Well I decided I want to change my 89 Camaro to a 91-92 dash and speedo. THe main reason is because the plastic dashes in 83-89 are constructed poorly and crack VERY easily. I know 82-89 are cable drive so what parts do I need to switch to a electric 91-92 speedo? HOw hard would it be to change to the new electric speedo?

I have searched and found no specific directions of how to do it and what I need...

Thanks!

 

This one might interest you Bill..

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...e+cluster+swap

Doing a search using 'gauge cluster swap' will yield you a few more topics on this or, email the guy from the link above.

 

Deadbird.. Trust me man I ran across that in my search.. Nowhere in that post does it say WHAT YOU NEED to do a swap (as far as electrical crap etc.)

It just shows how some guy fit a 91-92 cluster in a 83-89 dash....

 

I can understand your frusteration but, did you try emailing the guy for info ?

 

yup

 

No Electronics people will help or whats the deal here??

 

Bill, I have never done it but I will try to give an electronic overview and you can decide for yourself if it is more trouble than it is worth. The non-electronic speedo heads have the VSS sender inside the speedo head itself and then feed to a VSS buffer module which essentially amplifies the signal for the ECM. For example if you disconnect a cable speedo you will get an SES light. You will first need to replace the cable drive unit at the trans with a VSS sender unit and add the appropriate wiring. Second you will need either a different ECM and PROM, or at the very least a reprogram of your existing PROM. Check with the ECU guy's on that one. I'll check when I can to see if there are any wiring differences at the ECM connectors. It can be done obviously, but it may be more than you care to do. I'll try do dig up more info and shoot you a thread if I get it.

 

Any hlep would be GREATLY appreciated. I have a friend that is an electronics specialist at the local Chevy dealership and I know he is more then capable of doing it but being a friend if its a PITA I am not going to have him do it. Any other info you could get me on this topic would be great.. THANK YOU!

 

What I managed to find after looking at wiring for both types is that the input pins to the ECM for VSS are different. This either means that the ECM's are different or you will have to move pins and change the prom. I think the site lists part #'s for the different years. After looking at the mechanical end of it as well as adding wiring etc. I would opt not to do it. Almost everything from motorcycles to lawnmowers with electrical problems comes to my driveway and if I was asked to do it I would bow out. If I were you Bill, I would keep my buddy for a time when I really needed him. LOL with whatever you decide.

 

I replaced the entire dash in my 84 T/A with the dash from an 89 T/A. The speedo was the easy part. 2 wires come from the sensor(that you will have to purchase at a salvage yard) for the tranny. It installs where your speedo gears are. You will also need a small yellow VSS box(salvage yard $10) located under the pass. side dash. The box connects to the 2 wires fromthe tranny and also connect a lead to ground. I made no mods to my ECM at all and it still works fine. I used the brown w/white stripe wire(vehicle speed sensor) coming from the yellow box and cut the same wire in the ECM harness and spliced them together. My cruise even works now. I dont explain things really well, but the speedo swap really isn't that bad.
Dan

 

That's the way to go - You will need an electronic VSS at the trans, a VSS buffer module, and the two plugs that connect to it - or solder the wires to the module - VSS buffer modules were used on digital dash T/As & Berlinettas, and on TBI setups. The VSS connects to the VSS buffer & the VSS buffer output goes to the ECM VSS input, the cruise VSS input, and the electronic cluster VSS input.

 

Got a question Tim. All the service manuals I have show a buffer module used in pre-1990 models with mechanical speedometer. 1990 and after show the VSS sender at the trans going directly to the ECM input. Comparing input pins my 89 and a 90 show different inputs for VSS operation. If you have one take a look at a Chilton and see what I mean. I am looking at the 89 TBI and TPI schematics and it shows a buffer module for both models. In 90 it shows a buffer for a TBI model only, the TPI shows the VSS going directly to the ECM on different pins. Is it possible only the TPI cars had an electronic speedo in 90? If my book is correct Bill should have a buffer module, so should I. Never looked for one in my car. It's an 89 IROC 5.7 TPI. If these manuals are that radically wrong, guess I had better think twice before giving any advice. TNX, Dan

 

All F-bodies have a VSS buffer module, however, the location of the module differs, depending on the configuration. All pre '90 configurations use cable driven speedos, except for TAs & Berlinettas with digital dashes, which use a trans mounted VSS (like the '90 & up setups) and a separate VSS buffer module, which is mounted behind the driver's side kick panel. With the pre '90 cable driven speedo setup, the VSS buffer is a small module, and is mounted to the rear of the cluster. For the '90 & up setups, a trans mounted VSS is used, and there is no speedo cable used - the speedos are all electronic. The TPI (V6 & V8 using the 7730 ECM) setups use an ECM which has an internal VSS buffer, so no external VSS buffer module is required, while the TBI setups use an ECM which requires an external VSS buffer module (like the pre '90 Berlinettas and TAs with a digital dash), which is mounted near the ECM.