WD21 Dash / instrumentation / Steering wheel / Other Interior swap - compatibility between model years ?

[Claren]

I just registered to ask a (silly) question. I'm currently shopping for my first WD21, and wanted to know: How hard / feasible is it to take the interior of a donor vehicle from 85-92 model and retrofit it to a 93-95 model (manual transmission for both) ? I've always gone nuts for the older interiors in those rich, deep maroon or cerulean tones, with their orange dials and brushed metal radios and HVAC controls.

 

 

 

As a result, I've been passing up on a lot of good later-model trucks because the instrumentation, steering wheel, dash, etc. is just too modern and not the same. I suppose if I'm driving a 30 year old car, I want it to feel archaic and retro, as odd as that may be.

(This example is actually a 1997 D21 Hardbody, but you get the idea. Looks like every other Accord or whatever.)

I suppose I'm asking if the following components specifically are backwards-cross-compatible between all the model years:

-Instrumentation
-Dashboard (Those deep maroon jobs, tho!)
-Radio / HVAC controls
-Steering wheel (I am aware I would be giving up airbags with the new wheel & dash)
-Seats
-Door interiors
-Radio / HVAC controls

Those are the big ones I'm curious about. Thank you so much for your input. Honestly, I get the sense it would be easier to work with a truck that is exactly what I want on the inside, even if the exterior isn't ideal. Am I crazy ?

Oh, and are these cross-compatible with the corresponding year Nissan D21 "Hardbody" pickups ?

 

[BlueKrogan]

I feel you; I drive a curvy dash and I like it, but yeah the square dash matches the WD21 square body perfectly IMO

 

As for your question, I've seen a video on youtube where a guy updated his square dash to the '94-'95 curvy dash, so I think they should be interchangeable.

 

As far as I know, the hardbody shares the exact same dash (both square and curvy) as the pathfinders, so you should be fine to pull parts from a hardbody. I haven't done this myself, so I'd wait for more replies before taking my word for it lol

Edited December 23, 2022 by BlueKrogan

[Slartibartfast]

Obviously you'd save yourself a whole lot of work by finding one that already has the interior you want--but, yeah, I've seen swaps the other way, so it's possible if you don't mind some screwing around. Round dash has an electronic speed sensor, square dash has a speedometer drive cable. Radio is the same AFAIK, though the amp location changed over the years. Vent controls should be the same. These never had airbags (with the exception of the '96/'97 HB), so you're not losing anything there. The slip rings are different between round and square dash wheels (because the later wheel had the cruise control buttons on the wheel), not sure how much you'll have to swap there. The door panels and seats should swap. HB parts should fit just fine. My '93 (tail end of square-dash) does not have those metal covers, not sure if they were an option or an earlier thing. The front seats from the two-door trucks have a flip-forward function that the four-doors don't. Pretty sure the Hardbody seats have the flip-forward action too. I don't think the bolt pattern changed, though.

 

You can get a '90 service manual from Cardiagn and a '94/'95 manual from Nicoclub to compare the wiring diagrams. I would also look for a dash swap writeup on the Infamous Nissan forum. If anyone has a walkthrough, it would be them.
 

I agree that the square dash fits the shape of the truck better. I'm less sold on the red interior, though. Blue is nice. I don't think I've seen that tan interior before. I'd take it over the red, but, yeah, definitely ten years newer than the look you're chasing. 

[adamzan]

@SlartibartfastI saw a tan interior on a 94 or 95 LE once. It had leather and not cloth. Didn't look too bad but the grey suits the truck better for sure.