New Caprice - Discussion forums

After several months I finally got off my duff and installed the 2015 Chevy SS dash into my 2014 PPV.

It all started with wanting cup holders without rigging a redneck solution that looked like an add on. After investigation, I realized that the mount points for the floor console are intact and that the Chevy SS units would bolt right in. Unfortunately the area on the dash panel that transitions to the floor console is cut short, more like hacked, from the factory to accommodate the rack. The only solution would be replace the entire dash making this the most expensive cup holders ever devised.

A couple of months ago, I sourced a new dash, gauge cluster, and floor console from a wrecker who took possession of a brand new 2015 Chevy SS with 25 miles on the odometer. The car had suffered damage to the unibody/subframe during transport. In the picts you can still see the new yellow airbag flag on the glovebox. All in all, it was a simple but tedious job taking about 9 hours over two days (I'm slow and it's been years since working on dashboards). I still need to replace the banged up radio trim piece but here are the gallery of picts so far.

Center console does not meet hacked dash panel.


Parts piling up.


Steering wheel, gauges, trim, radio, HVAC controls, glove box, lower driver and passenger airbags, and all dash panel screws removed.


Dash panel removed. I verified that the Chevy SS aluminum subframe is identical to the PPV except for some extra brackets for the HUD projector (Heads up display). I didn't have a HUD projector so I kept the PPV subframe.


PPV dash panel out. You can see the cut lines where the factory hacked the dash which is such a shame. All that's left is to transfer the passenger airbag over.


New 2015 Chevy SS dash panel in place and pushed in to engage all position and lock tabs. All duct joints connections verified and all harness pigtails threaded to where they needed to be. All duct temp sensors on the dash plugged back in. Dash mounted light sensor reinstalled.


As I mentioned, I didn't have the HUD unit and didn't want to fuss with trying to get it to work. I just took the trim piece and wrapped it with UV resistant automotive speaker cloth.



Finished results. The floor shifter is still on national backorder so I just kept the shifter on the dash. The gloss black trim piece from the SS didn't fit with the dash shifter trim piece in place so for now, I've vinyl wrapped the PPV grey colored piece to match the rest.

Damn that looks good!

Nice work!

Are there HVAC ducts/outlets at the back of the new console? If so, were you able to connect them up?

SBRMD wrote:Nice work!

Are there HVAC ducts/outlets at the back of the new console? If so, were you able to connect them up?

Steve,
Thanks! The vents are there in the back of the floor console. If you delete the cable bracket for the parking break (i.e. delete the function or convert it to electric actuation), you can connect them to the HVAC outlet duct coming out of the bottom of the dash. I elected to keep the cable bracket so I had to clear out portion of the ducting in the floor console.

Heck yea! this is what i have been googling..... one question which is probably but how did you get a column shift? Every caprice ive seen is on the ugly console that needs to be tossed in the trash...

KERR wrote:Heck yea! this is what i have been googling..... one question which is probably but how did you get a column shift? Every caprice ive seen is on the ugly console that needs to be tossed in the trash...

Mine is a 2014 car. From 2014 on, they switched to column shifter. There aren't a lot of 2014 owners yet so there's probably not a lot of awareness on this. The 2014+ cars are essentially Chevy SS's. I'm actually waiting for the floor shifter assembly from the Chevy SS and I'll be converting the column back to the floor.

I saw that after searching. didnt know they switched to column shift.. love what you did to it, you plan swapping the seats next?

Ive been lurking on the forum for a while, but just now back on the hunt.. I have 15 2LTZ impala but it is most uncomfortable car i have owned. I thinking sale it and pick up a caprice to drive for work, then make a few changes like you have... However taking on that dash swap might be a little much for me!

I'm not sure what to do with the seats right now. I'd rather spend the money on other mods like headers, DOD delete, cam and blower. However if I were to do some seats it would be the GM Performance Recaros for the Camaro. You can get them in manual adjustments so I don't have to fiddle with the wiring.

The dash really isn't too bad! If you can swap parts, it's quite easy. If you can live with a couple of unfinished areas where the dash meets the floor console, you can just leave the 2014+ dash and install the floor unit.

It's weird but I love driving the car now since installing the dash. If you look at my signature, I have a few fun cars to drive but when I reach for keys in the morning, I've been grabbing the ones for the PPV!

doing a awesome job for sure. Your seats dont look bad... the used ones ive seen are ugly to start with, then they all seem to have sweat stains. Im to worried with the seat, but i would have to have a cup holder and arm rest like you mentioned.

Your car looks awesome. I really want to do this to mine. I looked into it a while back and it didn't seem too expensive to buy a new console for the SS at the parts department but then again, there were a lot of individual parts needed so Im sure it adds up. Were you unable to get the shifter from the wreck or was it a manual trans car? After hearing what you said, I kind of think maybe I should order a new shifter now just to make sure I have it when if I get a console/dash. Sounds like its the hardest part to get ahold of.

Was the instrument cluster plug and play and did all features work including the temp gauge?

Really nice work.