MotorCityMuscle

Im seriously thinking about putting a 90-92 style dash in my 89 RS, the 89 dash is just way too plain looking.

My question concerns mainly the differences in dash wiring for the 2 styles. Obviously the 90-92 would have the wiring for the airbag system. Is the airbag wiring fairly independant of the rest of the harness, and more to the point, easy to remove?

Will the senders for my gauges work with the new style dash? Any other advice you can give me before I dive into this?

Thanks in advance.

AlbertaFbody

do a search and read up. cause this post wouldnt have to be here if you searched

MotorCityMuscle

You've been oh so helpful. Whats the point of the message board even existing if all one has to do is search?

AlbertaFbody

this board is very helpfull if you ask questions after you have done a little work your self. its not that hard you press the search button put it what you are looking for and read a little. sorry to be a jerk its just that instead of everyone reading a post that has either been a sticky or has been asked a couple times just do a search plus you will get more results on the topic in a faster manner that way any way

MotorCityMuscle

Maybe if the search function didnt suck so much ***, people would be more inclined to use it.

And furthermore, who are you anyway? If someone who's opinion matters(read: not some **** ant with 87 posts) thinks my post is worthless, let them say so. Its not up to regulart members like ourselves to bitch about people not searching first.

Its also not like I asked some lame question like "will 4th gen seats fit in my thirdgen"

cdoyle

Someday if I ever get the time, I'm going to do this swap in my 84.
Have the dash sitting in the garage.

From what I've been able to find on this, one thing you'll have to do is swap out the cable for the speedometer and replace it with the VSS and wire from a 90-92.

This gets connected to the buffer box, that should be with the dash you get (at least it is with mine)

My question, is a donor car or the dealership the only place you can get the VSS and wire? Or is this something you can maybe get at an autoparts store? Also does it just screw right into the spot in the tranny where the cable went? Or is there any type of modification needed?

The wiring for the cluster is also different, The pins on the harnesses need to be moved around. Here is a chart that shows the difference between 84 and 91. I would think your 89 would be similar to my 84. I got this from someone else and since I haven't done the swap yet, not 100% how accurate it is

wiring

If you do this swap before me, could you please take lots of pictures and write down everything you have to do. A tech article on this would be great to have here.

pardonme2711

only thing i ever say negative about this board is everyone says do a search. they should just close this board down now and let everyone search. sometimes bringing an old topic back up can inovate new ideas and new ways of doing things.

AlbertaFbody

everyone is entitled to there own opinion mine is what i have stated above and obviously yours is what is stated above. just my two cents is all cause i have had more luck now searching for stuff then asking the question due to there are so many people on this board whomight have asked the same question as myself.

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

The reason everyone says to search is because usually its already been asked about, answered, discussed, revised and if you arent a complete moron the search works just fine, learn to use it, I've done the swap quite a few times and posted a good bit of information on it, find the posts, then if you want more discussion just stick a reply in there, voila more peoples comments can be added and the old information is still there.

cdoyle

I've asked about the VSS a few times, and really never got a clear answer about it.

Does it just screw into the same location as the speedometer cable, and then run the wire up to the buffer box?

Is there anything else I need to do for this?

Anyone have a VSS and wire for sale?

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

The VSS bolts in where the gear and sleeve go for the cable cars, removed the 10 MM bolt which holds the retainer and you can slide it out, its about 2" diameter, you will need a VSS and the correct gear since they are different between cable and electronic cars, it has two wires, if you are running a carb you need the vss with the two wires up to the buffer box which converts the signal to the 4000 PPM version that goes to the speedometer.

cdoyle

Thanks.
yeah my 84 is a carb so I'll have to get the 2 wire. Is the gear hard to replace?

Where can I pick up a VSS and Gear? only donor cars? Or can I get them from a autoparts store?

Do I just ask for a 2 wire VSS and gear for a 90-92 Camaro?

Are all the buffer boxes the same?

Trickster

Hello Motorcitymuscle,

Here are the instrument cluster pin-outs for the 89 and 92 instrument clusters. You will notice that there are some differences in the two. I also sent a pin-out of the passenger side connector for a 89 to your other post concerning this subject. The first two pictures here are for the 89 dash and the second two are for the 92 dash.

Trickster

page 2

Trickster

92 pin-out #1

Trickster

92 pin-out #2

cdoyle

I like that diagram better then the one I have, easier to follow. You wouldn't happen to have one for an 84 would you?

So the people who have actually done this swap, is there anything else we need to know? Any tips?

On my car, I want to swap out the heater control, to match the cluster. But because my car is older, my current control is run by 2 cables. The 92 control I picked up is 1 cable, and the rest vacum.

I was told in a different post, that I would need to swap out all the heater ducting because that is where the vacuum lines are. and then connect that to the new control.

Anyone done this before?

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

cdoyle: You shouldnt have any problem getting a replacement VSS from a local parts store, or GM dealership, the dealership will be the place to go for the gear, you should probably remove the old one first so you know which tooth one you need since there is a handful, its easy to remove just 1 10MM bolt and pull / pry it out after removing the cable, VSS goes in place just the same as the old came out, the buffer boxes are the same for tbi cars, just tell the parts store you need a VSS for a 92 camaro Vin E 305 TBI

As far as repinning the instruments i wouldnt be able to help you much with that as each time i've done the swap i didnt want to do any hacking and used the complete 90-92 wiring throughout the car, you can change your heater box to the newer style, it shouldnt be much trouble at all with the dash out, though you do need to remove your a/c or heater box if you have one.

cdoyle

Thanks again, hopefully I'll some time to do this swap. I've had the dash for over a year now sitting in the garage.

So it is the heater box, that I need to swap out along with any ducting. That's what I thought, but in the other post, the person who replied made it sound like the vacuum lines are in the ducting and not the heater box.

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

Its a big box bolted to the inside of the firewall, just you have to remove the heater / ac box to get at 2 of the bolts that hold it in. The duct work that is bolted to the dash seals to it.

DoBeR

iTrader: (1)

Has anyone actually done this swap yet or is it still just an idea??

cdoyle

I think there are a couple people who have done it. Before I start this project I hope that one of them write up a tech article with pictures. That would really be helpful!! hint hint!!

Z28ricer

iTrader: (2)

I've done it about 4 or 5 times ??

Z28GEN3

Ive done it put one in my '88 from a '91, what a PITA i ended up making special brackets to mount the silly thing and ended up cutting some of the old brackets off to make clearance. in the end it looks great, i didnt re-pin it either i swapped harnesses it wasnt very hard since i didnt have anything that power assisted.

cdoyle

Do you have any pictures of the process?

When you say you swapped harnesses, what do you mean?

Did the 91 harness plug in to the 88 harness somewhere? Nothing had to be rewired?

How hard was it to hook up the buffer box, or hook the VSS up.

Z28GEN3

i shoulda mentioned i swapped a MPFIV6 out, in favor of a 91z28 engine.

swapping the harness out was ez, since you have to remove it from the dash anyway if your swapping, unless your unfortunate enough to have power everything., oh and if you swap harnesses prepair to remove everything including the carpet!

I wish i had pictures but that was before i had a digital, it took me awhile to figure out how to mount the dash pad with my mounts in the way. the only major thing was the top mounts my 88 dash was a push on- meaning it hung on a stud and the 91 dash had 1 bolt on each side that went thru the top up near the windscreen.

RocVert

iTrader: (1)

not trying to bust into your thread, but I am parting out a 92
rs Camaro, it has the vss unit on the tranny, the gear of course I also have the entire underdash harness, ecm amd harness.

if you are interested let me know.

thanks and have a great holiday

cdoyle

How much for the VSS and gear?

porkyzilla

iTrader: (1)

i also have an 89 camaro but i have an iroc and im doing a t-56 swap...i have power everything i pulled it from a 90 iroc its the digital kind its sweet. i cut off the harnesses i have the connectors with wire...can i just rewire them???

also for the vss do i need a buffer box im gonn have a dkota digital unit converting pulses for my t-56 ???