Factory gauge conversion

[cutlass_455]

Guys, does anyone know of a few companies that can take my factory 1987 Olds 442 gauges and make them work with my 2001 truck ECM gauge output signals??

They are pretty killer looking gauges and I wouldnt mind keeping the factory appearance.

Thanks.

[jbsjunk]

You can use the stock senders for the gauges (oil press/water temp) on the new engine w/adapters. If you want to keep the stock truck senders, you should be able to "T" them and run both.

I remember seeing someone that made a signal generator for the cable driven speedo but don't remember who. The tach lead should just go to the ECM.

[thunderstruck507]

cable x makes the speedo converter, but I've heard several people say the quality isn't good for what you pay

tach goes to the pcm, just change the output in the tune

temp can be used with an adapter, but so far I haven't found one that won't peg my gauge at operating temp

oil pressure we tapped the small piece that bolts to the block above the oil filter and put my factory sending unit in

this makes the gauges/lights work and you keep the truck senders for the pcm too

if anyone knows any other options for the speedometer and/or a good temp sending unit ohm load to look for that is the smaller sending unit (3/8 i think?) instead of the larger one I'd love the tip

[cutlass_455]

Thanks for the info and suggestions guys.

My guages from the car didnt work very well from what I remember the last time I used the car. The only one I think worked was fuel level.

I think Id kinda like the factory look with moden brains, but that might be pretty expensive.

Thunderstruck, you mentioned that I can use my truck PCM tach signal, but I have to tune it. I have HP Tuners, but have yet to acutally use it, haha. How do I do what you are suggesting, and what do you recommend I set it to??

Im using a Moroso oil pan with the remote oil filter, so I can put a pressure sender somewhere there, I was just hoping to use the PCM output as its already reading an oil pressure. As far as temp senders go, I have lots of room on the passenger side cylinder head for another sender there, but once again, Id like to use the factory signal if I can.

Overall, Im kinda lost and confused about what to do about these gauges.

Any help, recommendations and suggestions would help me out quite a bit.

[86slicksilverss]

You might try redline gauge works. They claim to be able to put modern electronics in your factory gauges. I also understand that it might be a little on the expensive side.

[thunderstruck507]

there should be a tach signal setting for 6 in 2 places, change them both to 3 if I remember correctly

[G-Body]

See attachment for tach edit in HPT.

For the oil pressure you can just toss the stock LSx sender if its a 98-02 motor, as the PCM does not monitor the oil pressure on those. So just pull the sender from behind the intake, put in a metric to American adapter and your old sending unit.

For the temp sender, some people will drill and tap the hole in the head bigger to accept their old 3/8" sender. Or I have seen people drill and tap the water pump for the sender. I on the otherhand cut my old sender down. There actually is enough meat on it that you can cut it down and rethread it 12mm x 1.50 and it will thread right into the head. A lathe is really nice to do that, but a drill press and file is pretty easy too. Heck since the sender is brass you can actually do it with a hand drill and file.

For my speedo I stuck the guts of an autometer electronic speedo behind my face, and then got a new overlay to update it to 120mph speedo.

[cutlass_455]

Thanks for the info GBody.

Do you have any pics of the gauges in your car?? The factory gauges in my 442 are quite small, and swapping guts over doesnt seem like it would work, and Im not too sure if I want to tear apart a brand new gauge either.

Im not totally adverse to fabbing up a new flat panel and cutting new holes in it for new autometers, and if I dont have the room, put an A pillar pod up if I have to. Its just if Im gonna spend $500 on new autometer stuff, then maybe I should consider getting my factory ones converted.

I actually have lots of room in the back on the passenger side for a temp sender there, if I wanna put a second one there. I also have the adapter, from autometer I think. Im not too keen on drilling and tapping holes all over the place, mostly cuz of the shavings, I dont want to have them in there, and I know cleaning them up is gonna be a pain.

My harness, ECM and engine are 2001.

What size of thread is the oil sender and what size of socket do I need to get it out?? Is there any tricks I need to know about??

[G-Body]

The oil pressure sender is M 16mm x 1.50 thread. There is some kinda special oil pressure sender socket to remove it......I have always just used vice-grips though.

I attached some pics of the speedo. The autometer that I used was a $50 factory blemish from e-bay......didn`t really matter to me that the clear plastic face had a scratch....I was gonna rip it off anyway.

[cutlass_455]

Thanks for the pics.

Are the speedo and tach 3 3/8?? Mine are too small for that type of conversion I think. My lay out is a little different then yours, my 4 little guages are on the right with the tach and speedo side by side on the left and centre. And I think the opening in the dash is smaller then yours.

You removed the oil sender from the truck motor while its installed?? Do you have to pull the intake??

[G-Body]

Yep, my tach/speedo are approx 3 and 3/8.

I think I pulled the oil pressure sender before I put the motor in, but I can`t remember anymore. It has been over 4 years since I did the swap. But even if you have to pull the intake to do yours in the car its not bad. I have pulled my intake a couple times and its about a 15 min job. No coolant flowing through it, and re-useable gaskets