so the digital dash went out on my car when i bought it, engine a a rebuilt 305 carbureted, and a 5 speed manual. would a cluster work out of 82-89 camaro's? i dont really like the digital dash anyway... and i hate the turning signals, there crap. is there anything i can do to swap out to a different one? its half dead. oil pressure and temp dont work. as well as the mph/ rpm, i have a separate temp guage, i just either need to fix this crap cluster or swap to a different one. please help, this is very frustrating... thanks

 

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did u try to swap the fuses? that happened to my digital dash n i replaced the fuses and they worked fine.

 

hmm, il try that. i hope its something stupid like that haha. if not would a cluster from another mid 80's car work if its non digital?

 

No.

The entire dash housing and much of the interior would also need to be swapped in order for a "regular" camaro cluster to fit into a Digital Camaro.

 

not only that ^,,the wiring is completely differant through out most of the car since wipers,turns,HVAC,guages,ect are ALL electricaly operated by a push button rather than levers, and rods. i believe digital cars have bcm's

 

If your question is, "Can it be done?"

Then the answer is yes.

If your question is, "Can it be done easily?"

Then the answer is no. It'll be more of a pain than it's worth, and you'd have to replace EVERYTHING.

I believe there's a site somewhere that sells replacement instrument clusters that work on berlinettas. If I can find it, I'll post a link.

 

Depending on what you want to do I'm thinking you have a few options.

• Replace with either a rebuilt unit or another used one. I've found that most of the used ones are way overpriced and don't work anyways. You also have to be careful not to pick up a V6 version as well. Not sure what the rebuild cost is, or if you're handy with electronics or not. You could try re-flowing the solder and checking it out internally if you have any experience with that kind of thing. I would get a hold of a second one so that you're still able to use the car while working on the other one. Having another one to reference against is also helpful.
  
• Replace the entire dash, either another Thirdgen or Forth gen. Again you would need to be handy with wiring and resolving issues as you go. There have been a few Forth Gen swaps so you could search and find out what's involved with that and decide if it's something you want to consider.
  
• There are also aftermarket gauges that should work with the digital output from the transmission that the standard cable driven speedometers won't. This would require you to fabricate something to fit in place of the current cluster and then wire everything separately.

If the pod buttons are hard to active they can be easily fixed for free if you know how to solder and have some patience. >Click Here

I hate the turn signals deal as well, but you would probably have to swap steering columns and figure out the wiring to take advantage of that.

On the plus side your AC controls are on the dash and you can do almost anything you want with the center console. I have replaced mine with a standard console in the past (with some modifications) and you could easily add a few gauges where the AC controls normally are.

I know you're in a bind now, but if you look around there are a few options and deciding what you want to do is up to you and how much time and effort you're willing to put into it. Try to keep it classy and make everything look like it belongs there by the time you're done. The hardest route to go IMO is keeping it original although I like a lot of the features it does have that my '85 standard Camaro does not.

 

well thanks for all the input. i actually sold that camaro and got an 84 berlinetta.
the digital dash only works when my headlights are off.. not sure how to fix that. any suggestions? it would only be temporary until i make my own cluster with aftermarket gauges..

the car i have now has a 700R4 with a stage 2 b&m shift kit, a 350 with a 293 duration cam, stock heads for now.
im going to use some sheet metal to fab up a custom cluster to put gauges in. would a mechanical speedometer work with my 700R4?

 

hey, may i point out that there are many companys that specialize in rebuilding those things. theyre getting pretty rare,so if i were you id keep it original and just repair it correctly

 

yeah they are getting very rare. the one in my new 84 works, but it goes out when you turn the headlights on? no idea why

 

If your dash lights are going out when you turn on the lights on the digital dash, try adjusting the scroll wheel along the right edge of the left (light control) pod. It sometimes gets wonky if not rolled from time to time. Happened on my 84 Berlinetta, a few up and downs and everything settled right back in and worked correctly.

 

well, the scroll wheel doesnt work at all. moving it up or down does nothing

 

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This is not a cluster problem. If adjusting the rheostat dimmer control ( or "scroll wheel" ) doesn't change anything than there is a very high probability that the 'Dimmer' circuit is fried inside the Light Module & you will need to replace the Light module to fix it.

It IS possible that the circuit board in the Headlight Pod has a problem on the dimmer control or there could be a wiring problem - but 95% of the time the Light Module is the cause.

 

alright, any idea where i could get the light module? it also looks like someone had tore into the headlight pod previously because its put back together with some foam adhesive stuff. thanks for the help

 

right along these lines. my left turn signal stopped working. Bulbs are good. hazards work. right signal works, it is just the left signal. I'm thinking a switch issue?

 

mine does that too. its irritating. then out of no where it will start working again for half the day. sometimes i just move that pod in and out or tap on the side of it, and it starts working again.

 

I have one for sale.http://www.facebook.com/ThisWeekInCamaro 443-527-9573 Jason