... less time on TGO and more time in the garage.

TTFN.

 

Hahaha... that's how my house feels these days

 

Replace your oil pump for good measure

I didnt and my engine is suspect now

 

I am just shimming the spring in my stock pump.

 

Hmmm, I'll have to think about that. The engine was checked out and guaranteed by the seller, and nothing has been disturbed.

Since I don't have a rest room in the garage, needed to come in anyway, so thought I'd provide some updates.

It would be nice if all of the gauges were the same brand/style, I'll just live with it for now, might replace the gauges with all Auto Meter over time. Hope those neon lights aren't too bright.



This has taken a couple of days to sort through. I tried to match wire colors, ended up labeling everything. The only wires that came with the instruments were for the tach and fuel gauge, I had to run the rest of them. I took the time to solder each terminal and splice (instead of relying on crimp alone, some of those wires are small).



I've identified and routed all of the required wires from the engine harness (including the backup lights - thanks for the help there). I've identified the original cluster circuits from the PWB on the backside, now need to pull those wires from the vehicle harness, tag them, and put terminals on them and the instrument panel leads. And run the oil pressure line. Then I should be able to put the dash back together!!!!

 

Probably the best weekend of work on the car I've had in quite a while.

Got all the wires identified, separated, and tagged. Next is rewrap the harness, get the terminals on (I'm using connector terminals so I can remove the panel if necessary), and put the dash back together.

 

post pics of how the neons work out, they look nice.

 

Not sure when I'll have the battery in and hooked up, but when I do, I'll try to get a pic of it.

 

Yeah, it's bad that the dimmer doesn't do the turn signal indicators along with the gauges. If they're way way too bright, you can add in a resistor, or get some black fingernail polish.

 

If someone was to make a detailed how-to writeup of how they wired a gauge cluster like that, I would consider doing that to my car. I love the way those gauges look in the dash.

 

I thought about stencilling them to make an arrow out of them like stock. I suppose I could run one on a battery and see how bright it is.

I could tell you what I did. It may only apply to Camaros, or maybe only early 3rd gen Camaros. I don't know for sure, but at least the turn signal wires were the same as posted for an '89 by another member in another thread (must have been tired when I was trying to trace out the right turn signal indicator wire - a top & bottom of the connector thing).

Some of it I could tell you off the top of my head. The rest I'd need to go look at the car to be sure.

A lot of it was simply reading the instructions for the gauges (only had the instructions for the speedo and fuel gauge, got the instructions for the tach off the net). I relied heavily on schematics linked in the LS1 swap sticky. I also bought an LS1 wiring guide from eBay that has come in handy.

 

It seems like it would be a messy job (like a rats nest) because of all the wires going into the back of the cluster. It would have to be a winter project for me because I'm sure it would take me a while to finish.

How much did the setup cost you anyway? Did you buy the gauges seperately or did they all come in the cluster, and where did you buy it from?

 

How messy it ends up pretty much depends upon how much attention you pay to detail during the process. It isn't as clean as the factory flex PWB, but it is manageable.

I bought the panel with Equus gauges from a tech member, paid $350 for it. He had done some of the wiring but had never hooked up or used it. The speedometer was mechanical drive, and the fuel gauge the standard 0-90 ohm. I didn't want to get a speedo drive box, and I'm using an LS1 fuel tank, so I got programmable Auto Meter pieces from Summit for those two (Equus doesn't have programmable).

 

Painless offers a mini-harness just for doing the usual assortment of Auto Meter gauges. tach, oil press, water temp, voltmeter, fuel level and speedo.

 

$135 for electric speedo, $125 for mechanical speedo. http://www.painlesswiring.com/webcat...rchField=30302

I think I'll save about $120 and wire the panel myself.

 

I just realized today that my $105 fuel gauge doesn't have a light. Didn't come with it. Another $8.95 from Summit. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Actually, found it at a local speed shop.

All connections made, harness wrapped, putting the dash back together.