TechSmurf

I've got a set of generic aftermarket gauges sitting here.. wondering how big a pain it would be to remove the idiot lights and put these in their place. Think they could be anchored appropriatly? Would there be any problems drilling through the firewall behind the cluster? Near the speedo cable for reference purposes. They're mechanical gauges.
Also, what's the capacity of the stock 2.8's charging system? Got an ammeter with it, need to know if I'm gonna make it go boom (if the draw from my subs/multi-beam road lighting doesn't do that on its own).

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'86 Camaro SC, black /w silver racing stripes
2.8l MPFI/700r4 /w special 2nd gear delete option
In search of new v8 engine & transmission, now contemplating t5 swap to get me out of this mess.
Misc Mods: Cut air box, '83 Firebird spoiler.
Performance Parts: MSD coil, Accel 8mm wires, SplitFire plugs, Gabriel hijackers.
Audio Mods: Pioneer DEH-P3000, two 12" Optimus Pro Audio subs in hand-made enclosure each powered by a 260 watt Optimus amp. Working on shaving the box for weight.
My Homepage, with pics.

TomP

Your '86 should have the same alternator as me; and mine is the 105 amp one.

I put mechanical gauges in my car.. they're Summit gauges, 2 1/16 inch. They're in a dual gauge pod. The hardest part was drilling thru the firewall, like you guessed. It wasn't that bad for me, since I have quite a few holes there already! Some f-bodies (actually most that I've seen) have a plugged-up hole in the firewall. It's located sort of between the bottom of the brake booster, and the steering column. I knocked mine out with a hammer & punch (hammered from underneath the dash, punched the plug out towards the engine).

I have oil pressure & water temp. Oil pressure was easy; our '86's have two sensors near the pump. They're both 1/8" NPT threads. One sensor has one wire coming from it, that's the one for your idiot light. The other two-wire sensor is the back-up switch for the fuel pump.

Water temp was a bit of a pain. The coolant temp sensor for the dash light is at the front of the driver's side head, with a green wire coming from it. The gauges I got had too small of a fitting, and my mechanical sender just "fell into" the block. I needed to buy an adapter for it; the Summit guy knew exactly what I needed (good thing)! I don't know what size the adapter is/was, and I'm not sure I saved the receipt. The adapter was by Autometer, if that helps.

When I first drilled thru the firewall, I used the large bulkhead connector as a reference point.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

TechSmurf

Still missing one bit of info.. how hard would it be to actually put them *in* the dash as a replacement of the existing idiot lights? Or should I just mount the cluster under the dash and be done with it?

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'86 Camaro SC, black /w silver racing stripes
2.8l MPFI/700r4 /w special 2nd gear delete option
In search of new v8 engine & transmission, now contemplating t5 swap to get me out of this mess.
Misc Mods: Cut air box, '83 Firebird spoiler.
Performance Parts: MSD coil, Accel 8mm wires, SplitFire plugs, Gabriel hijackers.
Audio Mods: Pioneer DEH-P3000, two 12" Optimus Pro Audio subs in hand-made enclosure each powered by a 260 watt Optimus amp. Working on shaving the box for weight.
My Homepage, with pics.

CC_HotRod

Why not put a gauge cluster in from another Camaro. (There is a tech article on this swap) That is what I did.

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Dale Earnhardt was a scholar of the race track that drove with the spirit of a warrior.

My Camaro: http://home.earthlink.net/~singleton052095

TomP

Oh you want them -in- the dash? Sorry about that It'd probably be a big pain... I never bothered to check it out. I like the "added gauges" look for my car.. there's a few guys that put aftermarket gauges into their original clusters, you can find them on the Appearance board. Some of them did some damn nice jobs!


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

TechSmurf

It's looking like it'll be too time consuming anyway to put them in the dash.. any reccomended areas for cluster install? I want them to be easy to read while driving, but I don't want them to obscure my vision... (no above-dash positions, and I can't afford an A-pillar pod).. got ideas, but they'd require looking quite a bit away from the road.. maybe that empty spot above the AC control panel? Shouldn't be too bad for visibility considering firebird gauge panels extend that far...

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'86 Camaro SC, black /w silver racing stripes
2.8l MPFI/700r4 /w special 2nd gear delete option
In search of new v8 engine & transmission, now contemplating t5 swap to get me out of this mess.
Misc Mods: Cut air box, '83 Firebird spoiler.
Performance Parts: MSD coil, Accel 8mm wires, SplitFire plugs, Gabriel hijackers.
Audio Mods: Pioneer DEH-P3000, two 12" Optimus Pro Audio subs in hand-made enclosure each powered by a 260 watt Optimus amp. Working on shaving the box for weight.
My Homepage, with pics.

TomP

My pod was only $20 from Summit... my only idea would be to hang 'em from the slight gap between the top of the windshield and headliner. I want to add a trans temp gauge, but I have no idea where the heck I'll put it! That spot you mentioned sounds good (under the a/c vents).. you might be able to make an enclosure for it so nobody'd see the backs of the gauges...


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

CC_HotRod

I use to think about taking out the center AC vents and making a fiberglass panel that would fit into the opening to install gauges. That way I could remove the duct work from under the dash and hide the wiring. Kind of like the Gauge Cage they make for Mustangs.

------------------
Dale Earnhardt was a scholar of the race track that drove with the spirit of a warrior.

My Camaro: http://home.earthlink.net/~singleton052095

TechSmurf

Actually I think there's enough space for me to stuff them under the dash pad right behind the steering wheel without obstructing my turn signals, enclose the pod, and black out my idiot lights.. and they'll be hella easy to read on the road =)

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'86 Camaro SC, black /w silver racing stripes
2.8l MPFI/700r4 /w special 2nd gear delete option
In search of new v8 engine & transmission, now contemplating t5 swap to get me out of this mess.
Misc Mods: Cut air box, '83 Firebird spoiler.
Performance Parts: MSD coil, Accel 8mm wires, SplitFire plugs, Gabriel hijackers.
Audio Mods: Pioneer DEH-P3000, two 12" Optimus Pro Audio subs in hand-made enclosure each powered by a 260 watt Optimus amp. Working on shaving the box for weight.
My Homepage, with pics.