I got an 86 Trans Am with the electronic gauges(not digital).It has an upgraded carbed 350,700R4 with lockup converter.CAR HAS NO COMPUTER I am getting an 82 Camaro pace car replica(junk)but good running gear,switching trans,rear end,drive shaft all mounts,torque arm.Question is how do i get the cable driven trans to record speed on my 86 dashboard?

 

idk what tranny is in the 82 this works if you are going to another 700r4. you take the tail shaft housings off the 2 trannies pull the plastic gear off the output shaft on the new tranny after removing the clip that holds it on. then you take a gear puller and pull the metal gear off your old tranny's output shaft. then install the metal gear on your new tranny's output. after that you put your old tranny's tail shaft housing onto the new tranny.

 

Pretty sure that's not going to work... I think the drive gears are different, first, and second, I'm pretty sure there is no VSS readily available for the T10.

jims, I think you're going to need to get a Dakota Digital VSS and buffer for your gauges.

 

Doesent a vss attach to the cars ECU in some way?As my car has no ECU in it.

 

Not on an 86. Those have a yellow box on the ECM bracket that does the same thing as a circuit in the 90-92 ECMs. The yellow box is used up to 90 and on TBI cars after that. All you need is the VSS and the yellow box, and the wiring between them and the instrument cluster.

Either way, you're still probably going to have to pick up the Dakota VSS as I am unaware of a VSS that fits a T10. The Dakota unit attaches to the speedo cable bullet in place of the cable and outputs the signal accordingly.

 

Thats a bummer.Can I just use an older cluster with the mechanical speedo?

 

Yes. If I understand correctly, you're putting the drivetrain out of the pace car into the 86, right? If so, you would need to drill the hole in the bulkhead for the speedometer cable and find a way to run it to the dash. And then you would need to swap over the odometer parts, which is easier said than done.

 

I got a guy in Massachusettes that has a Mechanical speedo Cluster I believe they came in base models and are only 80mph

 

Hold up. I just looked up "speedometer gears" and found that the T-5 uses a similar setup. All you need is the corresponding sensor, buffer box, and wiring to the cluster. The instructions are in the Tech Articles on the main TGO page.

:edit: You're going to need to make sure of what colors the gears are that are currently in the T10 if you want to swap to a VSS, because you will need to buy a new speedo driven gear for the VSS, and you will need to make sure you know what gears are in the rear axle as well as the tire size you will be using.

 

http://tpiparts.net/inc/sdetail/10956/7586

 

My car has no ECM I run a 1972 rebuilt carbed 350

 

Again, as I said before, the 86-89 (all) and 90-92 TBI cars with the electric speedo used a buffer box between the VSS and everything else because the ECM was incapable of interpreting the VSS signals in such a manner they could drive the instrument cluster. The buffer took the VSS signal and split it into 3 parts, for the cruise control, instrument cluster, and ECM.

If you didn't cut the buffer box plugs in the dash harness on the 86, all you need is the buffer box and an 86-89 T-5 VSS, which will plug right into your stock harness. However, the availability of the driven gears for the VSS is limited, so you need to be careful. And, if necessary, you may need to do some junkyarding and find a car with a similar setup as you plan on using (rear axle ratio) and pull the VSS and speedo driven gear out of the car.