86 tach dash?

[BurnoutNova]

what years factory tach's will work for an 86 chevy that came with factory gauges but no tach...

or what does it take to convert a 78 tach dash into an 86

[Russell]

Any tach from 78 + will be a bolt in jobber to your 86. The only issue you may run into will be your speedo. Your current speedo will probally have a Vehicle Speed Senor bolted to the back of it. Its basically to tell your ECM how fast your truck is going so it can base different carb adjustments off it.

You could get a 2 pulse per speedo cable turn VSS that goes inbetween your transmission and speedometer cable to replace the stock VSS, or you can cut up the 78 cluster to fit your current speedo in. However, you'll probally notice that your current speedo is orange, and that the 78 cluster has a blue tach / speedo.

An inline VSS can be bought from Jegs, Summit, Jagsthatrun.com etc I'd guess it to be in the 50 dollar range, tops.

[BurnoutNova]

its my friends truck, and were in the middle of an engine swap...(he's going with a built up 406 and using a demon carb) so can i get rid of the VSS stuff,, and just put a regular cable in there from the 78? or will the 86 cable work... his speedo didnt work before anyway, so thats another reason he wanted a new instrument cluster.


ALSO, the tach dash was purchased at a swap meet, so how can i verify it is a 78+ cluster, just to make sure it doesnt fry anything?




thanks, zach

[Russell]

So long as it has an electric oil pressure gauge, and a volt meter (NOT an amp meter!) it will be a physical bolt in Sounds like he needs the 100 mph speedo anyways!

For cables, just use the one from the 86, should slip right in without a complaint. Most of the time when they stop working, one of the little gears in the tranny housing is stripped out, or the cable has frozen inside of the housing and either broke, or stripped the gears. If you go with your current cable, do yourself a favour and lube it up with some white lithium grease - That'll make sure it doesn't cease anytime soon, keep it from bouncing, or reading inaccurately.