While waiting for some other things to come around on the pickup, been working on moving some dash parts around and getting the wiring harness like I want it. Here are first shots of the first mock up.. As you can see that's an 88-91 style cluster in the 96 model dash. That is the direction I am going to go, even though I will probably migrate it over to the 94 tach style cluster I have. The factory cd player pocket on the 96 dash is open enough to house the 88-94 style a/c controls, which is the second picture.
Going to make a cover to go around the steering column to make it look closer to being right with the 96 dash, along with putting the rest of the ventwork in, etc..
:edit: Just noticed how red this looks, must be the flash acting up on the pictures, it is a medium burgandy, between the lighter and darker variants GM had in the 89 model year.