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i am possibly going to buy a dash from the jy soon and attempt to replace mine. will i have any issues with wiring harnesses matching since i wont be replacing the cluster? what about the airbag? i certainly dont want to get busted in the face while trying to extract the old one. if any of you guys have replaced a 94 and could offer some real tips to shorten my learning curve my therapist would greatly appreciate it.

Obvious clue number 1.

Disconnect the battery the night before you work on it, so the SRS system drains overnight. This should safely defeat any possible chance of the bag going off, just in case. Keep in mind the circuit design is meant to prevent this in any case except a collision hard enough to trigger the sensors. But if there is no power, there is no bag going off, I don't care how hard you hit the sensor.

As for everything else, should be a direct swap out/in. Make notes of where things go, take pictures as you take it apart, so you have a "map" of how it goes back together. Put screws/bolts back into their holes when possible so they don't get mixed up, or use a cardboard tray with holes "x"ed into it to stick bolts in, use a pattern, so you know what bolt/screw went where, etc.

Take your time. Take breaks. Use some padding to be able to lay on your back. It might not be a bad idea to pull the front seats, to give you room. They are easy enough to remove and install.

Everything will bolt right up. Harness/ gauge cluster and all. Its a easy swap, ony took me about a hour to pull it from the yard, and a few hours pulling my old one and putting the new one in making sure I don't destroy anything.

Yeah dashes arent real hard to change if you've done one or two before. the yard is a great place to practice. you might be able to get away with not pulling the steering wheel but it might just be way easier to pull it off, obviously you will have to drop the column down to the floor.

If I remember right there are the 4 screws that run along the windshield, one bracket around each kick panel and a rod type bracket somewhere in the middle for support. Unhook the cannon plug on the drivers side underneath the hood so the harness pull out with the dash. THE TRAIN OF THOUGHT TO MAKE THIS EASY ON YOURSELF IS TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE WIRING AND VENTS COME OUT WITH THE DASH AND THEN GET SWAPPED ON THE FLOOR. If you try to leave that stuff in the car and just pull the dash, well then you're setting yourself up for problems. hope that helps

The steering wheel just needs to be dropped down and sat on the drivers seat, you don't need to play with the airbag. Have fun.

do the heater core while you are there?