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Thread: What would it take to put an air bag into a 1986 Daytona?

  1. #1
    Supporting Member Turbo Mopar Contributor supercrackerbox's Avatar
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    What would it take to put an air bag into a 1986 Daytona?

    Okay, here's what I have so far. The car itself is literally a rolling shell that will be pieced back together from all the parts I've been sitting on forever. The entire interior is long gone. What I have to work with so far is a complete dash from an '88 Daytona Shelby, and the steering column, SMEC, and Air Bag module from an '89 Shelby. I can get the engine and dash wiring from the '89 as well if I hurry, but I'm hoping the '88 dash has the necessary hookups since that was the year that air bags became an option. Is there anything else I'd need, and is this even a feasible project?

  2. #2
    turbo addict
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    Re: What would it take to put an air bag into a 1986 Daytona?

    simple info to remember for easy install of 88 ^ dash harness into 86 daytona

    the round gromit that replaced the bulkhead connector in the firewall .. the diameter of the hole you need to make for it to fit , IS the exact same as the distance from corner to corner diagonally, of the square hole

    so you cut a small crescent off each side to make the hole round , but still the same size

  3. #3
    Supporting Member Turbo Mopar Contributor supercrackerbox's Avatar
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    Re: What would it take to put an air bag into a 1986 Daytona?

    That's good to know. I wasn't sure how I was going to tackle that yet.

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    turbo addict
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    Re: What would it take to put an air bag into a 1986 Daytona?

    to add
    on the 88-9 harness the brake light switch wiring runs from the dash wiring through the two pieces of the bulkhead connector (under dash) then branches to the switch - or firewall gromit

    so the plug for the brake lamps in on the engine side of the underdash bulkhead connector on the engine harness

    and if using the 88 brake switch wiring arrangement you need both the 88-9 switch AND THE MOUNTING BRACKET
    caps because I hadda go back to the yard for the bracket , after I'd got the 88 switch

    88 dash harness should work with the 86 rear and door wiring but if the dash harness is from a J body lebaron the daytona power mirrors will not work with the daytona door harness as the switch wiring is different

    - lebaron lighter and console wiring may be routed from pass rocker pannel instead of daytona dash center

  5. #5
    Supporting Member Turbo Mopar Contributor supercrackerbox's Avatar
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    Re: What would it take to put an air bag into a 1986 Daytona?

    So in a nutshell, my best bet is to go get all the wiring inside and out from the '89. I've got no LeBaron stuff in this, it's all Daytona.

  6. #6
    turbo addict
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    Re: What would it take to put an air bag into a 1986 Daytona?

    just the dash and engine comp harness' yeah - the rest of the 86 stuff should plug in at each end of the dash just fine - mine did

  7. #7
    Supporting Member Turbo Mopar Contributor supercrackerbox's Avatar
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    Re: What would it take to put an air bag into a 1986 Daytona?

    Assuming there's any '86 stuff left. Long story short, the car has been sitting for about 22 years.

  8. #8
    Hybrid booster
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    Re: What would it take to put an air bag into a 1986 Daytona?

    I stumbled on some information about early airbag systems. Apparently the older systems ( 92-97ish ) were stand alone in that they weren't controlled by and of the stock computer systems. Most of the ones I looked at for the older mopars had the sensor inside the airbag controller and didn't use a sensor at the bumper. That being said, the only thing that would be a challenge is that the controller would have to be mounted in roughly the same location as where it came from in the donor ( firewall or trans hump inside the car ) so that it actually works.
    How you test it is another challenge all together.
    For example the one from the 99 dakota ( 360 swap to my 73 duster ) only shows 2 power sources ( run and start/run ) one ground and wires out to the airbags ( and wires to the ODBII port which we shouldn't care about ) It also has some stuff for the passenger side disable feature, but I didn't get that far into it.

  9. #9
    Supporting Member Turbo Mopar Contributor supercrackerbox's Avatar
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    Re: What would it take to put an air bag into a 1986 Daytona?

    Well I can say that the '89 donor car did have sensors mounted on the radiator support, very similar to my '91. I'm not sure if the system is standalone or not, but I've gotten every bit of wiring out of the car from the nose to the tail lights, so we should have everything. When it comes time to start assembling the car, I'll probably track down a set of '89 service manuals, although I'd think that having them for both '88 and '91 should be sufficient.

    As for testing it, I have no idea. I'm probably just going to cross my fingers and hope that we never have to find out whether it works or not.

  10. #10
    Supporting Member Turbo Mopar Contributor jonnymopar's Avatar
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    Re: What would it take to put an air bag into a 1986 Daytona?

    My 88 and my 89 both had the air bag module mounted to the floor down near the ash tray. It certainly looked like a standalone system, but I haven't gone through the FSM to see.
    Jon J.

    1989 Daytona ES 2.4L DOHC
    2003 Neon SXT - gone but never forgotten

    If it ain't broke, fix it 'till it is!

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