Analog dash Mods

Vent shades, black outs, things like that
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zcylex
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Analog dash Mods

Post by zcylex »

What have you done to your analog clusters? Ive changed the lights for LEDs but didn't get the results i expected so im interested in know what have you guys done, especially on pre91 dashes.

Aftermarket like speedhut's?

Or DIY's?

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1988 Beretta GT 2.8L V6 - Yeah my Retta is a year older than me! :)
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by DOHC_tuner »

I have a white Speedhut overlay. Very good product however they screwed up and set the rev limit to low....5500 if i remember....its embassing when people notice that...."it redlines that low"? They always ask me.

I contacted Speedhut but they never responded.....pisses me off. I think i might just burn it!~


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3X00-Modified
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by 3X00-Modified »

IIRC you can pick a custom number if your doing a full custom overlay or they use the factory setting for the application your buying for, and no they don't recognize the difference between a Beretta 3.1 redline and a GTZ redline, hence why the one sold for the beretta is at 5500.

Did you try calling them? they have a number listed if you want to "customize" the base layout for each application.


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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by DOHC_tuner »

Im just going to put a sticker in the general area to cover up the redline.....a friend of mine has a arrow going from about 5k to 7k on a cavalier that says FUN.


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zcylex
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by zcylex »

i tried contacting them by email, perhaps i should call them... though i want it in black with white color overlay dunno if they do it hehe


1988 Beretta GT 2.8L V6 - Yeah my Retta is a year older than me! :)
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Rettax3
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by Rettax3 »

My '90 turbo 'T-Type' 'Retta came with analog gauges. I didn't like the orange needles in the standard clusters, particularly since my car is blue with blue. The top cluster in the picture shows the grey needles in my original cluster, on top, with a stock digi-dash cluster at the bottom, and a digital Z-24 cluster I modified for the Beretta in the middle.
Top: My '90's analog cluster, grey needles, blue LED lighting.<br />Middle: Z-24 semi-digital cluster modified for my 'Retta.<br />Bottom: Stock Beretta digital cluster.
Top: My '90's analog cluster, grey needles, blue LED lighting.
Middle: Z-24 semi-digital cluster modified for my 'Retta.
Bottom: Stock Beretta digital cluster.
I liked how the middle cluster was coming out, but the electronics were fried on both of the Z-24 clusters I got, so I started playing with other options. I was playing with the new clusters because I replaced my seized original 5-speed with one from a Z-24, which uses a different VSS speed-sensor that is incompatible with the Beretta's speedometer.
Digital cluster powered-up in my '90 'Retta.  Sourced from an S-15, still requires a speedometer calibration unit installed, like a Dakota Digital SGI-5.
Digital cluster powered-up in my '90 'Retta. Sourced from an S-15, still requires a speedometer calibration unit installed, like a Dakota Digital SGI-5.
This second picture is the digital cluster I have in there now, but I am replacing that with a digital cluster from an Olds Cutlass Supreme. I like the Supreme cluster because it looks very similar to the Beretta's analog cluster, with bars placed radially in a 180-degree arc around a digital display. It is a color that compliments, rather than clashes with, my car's interior, and is arguably the most attractive digital cluster GM ever used.
Olds Cutlass Supreme Digital Cluster.<br />Photo Courtesy of Google Images.
Olds Cutlass Supreme Digital Cluster.
Photo Courtesy of Google Images.


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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zcylex
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by zcylex »

nicee!! job. i just went crazy and stuffed a LED strip inside my cluster to improve backlight..
Attachments
how it used to look
how it used to look
this is how it looks now more or less
this is how it looks now more or less


1988 Beretta GT 2.8L V6 - Yeah my Retta is a year older than me! :)
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Rettax3
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by Rettax3 »

That looks good. The stock lighting on the alalog dash is sufficient, but not really anything better than that. Nice improvement!


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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zcylex
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by zcylex »

Olds Cutlass Supreme Digital Cluster. i want that! how would you go about installing it?


1988 Beretta GT 2.8L V6 - Yeah my Retta is a year older than me! :)
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Rettax3
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by Rettax3 »

The Olds cluster is WAAAAY too wide for our old dashes... So, I cut both idiot-light sections off of the ends with a hack-saw (after carefully removing the printed 'soft' circuit-board from behind). It may still be a little wide, but it is darn close -I'll let you know after I get that far with the re-install.

Just like the stock Beretta digi-cluster of our era, the Olds cluster needs the ECM to run it. That presents a serious problem if you are not running the engine with the stock computer, like me (the '90 'Retta this is going in is using a '97 Venture PCM to run the LA1/LG5 3400/3.1 turbo hybrid I have in the car), because it needs the 7X crank-position sensor to run the ICM, which then communicates RPM data to the ECM which in turn sends data to the cluster for the tach... Whew! I will be making an external reluctor-ring to trigger a dummy CKP7x for my tach. Now, if your car is stock, you can actually run your 2.8 off of the Olds computer, since it is looking for a 3.1 MPFI engine anyway -the 2.8 and 3.1 are essentially interchangeable, even the injectors are the same. EGRs might be different, so investigate before committing.

So, if you get to the point where you have the Olds Cutlass Supreme UB3 cluster (look in the donor car's RPO build sheet or sticker, usually located in the trunk on the spare-tire cover to see if it has the UB3 'full' digital cluster or the tachless 'base' cluster, or the analog cluster), ECM, and wiring pigtails for both (the ECM will NOT plug directly into your car's wiring harness, so you will have to re-pin or piggy-back the Cutlass ECM), PM me and I will send you the pin-outs for both the instruments and the ECM.

To really clean this all up, I will be using the Cutlass' tinted lens, that looks almost blacked-out when off, and will add a custom warning-light bar across either the top or the bottom, with LEDs so I don't have to worry about replacing burned-out bulbs, ever. Even the stock Beretta digital cluster uses bulbs to back-light the cluster, and for the dummy-lights...

Good luck :wink:


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by Cliff8928 »

You may have better luck making one from a Lumina APV work…. If i remember right, it's backlit.

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Rettax3
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by Rettax3 »

^^^Ummm, if that is the Lumina instruments you are talking about, I see the PRNDL display/cable, but that looks just like a Beretta analog cluster aside from that (or is it a Corsica cluster? Either way, 85MPH, :no: .)^^^

Either way, the old Beretta cluster is semi-back-lit too, for the numbers, tic-marks, and secondary gauges. Note the needles there are opaque though, just like the early Berettas' are.

I must admit, I am very tempted to go with an analog Rally look, with 270-degree sweep needles on nice clean round gauges, especially since my turbo 'Retta has the wrong (Fiero and Cavvy) VSS in it, and I could use a speedo from a Fiero for it. But I already have all the parts necessary to swap-in the Cutlass instruments, and they would look sooo good in that car! Maybe I'll try to swap my almost-mint '96 dash for a really clean early-gen dash (and door-panels) for my '95 Z-26, and put a rally-type gauge setup in that car... Or just wait until I can get my hands on a '90 GTZ... Hmm...


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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Rettax3
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by Rettax3 »

Digital Cutlass cluster is in (mostly) and operating (mostly). More info on my thread for that car, but here is a quick peek...
Powering up...
Powering up...
03-12-14_1850.jpg
I did have to notch-out the Beretta's dash, inside the instrument-housing area, to make the cluster fit without carving off so much that the mounting-holes would be weakened, and I piggy-back soldered the Cutlass' instrument wiring-harness pigtails instead of making a plug-into-the-stock-Beretta-instruments-connector housing on the back of the cluster like I did with the S-15 digi's and the Z-24 semi-digi cluster, but I am confident I will want to keep this cluster in the car permanently, and I can still go back to the stock Beretta cluster easily enough if I change my mind...


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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zcylex
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Analog dash Mods

Post by zcylex »

Soo cool. Those little numbers kill my already damaged eyesight though lol


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1988 Beretta GT 2.8L V6 - Yeah my Retta is a year older than me! :)
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Re: Analog dash Mods

Post by Rettax3 »

My crappy photos are courtesy of my 'ancient' phone. They are actually super-crisp, and much more readable than ANY analog display. Unfortunately, until I complete the wiring to the park-light switch to tell the cluster to dim for night-mode, it is stuck in full-bright, which means daytime visible. Once I splice in that one wire though, the dimmer function should work properly.


1989 SuperCharged 3800 Srs-II (First)Six-Speed GTU
1990 Turbo 3.4 5-Speed T-Type
1990 4.0L 4-Cam 32-Valve V-8 5-Speed Indy GTi (Project)
1990 Stock(!) 3.1 MPFI Auto Indy
1995 LA1/L82 4T60E Z-26
1995 3.4 DOHC Turbo 5-Speed Z-26
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