My camaro tach cluster-done!

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Wow that's pretty sweet I am digging the way it looks!

[78-5.3]

TACHO and OIL gauge work great i just installed it for a trial !! now im working on the elec speedo and need a upper right hand gas gauge

[RPOZ11]

VERY COOL TRHREAD

[RPOZ11]

Originally Posted by sierra4x4

I really like the idea of the trans temp gauge. Dont forget to check out the medium duty trucks such as C60's for a tach dash. Here is mine I pulled from a 74 C60 it had the factory air pressure gauge that I swapped out for a vac gauge.

On this one, with the early tach and fuel gauge in one, I would LUV to use this tach and still keep the dash small fuel gauge on the left to isolate each Left & Right Gas Tank and toggle each tank with a switch back and forth so I could monitor each gas tank's volume.

What Years can I find this Tach below and what C series truck would it be found in?

I would guess I would need the printed circuit and plastic housing to mount it?

[78-5.3]

Originally Posted by RPOZ11

On this one, with the early tach and fuel gauge in one, I would LUV to use this tach and still keep the dash small fuel gauge on the left to isolate each Left & Right Gas Tank and toggle each tank with a switch back and forth so I could monitor each gas tank's volume.

What Years can I find this Tach below and what C series truck would it be found in?

I would guess I would need the printed circuit and plastic housing to mount it?

that tacho is out of a C50 0 C60 TRUCK

[78-5.3]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

I was able to modify the BRAKE warning lens and the SES lens to combine them together into the speedometer opening. I couldn't get the back lit pics of the warning lamps to turn out but you can just make them out in the cropped pic.

If you keep the truck speedometer you will still have the high beam indicators and a single spot for two warning lamps. The BRAKE & SES lights are what I chose to put there.

You could modify the 4x4 lens and put it into the dash panel above and between the tach & speedo or just fit the dash with a generic LED in that spot that you will know is for 4x4.

I think I am going to put the battery warning light back into the spot where I have the clock, maybe I will rework it to be both 4x4 and BATT.

HOW DID you rework the circuit board after moving the seat belt and brake light?

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by 78-5.3

HOW DID you rework the circuit board after moving the seat belt and brake light?

I didn't rework the circuit board I re-pinned the connector so the brake warning lamp got the connection it needed plus the check engine light actually has a plug in pigtail for it that is independent of the circuit board. You can plug it into any spot on the housing to turn it into an independent warning lamp. The seat belt warning lamp wiring connection point on the dash plug is now my brake warning lamp connection point

The high mounted diesel type warning lamp housing has one standard size connector like the SES light plus a dedicated smaller connector that will work no where else. They are a good source for this wiring pigtail if you want to independently wire both warning lamps.

[78-5.3]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

I didn't rework the circuit board I re-pinned the connector so the brake warning lamp got the connection it needed plus the check engine light actually has a plug in pigtail for it that is independent of the circuit board. You can plug it into any spot on the housing to turn it into an independent warning lamp. The seat belt warning lamp wiring connection point on the dash plug is now my brake warning lamp connection point

The high mounted diesel type warning lamp housing has one standard size connector like the SES light plus a dedicated smaller connector that will work no where else. They are a good source for this wiring pigtail if you want to independently wire both warning lamps.

i moved my brake light to from the fuel gauge over to where the speedometer is i think i used the used the 4x4 lock light for it i also re-pin the connector every thing works !! the elec. speedo, tacho, oil, temp all work great !!! for the time being i took apart the old fuel and oil gauge swapped the faces over to see if the repined gas gauge worked ,but im still looking for a factory left hand side lower gas gauge gas , that will fit out of a later 81-91 C/k truck the only thing is that i pulled off the camaro needle to replace it with the orginal fuel gauge needle but its not long enough to go into the spline of the camaro tacho i put the camaro needle back on but i had to reposition it a few times because it was showing the wrong RPM im concerned it may come off the spline i dont wanna push the needle to hard !!! i wanna repace it with a needle similar to the trucks gas/ speedometer one!!!!

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by 78-5.3

i moved my brake light to from the fuel gauge over to where the speedometer is i think i used the used the 4x4 lock light for it i also re-pin the connector every thing works !! the elec. speedo, tacho, oil, temp all work great !!! for the time being i took apart the old fuel and oil gauge swapped the faces over to see if the repined gas gauge worked ,but im still looking for a factory left hand side lower gas gauge gas , that will fit out of a later 81-91 C/k truck the only thing is that i pulled off the camaro needle to replace it with the orginal fuel gauge needle but its not long enough to go into the spline of the camaro tacho i put the camaro needle back on but i had to reposition it a few times because it was showing the wrong RPM im concerned it may come off the spline i dont wanna push the needle to hard !!! i wanna repace it with a needle similar to the trucks gas/ speedometer one!!!!

Glad it's working out.

There were a couple needle designs on the Camaro gauges. I ended up liking the look of the smooth tapered needles on mine and am in the process of swapping out all the truck needles for the Camaro ones. I did paint the white portion of the needles orange and I like that a bunch more than the white needles.

[Jonboy]

Does anyone have the pin out of the original wiring harness? I have a 79 w/gauges, and I can't find the correct diagram in either of my service manuals. Are the colors pretty much the same, and just need to be moved in the connector?

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Jonboy

Does anyone have the pin out of the original wiring harness? I have a 79 w/gauges, and I can't find the correct diagram in either of my service manuals. Are the colors pretty much the same, and just need to be moved in the connector?

I haven't found any diagrams that show the dash connector either. I think it is because of the options and the different printed circuits used on the same model year.

The colors are pretty much consistent on the dash plug but some wire colors are used for different things throughout the truck. You should just need to compare functions on your printed circuit to the donor cluster printed circuit so you get the wires in the right spots on the new cluster. A simple re-pin should do the trick.

[78-5.3]

Originally Posted by Jonboy

Does anyone have the pin out of the original wiring harness? I have a 79 w/gauges, and I can't find the correct diagram in either of my service manuals. Are the colors pretty much the same, and just need to be moved in the connector?

i have a factory service manual for a 78 shows the pinout position for that cluster if theres much of a differance between the years

[78-5.3]

here is the rear of mine ive put my truck in the garage for the winter we got snow for the first time yesterday so thats slowed me down till spring

[Jonboy]

Originally Posted by 78-5.3

i have a factory service manual for a 78 shows the pinout position for that cluster if theres much of a differance between the years

What section is it in? I have a '73 and '77 FSM, and can't find one in either of them. If it isn't too much trouble, can you post it here? I was planning on swapping to my 91 cluster pretty soon. Thanks!

[78-5.3]

Originally Posted by Jonboy

What section is it in? I have a '73 and '77 FSM, and can't find one in either of them. If it isn't too much trouble, can you post it here? I was planning on swapping to my 91 cluster pretty soon. Thanks!

oh i have the 1978 truck wiring diagrams supplment for models 10 thru 35
i will get home from work tonight see if i can scan what you need !!!
i need to know what your truck has for gauge and if ther idiot light or the proper gauges if it has tacho from factory this matter as they are wired different at the connector

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by 78-5.3

oh i have the 1978 truck wiring diagrams supplment for models 10 thru 35
i will get home from work tonight see if i can scan what you need !!!
i need to know what your truck has for gauge and if ther idiot light or the proper gauges if it has tacho from factory this matter as they are wired different at the connector

You might as well post all three variables for the gauge cluster wiring so no matter what we are starting from it will help us all out.

[Jonboy]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

You might as well post all three variables for the gauge cluster wiring so no matter what we are starting from it will help us all out.

That would be awesome. I started to attack the wiring last night, and it is supremely jacked up. My truck has gauges, and no tach. It looks like a lot of the wire colors stayed the same over the years, from what I can tell. I am more worried about the ones that didn't. Also, do you have the pin out of the headlamp switch also?

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Jonboy

That would be awesome. I started to attack the wiring last night, and it is supremely jacked up. My truck has gauges, and no tach. It looks like a lot of the wire colors stayed the same over the years, from what I can tell. I am more worried about the ones that didn't. Also, do you have the pin out of the headlamp switch also?

Autozone has the chassis wiring diagrams on line for our trucks. It is in the repair info pull down tab under vehicle repair guides then chassis electrical then wiring diagrams.

Not sure if this link will work since it is tied to personal vehicle info.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/rep...00c1528007a3fe

[Jonboy]

I tried the AZ site. It is pretty generic for the 67-80 trucks (yeah, that's what I said). It's pretty much the same diagrams that are in the back of the Haynes manual (close, but general). I went ahead and snagged a wiring diagram for my 79 on eBay as well ($15 will be well worth it, for the rats nest I have). Posting them up here or even in another thread for the electrical FAQ might be a pretty cool idea.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Jonboy

I tried the AZ site. It is pretty generic for the 67-80 trucks (yeah, that's what I said). It's pretty much the same diagrams that are in the back of the Haynes manual (close, but general). I went ahead and snagged a wiring diagram for my 79 on eBay as well ($15 will be well worth it, for the rats nest I have). Posting them up here or even in another thread for the electrical FAQ might be a pretty cool idea.

I ended up making my own wire diagram for my 66 El Camino because everything I could find was incomplete or inaccurate.

I will probably end up doing the same thing with the 78 and showing the newer column / delay wiper upgrade, Camaro tach wiring change and the future TBI system upgrade just for ease of assembly and for future reference.

[78-5.3]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

Glad it's working out.

There were a couple needle designs on the Camaro gauges. I ended up liking the look of the smooth tapered needles on mine and am in the process of swapping out all the truck needles for the Camaro ones. I did paint the white portion of the needles orange and I like that a bunch more than the white needles.

did you have any problems when re fitting the needle of tacho i thought that once the engine is shut of it re centers it self but i relized you just cant put the needle back on the shaft in any position ?

[78-5.3]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

I have been tinkering around with the Camaro tach swap and came across a van fuel gauge that will fit into the stock truck oil pressure gauge position so you can keep the Camaro oil pressure gauge in the tach.

I still need to drill out a stock oil pressure gauge to sit the van fuel level gauge into so it can be secured in place with more than the back studs holding it in place.

is the van gauge face the same size looks smaller

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by 78-5.3

did you have any problems when re fitting the needle of tacho i thought that once the engine is shut of it re centers it self but i relized you just cant put the needle back on the shaft in any position ?

If you power up the tach it will zero out so you can put the needle back where it belongs.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by 78-5.3

is the van gauge face the same size looks smaller

Yes the van gauge face is smaller. It does seem to be covered by the dash bezel but it is not secured in place with anything but the back pins so it could bounce out of position pretty easily.

I was thinking about drilling a hole through a stock oil pressure gauge face and setting the van fuel gauge in it as a carrier before I decided to use the oil pressure gauge face on a fuel gauge mechanism and do an overlay for the gauge face to convert it to fuel level.

[Jonboy]

Another dumb question. Using the electric speedo, it wires from teh VSS output to the original DRAC input (position #18 in the plug), right? I wired mine up, and the speedo went to 65 MPH when I turned on the key. The odometer seems to be working, but the needle doesn't move. Any ideas?