Beretta.net

Okay, so I have been working on grafting-in a late '80's Cavalier digital instrument cluster into my '90 "T-Type" 'Retta. The main reason for doing this is that I put in a good salvaged Cavy 5-speed transmission into the car, and the Cavy uses a different VSS (Speed Sensor) than the Berettas do, so my original speedometer was inoperative (I was using a Fiero speedometer temporarily hooked-up until now). I like the look of the Cavy's digital display, and got one cheap from the junk-yard.
But, I was having some trouble with the instruments powering up correctly, and started looking around at some other options... Then I ran across this online:
I now have two Berettas with the digital dash instrument option, I have three or four spare clusters for them and two ECMs to run them, and have intentions of swapping one into my '97 turbo Z-24 just to be different, so I know what they look like. And I know they did NOT come in green, and I know they were not offered in the '91+ Berettas. I am not too surprised that someone took the time to graft one in to a later-style dash, but although I've looked superficially into changing-out the backing lens for the display with another color, I wasn't really sure it could be done. Now I'm pretty sure!
So, does anybody here recognize this car? It looks like a base-model (judging by the seats), obviously manual tranny, and that looks like a really clean conversion. I just thought I would share this with everyone here, and see if anybody knows who did the work, or if I am missing something terribly obvious to anyone who has gotten a full night's sleep this week.

That is an OLD picture... IIRC, they did a newer dash swap. It has a Corsica cluster "hood". I remember them taking the cluster apart and removing the orange lenses from the inside. Who did it, I couldn't tell ya... it's around here someplace though.

heavywoody wrote:That is an OLD picture... IIRC, they did a newer dash swap. It has a Corsica cluster "hood". I remember them taking the cluster apart and removing the orange lenses from the inside. Who did it, I couldn't tell ya... it's around here someplace though.

Yeah, that is defiantly not original, they did not offer it on the new dashes. Looks worse IMO than original.

That's a full Corsy dash. Look at the passenger side in that one pic of the spot where you can put stuff. At least it looks like one.

I'm glad it is on here somewhere, at least the info was available before. Like it or lump it, I still think it was a clean install, and the different-than-orange color-scheme is a refreshing change to me, knowing now that it is indeed possible to swap-out the lenses and change the color makes me certain that I will be doing so to my teal Indy, and maybe someday even to the GTU (although I am thinking either white or even multi-color LED for the GTU).

I had plans to drop-in a '91 S-15 digital instrument package into the Indy (because it is something different than what is in my GTU, I have a freshly rebuilt one I picked up for cheap, it is an attractive-looking dash, and it illuminates in that more typical blue/green color that more closely compliments the Indy's interior accents than orange), but now I will just swap-out the backing lenses for the original instruments instead -I'm much happier with that decision.

I thought something looked wrong with the dash, but I wasn't certain as I only have/had one later-style interior Beretta, and its' dash was so far gone (I still have a mint replacement, but I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to swap it in now), and I wasn't looking too closely at anything but the instruments. Corsica makes sense, thanks for putting that in.

I'd rather my GTU had a softer blue-ish color to the lights than the harsher orange, but to each their own.

Travelor wrote:I'd rather my GTU had a softer blue-ish color to the lights than the harsher orange, but to each their own.

Yeah, the first digital dash Beretta I remember seeing (working and "on", at least) was actually my teal Indy, back when "GTiIndy" had it, years before I bought my GTU. I remember thinking back then that the orange was a very cool change from the then-popular blue/green digital displays (I have an '85 Nissan 300ZX turbo with the digital instruments, so I was already used to that), but that it really didn't fit the teal Indy's interior accents and looked very out-of-place on the car. I also decided NOT to convert my blue-on-blue Beretta to digital, for the same reasons. My GTU has the red interior, so orange isn't overly contrasting in the car, but red or white would fit the car better, and multi-color LED would let me run whatever color I want at any given time and would fit the white-faced multi-color add-on analog gauges I have in the car too... It would be hard to pass that option up if I am going to modify the car anyway. One of my Camaros is currently running a blue/green early eighties Berlinetta (notice I said "Berlinetta", not"Beretta") digital instruments package until I get around to re-installing the red-faced gauges I built for it, and that blue/green scheme is what is going into my '90 turbo 'Retta from the '89 Z-24 setup. Ahh variety, the spice of life!

Berlinetta... there was one of these sitting for the past year at a scrap yard i go to, but i was there today and the yard was getting pretty dam empty it had the digital dash in it. Had a really weird style carb on it too i was always going to snag some parts off it but never did

I had an 85 Camaro Berlinetta with the spaceship cluster, lol! It still had the funky center console with the his&her digital swivel radio when I bought it! I quickly swapped that out for a normal black one, lol! Also swapped the complete interior from gross tan to black! Did a few other mods to the car too!

Ooo, aaaah!

VERY pretty Camaro! (And very nice looking Beretta too, of course!)
For those not in the know, the third-gen Camaro (1982-1992) was offered with a "Berlinetta" package, like the second-gen Camaro. However, in the third-gen cars, this amounted to a few emblems, a special dashboard, digital instruments, a different center-console (it was taller), and funky swivel stereo mounted to the center console rather than in it. There were NO performance differences related to the Berlinetta, it was a trim-package option until 1985 or '86. To my knowledge, ALL third-gen Berlinettas received the digital instruments, it was really what made the package unique. The Berlinetta also used full-logic button controls and a relay-box piggy-backed onto the ECM under the dash to control exterior lighting -look closely at the steering console and ask yourself 'Hey, where is the turn-signal stem?" Ha! There isn't one, the turn signals were operated by a little paddle that stuck out from the adjustable 'pod' that flanked the left side of the instrument cluster. Weird, very weird, but cool in that it was a different way to do the same job. HVAC controls were mounted in the right 'pod', and much of that was also push-button.

Scd88ga, that really was a pretty car. Slightly confused I see, with RS ground-effects and a Z-28 hood and tail-lights from one of those other sub-models too, but I like to think of cars like that as being built the way GM should have offered them, especially when they come out looking right, like yours did. Thumbs up man, thumbs up.

Rettax3 wrote:Ooo, aaaah!

VERY pretty Camaro! (And very nice looking Beretta too, of course!)
For those not in the know, the third-gen Camaro (1982-1992) was offered with a "Berlinetta" package, like the second-gen Camaro. However, in the third-gen cars, this amounted to a few emblems, a special dashboard, digital instruments, a different center-console (it was taller), and funky swivel stereo mounted to the center console rather than in it. There were NO performance differences related to the Berlinetta, it was a trim-package option until 1985 or '86. To my knowledge, ALL third-gen Berlinettas received the digital instruments, it was really what made the package unique. The Berlinetta also used full-logic button controls and a relay-box piggy-backed onto the ECM under the dash to control exterior lighting -look closely at the steering console and ask yourself 'Hey, where is the turn-signal stem?" Ha! There isn't one, the turn signals were operated by a little paddle that stuck out from the adjustable 'pod' that flanked the left side of the instrument cluster. Weird, very weird, but cool in that it was a different way to do the same job. HVAC controls were mounted in the right 'pod', and much of that was also push-button.

Scd88ga, that really was a pretty car. Slightly confused I see, with RS ground-effects and a Z-28 hood and tail-lights from one of those other sub-models too, but I like to think of cars like that as being built the way GM should have offered them, especially when they come out looking right, like yours did. Thumbs up man, thumbs up.

Thanks! Yup, ground-effects/bumpers grille came of an 88 RS, factory fiberglass hood off a 84 Z28, tails came off a late 80's IROC-Z, black interior mostly came from a 85 T/A, the list goes on and on with that car! lol The stock Berinetta though unique was pretty awful looking. Ugly emblems, ugly wheels, ugly decals, base tails, base hood, no ground-effects, etc... No thanks! lol

The Beretta was Brttagrrl95's old 95 3400 base. I have a red 94 quad Z26.

I recently changed my digital dash color, by removing the orange from the back plates (now they are white) add color to your choosing and reinstall.

I'd changed my Indy to red using a lens out of an exit sign and then used red LEDs. Pardon the pic the cluster is messed up.

Fast forward much later than when I started this post, I ended up with a Yellow Indy to compliment the Teal one, giving me three digi-dash cars. The cluster had some issues, and when I pulled it I also pulled the orange lenses out and replaced them with a white fibrous 'cloudy' material. With the original incandescent bulbs, it ended up with a warm yellowy-gold glow, matching the Yellow Indy's interior accents very nicely. As yet, I STILL haven't replaced the GTU's lenses though... And the blue-on-blue Turbo 'Retta ended up with a digital Olds Cutlass Supreme International cluster, which looks almost like a digitized version of the Beretta analog gauges, including 180-degree sweep (albeit with digital tick-marks that light up around an actual digital number, instead of a sweeping needle) speedo and tach, and it is the traditional blue/green plasma illumination. My 'old' '95 Z-26 eventually lost its' speedometer so I grafted in a '90's Bonneville HUD, which works fine though is a bit bright at night (I haven't put in a dimmer circuit yet, I just don't drive that car much anymore). It will probably get a more aggressive-looking 'rally' type instrument package with 270-degree sweep instruments (possibly built from either a Fiero cluster or a heavily modified 3rd-Gen Trans Am cluster) if I get back into that car enough to spend the time. Fun stuff.