General
What bothers me is that my Camaro doesn’t have a tachometer. I also miss the coolant temperature, oil pressure and battery gauges.
The displays could be retrofitted as original replicas on the center console, the tachometer in exchange with the fuel gauge or by completely replacing the instruments in the panel with new developments. The bottom line is that the costs for both solutions are at the same price level, and the effort required is also similar.
Ingenious products for the Camaro are manufactured by Dakota Digital. Several different designs are available. Different colors, dials and shapes. Variants with instruments on the center console are also offered. There are even fully assembled set in the instrument panel.
I choose the fully integrated variant with kilometer speedometer. Fuel gauge, oil pressure and temperatures are shown as “mouse cinema” in the gauges. When installed, the differences are not immediately apparent to a layman.
The kit supplied is complete and includes all material including the required encoders and a full wiring diagram.
Implementation
The original instruments must be removed. To do this, the glove box must be dismantled and the DashPad removed. Once all screws have been removed from the instrument panel, the part can be removed. It is also recommended that the steering wheel be removed. Finally, all plug connections must be disconnected.
The instruments are replaced in the panel. Nothing has to be sawed out either. The instructions from Dakota Digital are quite good and also illustrated.
In the car, the control unit must be hidden, but somehow reachable, and necessary wires must be routed and connected. Unfortunately, the original indicator lights are no longer needed. To allow retrofitting, I pinch off the old wires with some reserve before the plugs. The wire itself is extended to the new control box with a reasonable connector. I place the old controls and connectors behind the instrument panel.
The speedometer cable has to come out. I pulled this back into the engine compartment and threaded it into the fender. To the connection at the gearbox, the supplied sensor is built. I also leave the old shaft in place. However, the ends are secured and fastened. I simply thread the encoder cable along the path of the speedometer cable.
Oil pressure and oil temperature sensor as well as the cooling water sensor have to be changed and wired at the block. You should pay close attention to the length of the connectors. The coolant sensor positions on the engine block are always near the exhaust manifolds and therefore very heat sensitive. An appropriate protection is very helpful.
The oil sender is located on top of the block below the ignition distributor very centrally. The coolant sender is located either (in the direction of travel) on the right between cylinders 7-8 or on the left between 1-2. The wires can be routed to the normal wiring harness and attached.
I mount the control box on the right side of the firewall behind the glove box. It should not be installed near HEI distributor or electronic ignitions. The wires are bundled neatly to the harness.
A small switch is also routed to the control unit. I mount this below the radio.
Once everything is installed, the displays (including colors) and messages (e.g. limit values) are configured. This can be done either with a small switch or a smartphone app.
The mileage is important.
But be careful: The mileage can only be changed for the first 100 km, after that it is fixed!
The speed display and odometer are adjusted during the first trip. This can be done on a “test track” and can be corrected afterwards with a GPS comparison.