/speakers.

[red90festyonair]

Tom, I'm next to certain that the 87-93 b series trucks would be way to wide to fit...... The older 85 1/2 and under may be really close.... The Capri dash could be spliced in with the front section of the Festiva and you would have a pretty awesome setup....

[TominMO]

Tom, I'm next to certain that the 87-93 b series trucks would be way to wide to fit...... The older 85 1/2 and under may be really close.... The Capri dash could be spliced in with the front section of the Festiva and you would have a pretty awesome setup....

That is Plan A. We'll see how it all works. It it seems feasible, I'll pick up the dash/cluster tmw. I haven't looked at the Capri closely to see the dash's condition.

It just occurred to me that I could hide any imperfections in mating the two dashes with a custom dash cover, if necessary.

[Advancedynamix]

What about an aspire dash or Rio?

[TominMO]

What about an aspire dash or Rio?

I'd have to look at the Rio. Might be an issue with hooking up the speedo if the Rio's is electronic tho. And the Aspire dash in a Festy doesn't appeal to me; I already have an Aspire and wouldn't want the same dash in there. Altho I could use the pass. airbag hole as a giant storage area. The Rio would also have a pass. airbag to deal with. Capris finally got pass. airbags in '94; I would prefer '91-'93.

[TominMO]

Went to the JY and scoped out the Capri dash. Results were inconclusive; the car had been rolled, and the windshield was almost touching the dash, so no way could I pull it. I will wait for another one to come along. I'll try the other nearby JY; they usually have a Capri or two there.

Observations:
--The glovebox latch handle was broken, which william tells me is common for these cars.
--I noticed that Capris do not have dash speakers, they have them in the doors. I can get by with my rear ones, or just mount the fronts under the dash. Not ideal, but at least they are there.
--Capri dashes come with clocks! At least this '91 XR2 did.
--The dash lights dimmer is in a different position, so I would have to lengthen the wires; no biggie.
--Not sure if the HVAC controls are in exactly the same position as the Festy's; control-wire length/orientation being the issue.
--Also, obviously, Capris don't have switches for rear wiper/washer and defroster. I want to check that the little blank-switch inserts on Capris are the same size as on Festys, so I could just use the Festy hatch switches in the Capri dash. This might be a deal-breaker if it doesn't work. But for someone without the hatch switches it would be irrelevant. I can go back to the first yard and easily check that.

I'm tempted to just go grab a dash from the other JY (if there) and go for it. That yard is a little more spendy tho. Might ask them the price first. Ideally I could test-fit it right there on a Festy, after pulling the Festy dash. The trick is them having a Festy there; they often don't.

[TominMO]

This is post #38 in fastivaB6TG25MR's thread. Kinda discouraging.

"kept running into little problems and once it was mocked up in place it looked terrible. its way to round to have a place in a box... so i gave up... im looking into the 323 dash now cause the cluster is more capri sized. or possibly just cut the other festiva dash i have in half and custom mold a cluster housing out of fiber glass"

If I did use a Capri cluster, it might be with either no dash at all; or cutting my Festy dash where the stock cluster mounts, and fabbing up a cluster housing for the Capri cluster. Which I don't even have a clew on how to go about that. Thinking this project is going on the back burner, and may even fall off the stove altogether.

[sketchman]

I'm curious why other than why not? You can fit a 323 cluster in the stock location with some trimming. What does the capri dash give you?

[TominMO]

I'm curious why other than why not? You can fit a 323 cluster in the stock location with some trimming. What does the capri dash give you?

It's a nice-looking dash; that's basically just the reason. But I don't think I will be pursuing it.

[sketchman]

Ahh ok.

[F3BZ]

this dash from a sprint looks almost like a plug in.

[Advancedynamix]

Even the fuse box is in the same place! Those dashes are probably pretty rare these days though.