i plan on swapping a decent 350 crate into my car this summer and doing away with the TBI completely. what do i have to do to reconnect the speedo/water temp/oil pressure guages....are the speedo and RPM tachs controlled in the tranny? how would i put a oil pressure and water temp guage in? also is there any big things ill need to watch for when i do the swap?

 

The speedo is different on different cars, induction types. Some have a separate buffer box before the ECM, some have the buffer box built in. I had a 91 with TPI. When I took the TPI out, I took all the wiring also. Because my ECM had the buffer built in, I just kept the yellow/purple wires intact from the speed sensor. I am getting an electronic Ulta Lite Speedo as soon as they are off backorder. But these speedos, are easily calibrated with a speed sensor set up. If you have the buffer box separate from the ECM, you will have more luck. There was a post on here on which wires you needed to run where. Do a search for buffer box, or speedo buffer box, or something of the sort, you should find it. The tach gets its signal from the dist. If you are using an HEI, like me, there is a post that says "TACH" on the dist. cap. If you are using a points type, then I believe you want the "+" post on the coil to run to the tach. Water temp is universal. Just run the sending unit into the head or intake. The head will give a more realistic reading if you are using an aluminum intake. Because the fuel pump circuit is ran through the factory oil pressure sending unit, I went to Wally-World and bought a $9.00 mechanical gauge to tide me over until I get around to putting in all my Ulta Lite electric gauges. The main thing to watch for is plan as mucha ahead as possible. Make up your mind what you want to do as far as gauges, and wiring before you put in the new engine. This way you have more room to work in than if you were to wait until after the new engine is put in.