Hey guys, thought some ove you might want to see what ive been working on. Also this is supposed to be a help/how to, for installing the Classic Dash panel and autometer gauges in the Camaro.


As of today, the install is a work in progess and i expect it to take me a few weeks, being the week before Christmas.

So what are talking about? We are talking about the gauge cluster panel from www.classicdash.com for the 90-92 Camaro. Its a complete replacement panel made of ABS plastic.



it has 6 holes for gauges... 2, 5" for speedo and tach, and 4, 2 1/16".
It mounts the same as the stock cluster panel, it has the hole for the headlight switch, but as you can see, no hole for the cig lighter or defrost. However there are bosses for the rear defrost on the back, you just have to cut the hole around it.

I started to mount my gauges, Autometer Phantoms, to get the correct distance for placing my turn signal lights, high beam light, brake light, and an orange light for SES.

these are the Dorman lights ive used

84913

Green for turn signals

84912

yellow/orange for SES light

84911

Red E-brake light

84911

Blue for high beam


Here is a semi finished look, not the missing gauge, i have it, its just not in, Im using:

Autometer, Phantom Series, 5" indash electric Speedometer 5889
Autometer, Phantom Series, 5" indash electric Tachometer 5898
Autometer, Phantom Series, 2 1/16" electric Fuel level gauge 5714
Autometer, Phantom Series, 2 1/16" Battery gauge 5791
Autometer, Phantom Series, 2 1/16" Oil pressure gauge 5727
Autometer, Phantom Series, 2 1/16" Water temp gauge 5737




i placed them by drilling a 5/16" hole and pressing in the lights from the top. Wiring will be simple, 1 wire will go to the signal wire, the other to ground.

please note, this is not the final placement of my gauges, merely for mounting purposes.




Next update... how to slightly modify the stock dash to accept the new gauge panel.

 

Looks good man I made my own panel as its easier than doin the 90 to 92 dash. I like the LED signal lights as well. I got mine at princess auto for a coule bucks a piece and they work good. Heres a pic of mine and they look simular big time

 

i want to see how that panel turns out.

 

currently in the wiring process, so many ground wires to deal with from the bulb grounds as wel as the illuminate white wires. its a pain

 

i really like , don't really like the gauges in my 91 . please post "ALL" details when you complete . seems like a very cool mod. . good luck .

 

i wired all mine together then to a spade connector that plugs into the dash harness. Its time consuming for sure but the end result will all be worth it. I finished mine last night and I think it looks good

 

what size wire did you use when you wired them all together? im using a single 10 gauge wire for the all the grounds since i ran them all together. So a spade connector will fit into the factory insert? i thought i was going to have to clip the connectors off and splice them all in,

 

I cut the stock connectors on both sides off and lenghtened the wires and labeled them so I have room to pull the gauges on and off. I put spade connectors on both sides so they connected together or into my autometer gauges. Heres mine done. If you need any other pics let me know and I can see if I can help you out for sure.

 

Looks great 6six6. Im planning on the same thing. What did you make you panel out of? I was thinking of aluminum plate and milling the holes to size then engraveing flames on it. Maybe thatll be a little over the top.

 

Ohhh yeah I'm planning on the same connections, I thought you meant you fit spade connectors into the stock harness plug.

 

Both setups look great.

 

KillJoy, thats looking nice man, are you going to post a total amount spent tally at the end of the install? Like prices of each thing broke down then total spent? 6Six6, holly cow man, how many gauges do you need?!?! Is the 100 to 250 oil gauge for a turbo? just trying to figure that one out. But looks good man

 

Nah man if it was only that easy I would have done it along time ago LOL. I was thinkin the same thing when you said it tho as if I could have stuck spade connectors in the stock plug. Man if it was that easy.

 

Im running a complete gauge panel like stock but I added quite a few and maybe went overboard abit LOL. I just wanted all my bases covered as Im running my LSX swap on the track and street. I have the standard gauges I need accept I did a pryoand 2 AEM widebands in the triple pod under the dash vents. I dont know what possesed me to do 2 widebands but it sounded cool at the time LOL and I got them both next to free so why not. Gonna put one in each side of the Y-Pipe when I get it made and the pyro in the I pipe I guess. The Oil Gauge only goes to 120PSI but eventually I wouldnt mind turboing the car in a few years

 

both look like they are coming along nicely!

 

small update, finished the wiring on the back.. what a pain in the @ss.. took about 6hrs total for that..

also finished the cig lighter.. bought a universal one from "vato zone"..

 

Looks awsome man and yeah it takes forever to wire it. I tried to make mine as simple as possible but it didnt end up like that. Cant wait to see it in the car. I have a extra 90 - 92 dash at my parents place from a 92 i parted out last year. I might swap it in next year as I want to see how yours looks as I actually prefer the 90 - 92 dash more

 

thanks.. i'll get started on the install tonight.. was re-reading the autometer instructions on the Speedo and tach and started getting confused.. i think i got the speedo wiring worked out.. but i was worried about the tach.

Because i have an LT1 and just did the LTCC conversion (LSx coil per cylinder)..i was worried i would need an Autometer tach conversion box..

However, when i did the conversion, my factory stock tach still worked as normal.. so i dont think i will need one, if i use the tach signal wire from behind th cluster.

 

I used the signal wire from behind the dash as well and it should work but when you throw in the LS coil swap on you will know better then me.

 

looking nice. i want to keep mine as stock looking as possible but i love the autometer look on that. plus autometer gauges would be more accurate that the factory gauges.

 

LOL any working speedometer would be nice in my car. Nice job looks totally good.

 

Is there a way possible to actually have actual turn arrows on this unit instead of a led light? I think all the little lights really take away from the look of the dash piece. If they would actually mold or cut some signal arrows and maybe a high beam light, I'd be sold on these. Those nice gauges deserve more then just a "light" hanging out of the unit.......

 

the cluster is designed primarily as a "race" or "off road".. what you also dont see from the backside..is there are also bosses glued in to mount the rear defogger, you just have to cut the hole for it.. I think for classic dash to actually take the cluster back to mold, just to make blinker signals would be a waste..

you could actually cut the arrow's yourself and add a back light instead of the way i did it..

 

Personally I go for function over look most times. I know it would be nice but practical for me? They are not needed as I know what way im going. I might one day go back and make another panel with arrows but for now it works for me

 

nice, gonna do that this year, sometime,......

 

to each his own i guess. i don't understand the need for arrows, i prefer a clean classic race look, not something that has a "playskool toy" feel. i know when the left light is blinking, my left blinker is on. different strokes for different folks......

 

This might be a dumb question, But how exactly would you be able to cut an arrow? I'd be affraid the plastic would start cracking. The backlight option is what I'd like to do with the turn signals. My main reason for wanting that is my car is more for show, It doesn't get raced. I love the gauges and want to add them over the crappy 110mph gauges in the car now, I just like the arrow blinkers.

 

the plastic is not brittle, you can easily do it with an exact-o-knife, just make a template and basically carve it out, mount the light behind the cut out and there ya go.. too much hassle for me.

 

That classic dash setup is sexy as hell. Thanks for the step by step how too.

 

like the classic dash and covans dash, the bottom gauges are useless, i'm not a fan of the smaller speedometer and tachometer. i made my own using 5" gauges, no gauges on the bottom.

 

i was gonna say the same thing about the bottom gauges. i made my own by modding the stock gauge surround and mounted 3 3/8" tach and speedo and 2 1/16" volt, gas, water and oil gauges. i used the same type lights for the turn/high beam too. they work fine but id like an arrow there eventually.

i would have gone with the classic dash piece, but i already had the gauges and they didnt offer one with the holes i wanted. and i wasnt about to drop another $600 on new gauges again.

 

Thats why the bottom ones are volts and oil temp. I wasnt a fan of the smaller gauges till I drove a friends car with them and then I was like itlooks good. To each their own I say. There isnt much offered in KMS/HR as they are all in Miles. I like it but I hate my wheel as its too small and need a new one

 

What wheel is that and is it a 5 bolt hub adapter or a 8 bolt as Im looking for a new wheel and I really like the look of this one

 

its a grant sport club. its the standard 6 bolt hub install kit from grant. theres maybe a hand ful of people on here with that wheel.

 

how did you mofifie your gauge panel.

 

only stock part i used was the surround piece. if youve ever had yours off youll notice is has a sort of curve to the side pieces. i cut them flat, and stretched fiberglass across the hole and then sanded smooth and painted with SEM texture paint. its $30 a can, but worth it.

its held in with the stock 2 screws on the bottom and the clips up top.

 

Thanks Man I really like the wheel and the look it adds to the dash

 

If anyone is looking for a plastic to coat the panel this is what I used and it turned out pretty good in my opinion

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1-16-BLACK-AB...item35b802b2a7

 

Update, got the panel in. Man what a pain, had to drop the column and cut even more out of the factory dash( you can't see it and it doesn't affect anything). The metal clips that hold the new cluster on are a tad off but they work. Fitment is really tight but that's ok. I have my wheel off at the moment but gauge placement seems great.

The reason it's harder to install, is because the factory set up has a separate cluster and bezel, whereas this system is all in one piece, making it a little more challenging to mount.

Tip # 1, make sure you have 8-10" of wire from gauge pods to harness. Too short and you have no room to get your hand back there to connect anything, or even see it.

I'll have pics up tomorrow since I'm at the hospital tonight

 

$30 for the sheets and $33 for shipping. thats just a lil crazy on the shipping.

 

Oh man 8 to 10 inches would be good but longer is better for sure. I dropped my column while I was sitting in the car. I connected everything while the panel rested on the column then tucked all the extra wire behind the panel. Tons of room to do so behind mine. Screwed it in using the stock screws and made sure anything falling out under where the column goes got tucked up again. Took a few minutes but wasnt too bad. End finish was so worth it

 

I thought the same thing man but its almost matches our dash and to find this stuff anywhere else was impossible. At least in Canada. To me you get 8 sheets so I made a few panels for frineds after to cover the material so everyone benefited from it. I personally think its worth it but its up to you if you want to use it

 

howd u guys go about connecting the gauge wiring to the dash wiring? individual connectors?

i went to radioshack and got a male and female set of 14 pin connectors and wired everything through that. one single connection between the dash and cluster. makes it easy as pie to install/uninstall.

 

I ran idividual wires for the gauges. All power, grounds and Illumination I looped all together and mage 1 connection to the harness

 

Killjoy if you ever have a free moment could you take a night shot of your new dash with the lights on? Im on the fence between the phantom's & the cobalts. I was told by a autometer rep the cobalts are a clearer illumination, but there also more $$$ so i wanted to see if the phantoms are really that bad.

Thanks

 

When I get the interior back together and hook the battery back up, I'll do that. I actually put the red bulb condoms on the lights, so it might show differently than just white

 

I have the panel from classic ind. for th 82-89. I was able to cut about 1/2 inch off bottom of panel, and cut a little off the top of the back side of the outer trim piece, and it fits nice in the 90 to 92 dashes.

 

y wouldnt you just get the panel for the 90-92 dash since its only $30 more from classic dash?

 

I purchased complete set of gauges and abs insert to fit my 91 < comes complete with wiring harness and 14 pin tail so you can plug and unplug this from your factory wiring ( also has instructions !) saves lots of wiring troubles but just my two cents >>

 

Killjoy did you ever get the gauge panel in the car?