I have an 86 Camaro, and i'm considering swapping out the old gauges with a set from a 4th gen. I've seen some threads on here about people swapping them in, but I haven't seen any instructions on how to do this.

How hard is it to do this, and how much wiring is involved?

If anybody could help me out it would me much appreciated.

 

Welcome to TGO.

The 82-89 cluster with a mechanical speedo is shaped much differently than the 90+ with its electrical speedo. The fab work to make the later fit the earlier would be considerable.

JamesC

 

Fitting aside, what would have to be done to make the newer gauges compatible?

Do you know of any nice aftermarket gauge clusters that are compatible, and not too expensive?

 

I'm unsure, though the speedo, since it's electric, may be the biggest obstacle as your 86 is mechanical.

Here's a Covan installation--I doubt you'll find any 'cheapies' (and to my knowledge, none are plug and play):

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/te.../photo_04.html

JamesC

 

wiring wise, you've got to rewire everything; the connections are completely different. you'll also need to get one for an LT1 setup (93-97), since the gauges were run off the serial data on the LS1 models. then comes the cutting you'll need to do to get the gauges to sit in place.

not a quick and simple swap by any means unfortunately. if you're looking to do it up, start browsing through the 4th gen dash swap articles, as the wiring info should be there

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...ring-good.html

that's a good start for the 4th gen pinouts; the ones in your vehicle may differ for the 3rd gen stuff. I had a helms manual handy to trace out my stuff in my TA

 

Thanks for the information.