I got a question about a T5 with cable driven speedo.My car 1989 TRANS AM GTA is electronic DASH speedo,how would I connect the two to make them work?
TRANS IS OUT OF A 1987 FIREBIRD T5,has screw in cable speedo
CAR IS 1989 TRANS AM GTA ELECTRONIC SPEEDO
Can anyone tell me what I need ,all the parts,and part numbers,thank you

 

my 87 camaro T-5 had cable driven thing in it. I just unbolted the thing and slipped in a VSS sensor and it worked fine.

however you can't put a automatic vss sensor in a manual.
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I believe 85-89 used a 2,000pulse sensor and 90-92 used a 4,000pulse sensor .... the two plugs on them looked different from each other so thats the easiest way to tell which one you need.

 

Ok,I have the VSS sensor from a original T5 car,my car was 700r4,so I knew the one from my 700r4 would not work.
Anyone else?

 

What do you mean screw in? .... Just loosen that bolt on the cable drive thing and it should pull out then just slip your VSS is ... If the T-5 came from a 87 firebird it would have a electronic VSS already anyways.

 

He just means that the mechanical speedo cable screws onto the piece that's in the trans. I agree though, if the T5 actually did come from an 87 bird, then it should've already had a VSS unit in the tailshaft housing. sounds like the T5 is probably from an 85 or older bird, or an 89-older camaro. Just get a VSS from a 86-89 V6, or V8, T5 firebird, and the appropriate driven gear for your rearend ratio to go on the VSS shaft, and you should be all set. I don't think those VSS units are available new anymore, so you'll probably have to track down a used one somewhere.

 

The trans I have ,I checked the number on the metal tag ,it comes bacK as a 1987 T5,that was in a FIREBIRD,so it matches the car it came out of.
It is CABLE driven,maybe the car was a late 1986,I drove the car on the road for 1 year before I pulled the 305/T5.
I researched the web,and found several sites that have the NUMBERS that came off the T5,s,and Found the numbers I have,it says its a 1987 MODEL TRANS,but I never seen a 1987 with screw in speedo drive,this is what the car had:
1987 firebird,no AC,no power windows,no power locks,no power anything,305 4 barrell carb,T5,5speed,no sepertene belts,342 gears
When I bought it I thought it was a 1986,that someone had changed the serial number,but it came back clean title as a 1987 firebird.

 

so like I've said, just remove the retainer bolt right by that screw in speedo drive unit and use a screw driver to pry it out. find out what gears your car its going into has and buy them. remove the T-5 tail shaft and slip the drive gear on ... reassemble the tailshaft and slip the vss sensor in and the digital cluster will work ....

 

That I can do,thanks alot!!!

 

If you want to double check the model number on your T5, I posted all the applications in the sticky post, "everything we know about the T5", at the top of the trans/drivetrain forum. You probably won't even have to remove the tailshaft housing, unless you happen to have the oddball, red 9 tooth drive gear in there, which was only used with the RS/TBI cars that had 3.08 rear gears. All the rest of the f-body T5's got the 7 tooth, purple/blue gear. For 3.42 gears, it usually calls for the white, 19 tooth driven gear. If the white gear isn't close enough, then the blue, 20 tooth gear will work. Btw, there's no difference between the drive gear on the mainshaft for the cable driven or electric VSS units, they're all the same.

 

The following links may prove helpful:

http://sethirdgen.org/t5speedo.htm

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...eter-gear.html

JamesC