80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

To get the VSS capability I need and add a tachometer I was toying with cutting up a square body gauge cluster to make it align better with the 67-72 dash configuration but while at the wrecking yard today I came across something I hadn't thought about using. A third gen Camaro gauge cluster.

Fits just about perfectly in the clear area of the dash opening, the speedo & tach are nearly in the same location as the 67-72 parts and it is all completely level so no weird angles or spacing to deal with. The visible area of the tach & speedo are even larger than the square body parts so that is a plus too.

I will fabricate a new dash bezel to fit the cluster into and also incorporate a spare square body overdrive shift indicator just above the steering column as well.

7000 rpm tach, 115 mph speedo & 80 psi oil pressure gauge too.

I fit the whole thing with 168 bulbs while I was there too so it will be plenty bright.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

This will be a great looking set up. Only thing better would be a 140 speedo.

Kerry P

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

Easy retrofit as would be the 85 mph speedo too, just not that easy to find a 140 speedo at the pull it yourself wrecking yard.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

Looks like a cool idea. How much are you gonna cut up to make it work?

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

Nice you know the spedomitors and tach from a second gen camaro will fit nicely in the stock bezel

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

Attachment 634488just a thought. if you could get your hands on an extra glove box door, and have the equip. and know know to cut/weld the holes and recess metal rings for depth and mount the cluster as in the "crude" pic that i made. imo, it would be very hot.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

watching, interested.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

x2

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

great idea.....looking forward to it being finished..

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

Have you thought about a three hole bezel? It would take a little patience but you could graft it in and make it look good. Tricky part is getting the pebble finish right. BTW, Cool idea:metal:. Cnut

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

When you get further, maybe you can answer the following.
Does the stock speedometer cable fit this speedo?
Does the fuel gauge work with our fuel tank sender?
Is the oil pressure gauge electric and if so what sender?

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

I shouldn't have to cut anything up to make it fit. I am going to make a new gauge mounting panel that looks like the original truck part that has the right openings in it for the Camaro cluster to just bolt right in unmodified.

Not sure what material I am going to use yet. Some type of plastic, aluminum or even fiberglass.

I have a scrap of plexi that I am in the process of making match the stock truck gauge panel shape that will allow me to play around with gauge location.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

Problem with that is I need the optical VSS capabilities of the third gen speedo for my EFI swap as my transfer case only has a cable speedo output.

Third gens are way easier to find in the wrecking yard too.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

I thought about that too. There haven't been any 67-72's in my local wrecking yard for a while so I am looking into other options too.

I was a machinist & TIG welder for the air force for 13 years so I can fab up pretty much anything out of metal if I have access to the right tools.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

It uses the clip on speedo cable like the square body trucks do so the cable will need to be swapped for one from a square body or you could grab the Camaro part when you get the gauges.

The fuel gauge is the standard GM gauge so it will work on any GM fuel tank that uses the modern 0-90 ohm sender. I think they switched to that in the early 60's if I remember right. All 67-up trucks will have it for sure.

The oil pressure gauge is electric. There are two ranges you will find in the Camaro clusters. One is 60 psi and is found in most V8 cars. The other is 80 psi and is usually found in the 6-cylinder cars. Grab the sender that matches from the cluster donor car or use one that matches from a square body truck. Diesels had 80 psi gauges and gas motors used 60 psi so they are easy to get. You can swap the circuit board on the back of the tach from a 6-cylinder tach with one from a V8 to make your own V8 tach with 80 psi oil pressure gauge.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

I was thinking about making a plaster mold out of a stock bezel and using it to make a fiberglass copy. Shouldn't be too hard to add the right texture to the blank areas.

I'm going to make a 3-D solid model of it in AutoCAD and play around with the look and placement plus see if there is room for supplemental gauges too.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

just take that and mount it to a glove box door and paint to match.... cool idea..

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

If I can come up with an extra one I had planned on seeing what it would look like.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

Did a quick layout tracing the pics I took to get a feel for what it will look like.

Not too bad. Should be room for a secondary gauge where the choke cable bezel used to be without running into the gauge cluster.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

That's looking so good that you'd better be prepared when people to want you to make up a few extras.

Kerry P

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

Cool idea, will be watching.

If someone wanted to use a 73-87 tilt column this would take care of cutting the dash bezel to get it to fit.

Have you thought about using casting resin to make the bezel? I have been looking at this site about ideas to make lenses for my 50 Chrysler.

http://www.alumilite.com/

Again, great idea.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

I have quite a few ideas of how to do it. I am just short on funds and equipment to do it the way I really want right now. To get me on the road with it I will probably be using plexi that I can easily machine at home with basic hand tools.

Maybe once I get a prototype built out of plexi that I like I can use the casting resin method you linked to so I can reproduce it and create the correct texture for the surface. Thanks for the link.

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

Will be watching this one.

What year Camaros are you looking for when you get a good cluster like what you are working with?

Re: 80's Camaro gauge cluster retrofit?
 

82 to 89 has the same cluster design. Very few were made without the factory gauges & tach. I have only seen two non-tach cars in 25 years of working on them. 90 to 92 changed configuration and is an electronic speedo not cable driven.

Several different speedo configurations and tachs with varying redlines, oil pressure gauge ranges and 6-cyl or 8-cyl calibrations.