i want to know because it is rare for a 1986 trans-am to have the factory digital gauges mine has it and when i went to get some work done to my car by Dyno Don he told me they actually had built only 43 trans-am's with the digital cluster now think about how many have been parted out crushed/recycled not very many still out there and it was the first year it came out and then stopped in 1988 well if anybody can confirm this please let me know Dyno Don says i have a good optioned car my guess can become rare or collectable

 

I thought digital gauges were only offered in 1987 and 1988 cars for the longest time. About a year ago I had heard of them being used in 1985 and 1986 cars but I've to date never actually seen one like that. I've seen tons of these cars in person and many more in photos. I've never seen a pre-1987 car with digital gauges. So I'd wager that there weren't many like that. However, all dreams of rarity amongst these cars are really for naught as there are only two cars which have any value amongst collectors as far as I know. The 1989 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am and the 1991-1992 Firehawk. Everything else might make the checklist for a thirdgen enthusiast but honestly, I don't think these cars will ever be as sought after as the late 60's muscle cars. Even fewer will care about originality and matching numbers or rare options for that matter.

My car is one of the 47 1992 Firebird Formula cars which came painted Jamaica Yellow. I know one of those cars has been destroyed leaving 46 or less. I doubt that I'd seriously diminish it's value if I painted the thing black. (I'm not going to, I'm just using it as an example.) These cars have such low value anyway.

 

yeah i have the origianl owners manual and it has a section on there about the digital cluster and its functions i have seen only 2 vids on youtube like my car 1986 with digital gauges. on the part of rare you are right with the 1989 TTA and the firehawk ours will never be in that category, but being collectable maybe yes your car is collectable among the trans-am and pontiac enthusiast i think mine will also be in that category and for example they are alwyas looking for the 1LE,G92,J65,JG6 you know corvette brakes, 9 bolt rear end,aluminum driveshaft this is what is becoming more and more south after among many other options and i think will become collecable since potniac company is dead

 

I love the look of the digital gauges. Too bad they gained a reputation for unreliability and gave / give people so many problems.

 

I guess that is why they stopped making them

 

If your 86 owner's manual shows digital guages, I guess that settles it, they were available. RPO code U52 would confirm it. I think it would be very rare on an 86 Trans Am, and the GTA (which were about 50% digital) didn't debut until 87.

I also love the digital dash, it looks awesome. But it is trouble prone. 25 years of vibrations and humidity make it difficult to keep the electrons flowing though all the connectors. I'm currently having an odometer problem that's making me insane.

 

My buddy had an 86 Trans Am with the digital dash. The tach was slightly different in appearance than my 88, but was otherwise identical. About 7-8 years ago he sold the car after having daily driven it since High School, and racking up 250k miles in the process. That was one tired car when he got rid of it. Shortly after he sold it, the car disappeared from the new owner's yard and we've never seen it again.

 

I don't think many people bought them because you'd typically only find them on the highest end cars and people were still getting used to the idea of digital gauges. They certainly questioned their reliability and of course as it turned out, rightfully so in this case.

 

Not necessarily...just because it's in the owner's manual doesn't mean that any of them came with it. The owner's manual for my '91 shows two ways of securing your t-tops: the standard 3rd gen bag/strap setup, and then the lower-trunk mounted 4th gen setup with no bags or straps. Can't say I've ever seen or heard of a 3rd gen actually getting the 4th gen style t-top setup, but nonetheless it's in the manual.

 

Great link about the legendary digital dashboards:
http://www.doubleyoudigital.nl/~cars...dashboards.php

And the Pontiac dash:

 

this is the 1986 digital dash exactly like mine you can tell because the rpm tach looks like a up hill while 1987 up their tach is like a curve and 1986 odometer dont have the AVG button as you can see in this one and also the 1987 up inthe left hand tach they have a small window on the uper left hand of the rpm tach

 

that is true up to a certain extent

 

im prety shure it was like a higher cost option upgrade

 

thats tight to bad he sold it yeah my stock tpi engine was also tired but removed it and put a 1989 350 tpi in its place

 

i have that RPO in the glove box and my odometer has always had that problem some numbers cant be seen because they dont show i narrowed it down to a loose conection or faulty circuitry i have the 1986 service manual it helps pinpiont problems on the digital dash and thus once again confirming that 1986 had digtial dash but thats nothing a good friends of mine and some instructors that are good at repairing almost anything electrical even if you think that part is no good they will repair it and bring it back to life i was also thinking of just finding another digital dash from a newer car and instaling it and save mine

 

He wasn't really a "car guy". He paid a mechanic for all of the maintenance, had his father throw a new paint job on it every few years, and used it as a year-round daily driver, which in this area, is quite a feat in itself considering the snow and salt we get. It was his only car from when he first got his driver's license in high school, through college and the first few years of his career. He sold it when he bought a slightly used BMW, and just recently traded that for a newer slightly used BMW. He misses it, but mainly just for the memories. He has no desire to ever have another one.

He was such a non car-guy, that every time it needed a new exhaust, he had a stock style pea-shooter installed instead of even going to something like a Dynomax. At one point he had the motor freshened up... with a new STOCK cam. Despite the pleading from his car-guy friends, he had no interest in anything aftermarket, except for an awful set of seat covers he had me install. I did finally convince him to let me put a nicer stereo in though.

 

It was. Again you most likely would have only have seen it in the most nicely optioned cars.

 

 

i still cant believe it being a non-car guy and have owned a bad *** bird

 

What page in your 1986 Pontiac FireBird owners manual and your 1986 Pontiac FireBird shop manual is the information on the digital dash.

 

there is alot of pages in the shop manual that has info and mentioning difital cluster but towards the end where the schematics and trouble shooting some of it starts on page 8A-82-0 thru 8A-86-3 there is a lot more pages but its a big shop manual the page is ripped not in half but out of the owners manual its about 3 pages and the front clearly states onwers manual supplement-1986 Trans Am with Electronic Instrument Cluster and goes through all the functions the book is prety old but in good condition i mean i still have all the waranty books tire safety book every book they gave the original owner when he bought the car is still in there i can take photos if youd like

 

I found it in my service manual thanks,to tell you the truth I didn't think that the digital dash was available in 86,but it's in the service manual,so I would assume that yours is pretty rare.It was probably made available late in the model year,so good luck with your rare find.

 

yeah there is more info if you look through the whole book..as stated by 87WS6 he said that it would have been installed in the higher end trans-am

 

I don't know what would be considered a high end 86 Trans Am.

 

in that day they had a couple engines as options for the 1986 t/a the top engine for that year was the 5.0 tpi and if you wanted a fully loaded all options that would come at a cost not everybody could order that i would think that all options t/a would have been a high end t/a for that day including the 5.0 tpi

 

My buddy's car was a good example. That car was absolutely stacked with options.

 

To answer the question... How many... 878 according to Dealer information... That is for 1986 only.... Pretty unusual for the year.

John

 

Mine is too...I'm lacking power mirrors, digital dash, t-tops and the premium stereo. That's it. Its the only third gen I've ever owned with a power seat, which I've found I really like a lot.

 

Ya, the Ultima seats with power air pump ups are actually quite useful on longer trips.

 

Yup

 

The T Tops were the most expensive option for the 86 Trans Am. $875.00,next is the C60 Air Conditioning,Custom $750.00,next is the LB9 5.0 Liter V-8 MPFI Engine $695.00,next was the WS6 Special Performance Package $664.00,then the UM6 AM/FM ETR Stereo w/Cassette with the UQ7 Subwoofer Speaker System$479.00.

 

Good info

 

anyone know who repairs these clusters?

 

Yeah ive always wanted to know who fixes digital gauges if anybody knows hit us up with the quickness

 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=digital+gauge+repair

Start at the top of the list and work your way down, I'm sure there's someone that does...

 

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

 

i already did that but thanks, i was looking for someone that might have had the SPECIFIC t/a cluster done already...

 

There's a thread on digital dash's in Interiors by Texas Raider

 

Thanks ill look into those threads to see if I find answers

 

Specmo http://www.specmo.com/ does a lot of the Dealer IP repairs around the country... They are not cheap, but they can probably fix it.

John

 

i checked drews link and found one site that actually does repair digital clusters any year and any model

 

I have seen my fair share of third gen birds,But these are rare little gems that have always escaped me until last year on craigslist,I found and went out to look at a '86 trans am with the digital cluster.It was dark blue ext with Grey bottom,Grey interior(had aftermarket front seats),t-top,305 tpi,black gta wheels.No surprise the cluster wasn't working right lol

Old guy just wanted $1500 for it,Just needed a trans mount is all I remember !!! Sadly i had no where to keep it,Boy was I pi$$ed i couldn't get it


Dave

 

Wow the one that got away I would have been mad to