Hi all, I hope I'm not breaking any rules by posting this.

I have a question about instrument clusters.

Currently I have a Polo classic project car which has this kind of instrument cluster in it:

As I'm aware, VW Polo Classic's came with this kind of instrument cluster all the way to the facelifted version which got this kind of cluster:

 

 

But looking at the Polo mk3 (6N), they got an in-between cluster which looks like this:

 

 

It looks similar to the Golf mk4 cluster.

What I'm looking to do is to swap this last cluster for my current cluster which looks like the first one. The thing that bothers me the most is, is it going to fit ?
As I'm looking at the VW Polo 6N dashboard and Polo Classic dashboard, they look the same. The cluster plastic cover that goes around the cluster looks to be the same in both versions. Only thing that looks different is the cluster mounting. In the last photo, cluster is mounted using the brackets at the top of the cluster, in my car there are brackets to the side of the cluster.
Does anybody know if this is possible, Is there something that I would need to change to install this type of cluster (not asking for wiring) ?

I believe the overall shape is quite different between the first one and the last one. My 1998 saloon and caddy's (newest one's a 2002) all have the first sort, I can't see the last sort fitting without doing a full dash swap. The dashboard is quite different between the hatch and the saloon, although they look similar at the front, the cars are not actually the same platform. The saloon(6K)/estate(6kV)/caddy(9k) is wider and the leading edge of the windscreen is set higher up than the hatchback. 

 

Edited 1 January, 20242 yr by Yeti

On 01/01/2024 at 13:07, Yeti said:

I believe the overall shape is quite different between the first one and the last one. My 1998 saloon and caddy's (newest one's a 2002) all have the first sort, I can't see the last sort fitting without doing a full dash swap. The dashboard is quite different between the hatch and the saloon, although they look similar at the front, the cars are not actually the same platform. The saloon(6K)/estate(6kV)/caddy(9k) is wider and the leading edge of the windscreen is set higher up than the hatchback. 

 

Yeah, you are right. I got a chance to look at one of the polo's which has last version. It's definitely a different dashboard, the mounting of cluster plastic cover is completely different between the cars so cluster swap is not an option. I started a topic a long time ago about dashboard swap. Classics were produced with the same dashboard as the 6n2 version. I think that a full dashboard swap would be a better solution. I would probably need to look for a polo classic facelift dashboard and not 6n2, they are probably different in dimensions also (?).
In a previous topic you mentioned cordoba dashboard but I'm not sure that dashboard would fit and in my country, it is quite difficult to obtain.

 

Pretty sure a 6n2 dash wouldn't fit. Again, the cars are a totally different shell under the skin to the saloons. If you park a 6n/2 in front of a saloon, it's amazing how much wider they are. 

On 06/01/2024 at 11:41, Yeti said:

Pretty sure a 6n2 dash wouldn't fit. Again, the cars are a totally different shell under the skin to the saloons. If you park a 6n/2 in front of a saloon, it's amazing how much wider they are. 

What I meant to say is that I saw polo classics with the dashboard that looks the same as the 6n2 one. Here is a picture of one close to my place:


(Don't know why is it rotated like this)

 

If I planned to do a dashboard swap, apparently I would need to look for polo classic 6n2 look-alike dashboard and not a 6n2 dashboard. As you can see in the image above, the door trim is the same as on the polo classic and not as 6n2. I suppose it would be pretty much a straight fit.