Gringoloco's Camaro tach install

[gringoloco]

Played around with the truck a little on Saturday- thought I would show you guys some pics.

This is what I've been staring at since I got the truck- BLAH. There was also a column mounted SunPro tach- very functional, but not the prettiest.

[gringoloco]

I started out by tearing the Camaro tach out of the cluster I bought on eBay and started modfying the truck gauge tin to fit it. You can see here where the back tin must be clearanced for the black plastic insulator to fit through.

[gringoloco]

Here you can see where I mounted the backing plate from the Camaro cluster to mount the tach to. Also note where the plate had to be trimmed for the right blinker bulb and the area that the dash connector was is flattened out.

The plate is marked for the input and 12V the upper middle stud is the ground. I just ran a nut down it and grounded the tach to the cluster. I ran a wire from the ammeter input to power it and a wire from the distributor for the signal. Dont forget all the plastic insulators on the studs!

[gringoloco]

You can see in the last pic I also replaced the ammeter with a voltmeter. Just personal preference. I used the guts from a $15 SunPro voltmeter. Basically just tore the gauge apart, trimmed the stock face plate to fit, and drilled two holes in the backing plate.

Again, I just grounded the voltmeter to the cluster and used one of the old ammeter leads to power it. Luckily the SunPro bucket is the same depth as the stocker, so it mounts right up

[gringoloco]

Used some metal polish to take the lines off the inside of the tach lens and slapped it back together with a new bezel. I also used a spare fuel gauge needle on the tach so it would look like it belongs.

It all just kinda fell together(with a little trial-and-error) and looks tons better than before. Whatcha think?

[68GMCCustom]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing!

And I just happen to have a Camaro tach laying around.....

[GREASEMONKEY72]

looks good, deffinitly better than nothing

[c10crazy]

Beautiful job . I tried this once and the tach was not very accurate so I tried another Camaro tach and it still was reading high. They look great in there though. How in the world did you ever get that sunpro gauge to come apart? I tried to do that once and it was pressed together from the factory so tight I gave up on it. Please do tell

[clos69]

That looks real nice Gringo....what year is the Camaro you got the tach from? That way I 'll know what to look for when I start hitting the junkyards....

[bryanw1968]

That looks bad ass.

[dave2953]

Looks great! I thought you had a 3 hole bezel w/ the quad 5" Autometers? Really nice job, though. I think this should be added to the FAQ.

[Frizzle Fry]

That does look great. How does the back lighting work out at night?

Too bad you redline at 4700 RPM

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by c10crazy

How in the world did you ever get that sunpro gauge to come apart?

The pressed-on chrome trim ring comes off easily with a small screwdriver. Just pry around the edge a little at a time until it 'pops' off.

Originally Posted by clos69

That looks real nice Gringo....what year is the Camaro you got the tach from? That way I 'll know what to look for when I start hitting the junkyards....

The eBay ad said '72-'78. I have heard anywhere from '70 to '81 will work. See pic below- I think I paid $30 for the whole cluster.

Originally Posted by dave2953

Looks great! I thought you had a 3 hole bezel w/ the quad 5" Autometers? Really nice job, though. I think this should be added to the FAQ.

The Autometers are slated for my 2wd Blazer. These went in the truck as a quick solution to that UGLY cluster that was in there.

That's kinda the reason I did this. I thought the FAQ was lacking a little in the details of how to mount the tach- this could maybe be added to it?

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

That does look great. How does the back lighting work out at night?

Backlighting is perfect. The tach sits about 1/4" from the inner tin letting light in all the way around. I'll try to get a pic this eve.



Thanks guys for all the compliments. This really is very easy to do with a little time and a dremel.

-Chris

[c10crazy]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

The pressed-on chrome trim ring comes off easily with a small screwdriver. Just pry around the edge a little at a time until it 'pops' off.

-Chris

Thanks Chris!. You pry along the backside of the gauge right?

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by c10crazy

Thanks Chris!. You pry along the backside of the gauge right?

Yep, the chrome ring is very thin metal- very easy to do.

[c10crazy]

Thank you sir!

[gringoloco]

Here's those nighttime pics I promised; anyone notice anything different about the second one?

[N2TRUX]

Great work. The integration between the old and new is seamless. Now all you need is a clock to fill the blank spot.

Ok, I give up what the red light for? I don't think you "red-lined" at 0 rpm, so it must indicate something else.

[gringoloco]

What I noticed in most other people's Camaro tach install is that most people try to eliminate or hide the oil pressure warning light on the tach. I made it functional. Just looks more 'original' that way to me.

The reason I have the high beams on is to show the blue light as opposed to the factory red. It just never looked right to me, so I swapped out a blue filter from the Camaro cluster. Just a few subtle mods that contribute to the overall effect...

[Angelse68cal]

Ok how much do do mine like this?

[RicksTrucks]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

The eBay ad said '72-'78. I have heard anywhere from '70 to '81 will work. See pic below- I think I paid $30 for the whole cluster.
-Chris

I have a few of those clusters from 78-81 Camaro's, will have to put one away for a truck. Thanks for showing us how.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Angelse68cal

Ok how much do do mine like this?

If you're serious, I'd do it for $50- you supply parts. PM me if interested.

[Webrigs]

Great install & thanks for sharing the info on the post!


Just to confirm - it looks like you would have been able to reinstall the flat printed circuit on the back instead of one of the 'stepped-out' printed circuits that were used on the instrument clusters with factory tach's, correct?

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Webrigs

Great install & thanks for sharing the info on the post!


Just to confirm - it looks like you would have been able to reinstall the flat printed circuit on the back instead of one of the 'stepped-out' printed circuits that were used on the instrument clusters with factory tach's, correct?

Yes, I used the standard flat circuit. I just trimmed the protruding studs flush with the nuts. A tach circuit would work perfectly though...

[Critter]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

The eBay ad said '72-'78. I have heard anywhere from '70 to '81 will work. See pic below- I think I paid $30 for the whole cluster.

I know this is an old thread but...

Correct me if I'm wrong but these Camaro tachs look basically the same from 70 - 81 but the Camaro got HEI in 75 (I think?) and the printed circuit is different. Does anyone know if the tach is different? I am planning on doing this conversion on my 72 Blazer but I converted it over to HEI. Basically I would hate to find a nice 73 tach in the junkyard and go through all that trouble and have it not work with my HEI.