86 Silverado Father and Son project

[EightiesOnly]

Very small update here...

I decided I had left my headlights on too many times.

I saw on this site that a headlight warning buzzer was cheap and easy to do, so I did it.

I found this pic from a factory service manual on another thread.



I picked up a buzzer from radio shack for $1.19 on clearance. Then added small ring terminals for plugging in to the fuse box terminals.



Added double sided tape.



And installed.





It works good. It's a little quieter than the key on buzzer, which is good.

In case you don't know how it works, the headlights feed gives it power and the ignition gives it ground through various circuits when the key is off.
So, key off + headlights on = BUZZ.

[EightiesOnly]

Time for an update.

I gave my instrument cluster a long overdue overhaul. I have been wanting to install an 82-89 Camaro tach/ oil pressure gauge. So, I bought one on ebay....



This meant that I had to find a small fuel gauge to put where the original oil pressure gauge went, so I pulled one at LKQ from a 70's pontiac car...





It required a small amount of Dremel work to clear the black cluster cover...



I was able to use both of the mounting posts...



It required switching the oil pressure sending wire and the fuel sending wire on the cluster connector.
Then I painted the needles (including the tach needles) with this...



This stuff works great on needles. Just use a bunch of thin coats.











From there I needed to put something where the old tach (clock spot) was, so I hacked a the SES and CRUISE lights out of this non-working cluster...







Painted over the markings.







Everything epoxied together the epoxied straight to the bezel.

[EightiesOnly]

To install the tach I cutout an old fuel gauge to hold the tach. I bent the top tab over the fuel gauge face, the bottom right tab lined up with the original fuel gauge tab, and I used a couple of tiny screws and nuts to fasten them together...



Wiring: I bolted wires to the existing clips using ring terminals. I also used a connector to bring the other wires in (tach signal, SES, cruise light, SES feed, speedo signal).





Installed.









I also had to move my BRAKE light over to the speedo. This also required a re-pin of the cluster connector.









As of now the cruise light simply comes on when the cruise lever is switched to on. I plan on coming up with a circuit to turn the light on only when cruise is engaged.





The tach, oil pressure gauge, and fuel gauge were all plug and play and work great!

That's all for the time being.

[NastyBuzzard]

The gauges turned out really nice!! I am going to attempt swapping in the 01 cluster into my 87 in my build...

[Low Elco]

Nice!

[mcbassin]

Skills brother....skills

[EightiesOnly]

Originally Posted by NastyBuzzard

The gauges turned out really nice!! I am going to attempt swapping in the 01 cluster into my 87 in my build...

Thanks. That will be awesome! I was going to try to install 99-07 tach, but it would have been too much trouble.

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Nice!

Thank ya

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Skills brother....skills

Thanks it was just quick and dirty.

[Crash_OK]

Great Job

[EightiesOnly]

Originally Posted by Crash_OK

Great Job

Thanks Mark, it went real smoothly.

[rfmaster]

Nicely Done

[EightiesOnly]

Originally Posted by rfmaster

Nicely Done

Thanks, I used some of your information from the thread over this install.

[Hankster]

Originally Posted by EightiesOnly

Dude that looks awesome!

[EightiesOnly]

Originally Posted by Hankster

Dude that looks awesome!

Thanks, it sure beats my old setup.

[P-DAWG'85]

I might just have to steal a few of your ideas for my build! I especially like the small fuel gauge and tac swap. ROCK ARM!!!

[mcbassin]

It's been almost a year, how's the 5.3 engine holding up?

[EightiesOnly]

Originally Posted by P-DAWG'85

I might just have to steal a few of your ideas for my build! I especially like the small fuel gauge and tac swap. ROCK ARM!!!

Thank You, that's one of my favorite additions!

Originally Posted by mcbassin

It's been almost a year, how's the 5.3 engine holding up?

It's held up awesome! I've daily driven for the year without any issues. The only thing I had to fix was the idler pulley which blew out a while back.

[joecool]

I was referred to your build by a friend,Great reading ,Thanks so much for posting it.
I am starting a 5.7 -700r4 out of a wrecked 93 fFeetwood so all your sweat will save me ,at least thats the plan.
Early on in the project your dad mentioned flashing a chip? Is this chip something that plugs in the ECM? I assume it changes timing and injector settings to help the performance some. Thanks again. Nice build .

[Justin@EntropyRad]

pretty sweet build..like the cluster work!

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by joecool

I was referred to your build by a friend,Great reading ,Thanks so much for posting it.
I am starting a 5.7 -700r4 out of a wrecked 93 fFeetwood so all your sweat will save me ,at least thats the plan.
Early on in the project your dad mentioned flashing a chip? Is this chip something that plugs in the ECM? I assume it changes timing and injector settings to help the performance some. Thanks again. Nice build .

Yes there is a chip in the ECM and We did not have to reflash it.

[joecool]

thanks

[EightiesOnly]

Originally Posted by Justin@EntropyRad

pretty sweet build..like the cluster work!

Thanks, I appreciate it.