I have an 86 Iroc with the stock 700-r4 and i am in the process of installing my autometer guages. I had purchased the electric speedo so that i can recalibrate it for when i swap wheels, gears, that type of stuff. Plus it looks really good with the digital odometer! Well, i have seen it done before so i purchased it. I did a pretty extensive search on here for about a half an hour with really no luck of an exact answer. I have found tons of info that could be of help but it seems like there are different answers in different posts! Now, can anyone help me get a more precise answer on how to convert my 86 cable driven speedo over to the new Autometer electric speedo? I'm about to call up Autometer now but i am open to any suggestions! Thanks for your time-Bryan

 

ttt

 

PLEASE!

 

I have been trying to find out the same thing. If you find anything out fill me in.

 

Sure, i posted this in the electronics forum too! In my search i came across a few names more than once on this subject. They are: Deadbird, Vader, KarpsT/A, and Jza. So, if any of you guys could help, that would be great! I will only PM them if i do not get a response with some useful info soon. I feel it is better to have a thread with this helpful info for others when they do a search instead of me going and sending numerous PMs just for my own benefit! Later

 

I changed mine on my 85 T/A. Dont know if the camaro is different.
You will need a new sending unit for the tranny, yellow buffer box and I used a Dakota Digital Box to correct the signal. You will still need to connect a wire to your ECM. I also swapped guage clusters so connecting to an Autometer guage may be different.

 

So basically get all the parts from GM new or a donor car, like 89 and up i believe for camaros? Which wire will need to go to the ecm? Not familiar with that at all! I think Autometer sells the "box" i would need to convert the signal, or they sell something similar to it. I did not get a hold of them yet! Anyone else have any more info? Thanks for your time-Bryan

 

ttt please

 

there is a tech article for changing a firebird from mechanical to electric speedo, that SHOULD work on a camaro..

if i remember rite, the speedo cable plugs into the back of the speedo.. the speedo makes an electric signal thats sent to the ecm from there..

if im not forgetting anything, get an electtric sending unit for ur tranny (their different for auto and manual, i bought mine at kragen for $35? (91 t5 sneding unit)) and wire it straight to the speedo and ecm..

 

Thanks for the reply. I have been getting closer to a solution. I spoke to Auto Meter yesterday and i am going with one of their sending units. I was told that it would work with my factory VSS. When i get it in my hand i'll have a better picture. Hopefully it will work. I'll just have to find a way to feed the speedo power and figure out how to run the new, "buffered" signal to the ECM. Thanks, i'll update so others will know when they search! Later

 

Some of the MAF firebirds used electric speedos, and those cars had the VSS in the transmission. You should be able to buy that and wire it to the ECM and the speedo.

I don't think you can use a VSS from a speed density car though, because they have a different pulse frequency and the ECM won't know what the hell you're feeding to it.

 

Not sure about the details of the swap, but I am planning to do it on my 83. I do know the years however. 86 and up firebirds have the electronic speedo, and 90 and up camaros have it. Not sure why they changed them in different years...

 

While doing a search i had come across a couple of answers to that. Well, you are right about the firebirds, they changed early, don't know why. Some of them had it and others did not. I believe the ones with a dummy or idiot light, something like that, didn't have them and the others did. Now the Camaros, i found that 89 cars came with the correct VSS and then in a couple of other posts i found that someone said 90s did. Not too sure what to think of that but oh well! SD came around in what, 88, 89? So hopefully this Auto Meter sender i am getting will do the trick. I'll post when i get it and i'll see if it will work for me. Thanks for the info guys-later

 

speed density started in 90, which is the first year for the electric speedos in the Camaros too.

 

Thanks. By the way ,still waiting on the Auto Meter sender so i do not know what exactly it looks like yet to see if it will work. It should, i'm pretty confident! lol

 

will the guage cluster from a '90-'92 camaro fit into an '87 IROC?

 

Yeah it should! You need to modify some brackets though b/c if you look at the two, they have different shapes! Do a search and you will find tons of info on that swap, i did atleast. As far as swapping the senders, it should work. You just need the VSS from the donor car and the yellow buffer box, i guess thats what it is, from the donor car too. Not too positive on that but i am pretty sure that is how it works. As far as my swap, i got my sender in and it looks like it would make sense , so i am hoping that it will work for me. We'll see! It should be nice the rest of this week so when my swap is done i'll update! later

 

dd85t/a, help me out here, since you've already done it...I just got a 120mph cluster and am going to put it in once the snow clears, but here's the dilemma...I'm NOT running the computer anymore, does the VSS wire up to the speedo and then to the ecm, or ecm then speedo? and will any yellow box work? I aim to get a brand spankin new VSS from the parts store and am not sure about the box or how or where to get it...and does it make a difference from the gear ratio? I really don't want to do a trial and error install.....thanx!!

 

First, did you know that the 120 cluster is completly different from your stock 85 cluster? I also swapped clusters and I had to rewire the whole thing. As for the spdo, not using a ECM is good. Just buy a new electric sending unit with the same gear that you have now, get a buffer box (yellow box) from a junk yard or Hawks can sell you one. The ECM gets the signal from the VSS so forget about that. The tech artical tells you everything you will need to know. As long as you keep your same tranny and rear end and get the same gear for the VSS you don't have to worry about the gear ratio. I swapped from a auto to a 5-speed and I didn't know what gear was in the tranny. Thats why I used the Dakota Digital box. Go check the tech board.

 

Do you mean the wires for the volts and temp and oil and fuel? They have to be modified?? no kidding? great. Was it a terrible pain in the butt? I understand about the sensor and the box, that shouldn't be a problem, but if the wiring is not the same, that's a whole new ball of wax...oh me oh my.

 

Ya that's right. All the gauges are in a different spot and the two connectors on the back are wired different. The flexable curcuit board is different. I just cut the traces on the board and rewired them to the right location. At first I just swapped the spdo but that sucks also. The 85 and 120 spdo mount differently. You have to hack up your stock cluster to make it fit. Even the odometer reset shaft is in the wrong place and you have to drill a new hole in the clear cover. If you know how to solder and have a good iron you can cut and paste the flex board. You will also need to know the correct connections. The factory service manual has the board layout and pinouts for the two connectors.

 

great. Thanks for the heads up! I've got a factory manual for an 85, and I think it shows the electronic setup as well, so I'll do some studying. I think this will be put on the back burner for a while. oh well. one of these days I'll get there! Thanks again for the info!

 

Still not in and the ground is still wet! Weather it be school, work, rain, or blizzards, little work was done this winter! lol I'll update this thread when it is done.