Tara Lee

Will the interior out of an 1982 Mazda Rx-7 fit in a 1979 Mazda RX-7 ? Do you know of any differences ? Thanks for your help.

maxvol

iTrader: (2)

Just do the 84, 85 interior conversion looks much nicer..

RX-7 Chris

iTrader: (19)

It will fit right in. The problems will be with the placement of the shifter, the instrument cluster, and switches and wiring.

OnlyOnThurs

Ehhh....I don't think so. I think the 84 - 84 interior looks like a mid 80's design experiment gone wrong LOL! Looks very dated. I personally think the s2 (the 81 and 82) have a more classic look (yes yes dated in its own way but it has classic lines inside). The 84 and 85 looks like they wanted to go modern but falied misserably. But of course that is my opinion ..............and my opinion is awesome.


S2 Dash



S3 Dash

grandgarson

I agree with you completely, the 84 & 85 interior just doesn't do it for me either.

As far as the differences go, I think there are only 2 major differences. 1) The gearshift is further back on the 82 - 83, so the center console is different. 2) The door panels are a little different, but not a problem unless you are getting the interior from a car that had power windows, though if you have an 82 parts car with power windows you could swap the doors out too and have power windows in your SA (not sure if you'd actually have to swap the doors, but I think you would since the power windows mount in different locations than the manual).

One other thing that might be different on the 82 interior is that I think it has the storage bins behind the seats, whereas SAs don't. Not sure if it's possible to swap that over, and if it is it's probably not worth the work involved in doing so.

The gauge cluster shouldn't be a problem at all. There were some small changes on the 81 - 83 FBs, but they still fit into the same dash. (I've got an 80 with a speedometer from an 83. Works perfect, but it looks different. It's got orange lettering instead of white and it's 130MPH instead of 85MPH).

The wiring and switches are only going to be an issue if you are planning to swap over to the 82 switches and/or power windows. If you have the option of putting power windows in it may be worth the trouble, but I wouldn't bother with trying to make the center console from the 82 work, since it would be a really big headache with no real advantage, and you can get the parts for the center console to replace yours if some of your parts are broken. Hell, right now I've got extra switches from an SA sitting next to my computer that I've been planning to put on ebay if that's something that you need to get the SA center console working for you.

vipergts_3

iTrader: (9)

the bins will not fit in place on a 79, there is a re-enforcing bar in the location that basically extends the frame... you have to cut it out to make the bins fit.
i dont think that the 80's have them but i know most if not all 79's do.

waysrx7

^^^ The power windows from an '82 fit in a '79 without any modification needed. The '79 doors have all the same hole locations as the '82 for the power windows.
I found this out after someone smashed out my window, so now I sport the power windows from an '82 parts car in my '79.

jaidedeye

i like my interior in my 85...it reminds me of the FC dash.

i feel sorry for all the guys who have the hideous red interior...no matter what year...

vipergts_3

iTrader: (9)

i agree, if it is the s1-2 the dash is usually cracked and all of them fade to brown eventually.

BlackWorksInc

I love my 82 interior, but like you said the dash is starting to crack and die on meh T_T

blazer1313

I had a '83 with black interior. I now have a '84 with red. I didn't like it at first but now I can't imagine having the S2 style again. the S3 looks SOOOO much better when you change the stereo/heater/shifter bezel to black. Change the shift boot and shifter **** to that of an RX8...I'll post pics if I get around to it.

jaidedeye

i agree about the trim being painted black...i have black interior and im painting all my trim black once i fix some cracks.

rx8 shift **** eh? i like that idea...what the thread pattern on the rx8 shift ****?

FirebirdSlayer666

iTrader: (3)

I love the S1/S2 interiors. Everything flows really well and I think it looks soo much cleaner than any other interior from cars of the same years. I don't mind the S3 interior as long as it's grey and possibly brown. My S2 has the black interior without the cracked dash and it looks beautiful. I wasn't fond of the brown interiors until I got my S1 which has the brown and it grew on me alot. It's also very clean with no cracks or anything

axle

you can modify the bins to fit the brace that is in there takes up some room yes but by doing a little cutting that the carpet inside will cover up they will go into place fine

grandgarson

lol, that's probably why I don't like that interior. There's really nothing about an FC that I like as far as looks go.

datsun1200

Keep the 79 interior,i think that would not look nice...... But im just saying..

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

I was lucky enough to find a pristine '80 dashtop in one of the Sun Valley pickaparts... I felt like a prospector who had made a too-large gold strike without bringing his six-gun.

I've protected it ever since; cloth dash cover and sunsheilds whenever it's outside. My old one was split six ways down the middle. Just wish I could find better stereo/shift surrounds, as my old ones have some cracks.

I like the SA interior, even if I do have S3 seats in there:

datsun1200

Divin.Your dash look's mint,man keep it that way.Your car is a good example.Are you going to keep the door panals the same way???

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Yeah, the panels are my own 'design' - note the rotor design at the end. If I ever switch back to manual windows, the crank hole will be right in the middle of the rotor. Hey, I'm an engineer, not a graphic artist...

& I figure nothing screams "80's!" quite like UltraSuede. Heh.

grandgarson

Another way to go if you want to keep the original look to the dash, but your dash is all cracked is to get a dash cap. I know a lot of you are going to diss this idea and say it's a cheap crappy fix, but if you take your time and install it right it really does look nice and very hard to tell that it's a dash cap and not just the dash. Though I will agree that if you are not going to take your time and make sure that it is installed correctly you shouldn't bother with a dash cap.

vipergts_3

iTrader: (9)

i agree with the dash caps. if done correctly you wount tell unless you get personal with it.

Hope801

nice find. keep it mint

Mazdax605

iTrader: (5)

79-83 dash is the coolest of the gens.I know the 78-80 are slightly different,but not major.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Keep the 79 interior, if the dash is bad, Black Dragon sells caps for 80, dash protectors for 40. Go with the cap. If the new one needs color matching, look into SEM interior paint.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

I'm sorry but IMO the 84-85 interior is the best by far. The early dash looks very 70's, the late dash looks almost modern.