Will it work?

I've got a an 86 SC with idiot lights for batt. temp. and oil. Can I swap in a cluster with actual guages? I know you can install anything you want in any car, but is it a direct swap or is it a huge project with wiring, and computer crap, etc. etc.?

My thinking is that maybe all the wiring was the same for all the cars, and some base models just got clusters with idiot lights. Of course, that's not my luck

I tried a search......wow.....WAY too much to sort through!

I think the wiring is the same, you will need the guage senders in place of the idiot light sender though

It is the same...plug the cluster in and swap the sending units.
PS - the one for the voltage is impossible to find

Pete

lol

not the same. rewired a dash for gauges in my 84 and had to switch the connector terminals around using the shop manual. put the cluster in as is and you will blow the fuse. also no wire for the tach signal either(white if I remember right). will have to be run.

I just (30 minutes ago) finished doing exactly what you're asking. The wiring is IDENTICAL. No changes whatsoever. You do need to change the oil pressure sending unit. It's a lot bigger than the one for lights, but it will go. I put some silicon on mine when I installed it, because I don't know if it went all the in and I don't want an oil leak. I also think you may have to change the temperature sending unit. Mine isn't working and I didn't change it. I've been looking online for a difference in part numbers, to no avail. Tomorrow I have to go to the dealer for something else, so I'll ask them and let you know.

One other thing - the Haynes book says to put the speedo cable in with one hand and depress the clip with the other. Yea, RIGHT!!! If you grasp the cable from beside the steering column, you can shove it home and it WILL catch the clip and stay put.

Good luck.

I found out yesterday that I was wrong. The temp gauge wire location is different. As soon as I found out where it goes, I'll post.

Okay, I finally got the "real" word on the swap. The connections are the same for most third gen Camaros. Just plug in the cluster, change the senders and you're all set. By the way, there is no sender for the amp gage. It's wired into the harness.

Good luck with your swap. I really like having gages over lights, but then again, I'm real old school.

wait a minute now i'm having the same problem! I had to switch to plain firebird dash wiring and the guage cluster wouldnt work! I'm stuck using the idiot lights because at least the gas guage works. I have the shop manual and it shows the diagram between the two and the wiring is all different, at least for an 82 its different, I'm proceeding to wire up my old cluster with my own wire just like any other guage set.

The dealer mechanic I talked to didn't know about Pontiacs, but the Camaros are the same. Also, yesterday I looked at the Mitchell repair manuals, and they were very unhelpful. Again, I only looked at the Camaro. The Pontiac could be very different.

what is "ignition to buffer"? and what do I hook that pin up to? its the same as the ignition pin for the volt guage, do I just hook that up to the ignition power or what?

I don't know what "ignition to buffer" is. On mine, I didn't have to do anything to the ignition wire.

in the shop manual it shows what all the contacts are and it "ignition to buffer" looks like its just the power to all the guages, it also goes the the voltmeter, gas, etc. I just tried to wire up the full guage cluster to no avail, its more splicing and wiring that I want to it and do. the blinkers and everything has to be rewired to work correctly.

I don't know what year you are trying to put in, but it sure sounds like a lot of trouble. Maybe a different year cluster would be easier.

I did a swap in my 84. it can be done it just takes alot of time. shop manual is a must and a terminal repair tool. do not splice the wires just move the terminals located behind the inst cluster to the proper pin location. make a drawing of the orginal connector and pin location and another drawing showing the location of the pins on the cluster you are installing. one by one switch the pins to there new location and in a few hours you will be ready to go. just dont rush and have plenty of extra fuses just in case. it can be done. have the pin diagrams for the dashes of the 83 and 84 models.