You really have the best videos. I think I very much relate to the work method and the result you are after. Much respect! Every car guy that repairs stuff should learn from this channel.
Glad to see you guys are back wrenching on the Trans Am and taking a break from the Javelin. Glad to see your obsession to replacing the parts of your cars to be as factory looking and functional as possible.
Thanks for this video. I have a "79 Firebird. My sons put in a Lemans 350 for Mothers Day. The gauges didn't work , short on time. Some issues just like these. Discovered they took out the printed circuit. I ordered a new one. Classic Industries.
Get a OTC 3385 Gauge tester. Kind of pricey but will save so much headache in diagnosing gauge issues. It will keep you from changing sending units over and over as well as pulling gauges when you don't have to. I use mine often, best money I ever spent. Where you own a few old cars, I would consider it. Dropped a pan once to change a oil pump on a car that had a bad brand new GM sending unit. Never again. Glad to see the Trans Am being worked on again. Keep up the great work!
My 79 trans am oil gauge flutters like that as well. 2 rebuilt motors in that car and changed the sending unit. Has always flickered. So id say its your gauge.
i had a 1968 when i was teen back in colorado my brother on the other hand had a 70 firebird when he worked with my dad at my dad body shop in illionois well was drubk and ehit a row of mail boxes tghe old style and one had 4 ft steel pipe as a mount inthe groiund well he totaLED THE CAR I LIKE THAT YEAR TOO. but i had the 2st gen 68 at 16 in 1985 ended up trading it for a 1969 nova. as for the needlkes are actully paint like a flouresnt ornge frfom the factory so the illuminate at night with backlite on the dash my dad and i restiored alot of cars back then
@@Oldsmob455 some times i wish i never got rid of it ,, but looking at the prices of dash gauges for the 68 i paid less for the whole car in 85 gauges over a grand wow
very nice job! check your temp sensor for proper ground, i saw teflon tape on threads insolating from ground since this is a one wire sensor it needs proper ground.
That is a great suggestion I am having the same problem after putting in new engine put in a new sensor as well I put Teflon tape on the threads and put it in the manifold aluminum elderbrock performer RPM maybe that was keeping from a proper ground as well I am going to double check that thank you for that suggestion
And it was working perfectly fine prior to the engine swap and nothing was done to the dash so therefore it should have work and could not have damaged the gauge itself
I picked up a similar car that you have, and I am working on the same stuff you are. Your videos have been a big help. What LED dash bulbs and sockets are you using? Are the LED bulbs dimmable?
When you were testing the gauge cluster outside of the car, where was the 12V input to the cluster? I replaced all of my bulbs with LED's and now only my fuel and volt gauges work. I have no lights on the main cluster and I'm trying to troubleshoot. Great video, and beautiful car. Mine is a 1974. Thanks.
What did you find out about the sending unit/sensor? I have a '73 and my temperature gauge is doing the same thing yours is. Barely coming up to temp. Thought mine was the gauge went bad but after watching your video...I'm not sure. Thanks!
It's been a long time since I even looked at this car but as I recall I came to the conclusion that the new gauge was not accurate. There is a restoration place that specializes in factory gauge restoration and I plan on sending them duplicates of all of the smaller gauges and see how it turns out. Don't recall their name right now..
@oldsmob455 I purchased a new gauge combo like the one you put in. New PCB overlay also. The new temp gauge just sits there. It moves ever so slightly down when I turn the car on.. I went so far as to return it and get another one from Classic Industries (they were good about the return) Same thing,, I have tried 2 new senders and tried a wire directly from the sender to the sender post on the back of the gauge. It still sits... I have some resistors 70 ohm, 100 ohm etc.. Im going to put those in line to the sender post and run the car and see if the gauge actually responds... or still just sits. Is that what you did? Added some resistors? I have taken these gauges apart enough times to feel confident I could pull the needle off and put it in the right place if I can get it to respond to the proper OHM readings for the various temperatures..
Hello Oldsmob455 your video is very interesting. I have a Pontiac Firebird 1970 formula 400 and recently my tachometer stopped working. So I changed it with a new tachometer, which is the same as in your video. The new tachometer is mounted on models from 1973 to 1975. The seller told me it could be mounted on my car. But it doesn't work and I don't understand. The old tachometer has a single terminal to connect the cable from the coil to the tachometer. The new tachometer has 2 terminals, one positive and the other for probably connecting the cable that goes from the coil to the tachometer. Can you help me please? Thanks a lot
You really have the best videos.
I think I very much relate to the work method and the result you are after.
Much respect! Every car guy that repairs stuff should learn from this channel.
Glad to see you guys are back wrenching on the Trans Am and taking a break from the Javelin. Glad to see your obsession to replacing the parts of your cars to be as factory looking and functional as possible.
Thanks for this video. I have a "79 Firebird. My sons put in a Lemans 350 for Mothers Day. The gauges didn't work , short on time. Some issues just like these. Discovered they took out the printed circuit. I ordered a new one. Classic Industries.
Get a OTC 3385 Gauge tester. Kind of pricey but will save so much headache in diagnosing gauge issues. It will keep you
from changing sending units over and over as well as pulling gauges when you don't have to. I use mine often, best money I ever spent. Where you own a few old cars, I would consider it. Dropped a pan once to change a oil pump on a car that had a bad brand new GM sending unit. Never again. Glad to see the Trans Am being worked on again. Keep up the great work!
picture something going south here............lol been there done that, happens to all of us but we plow ahead and order more parts LOL
When I was a kid my dad had a 71 grand prix that had that tilt rally wheel, and man did I think that was cool, it still is me thinks.
My 79 trans am oil gauge flutters like that as well. 2 rebuilt motors in that car and changed the sending unit. Has always flickered. So id say its your gauge.
how do you ground the circuit board ? do you use the factory light clip or a wire on a open part of the circuit board ?
i had a 1968 when i was teen back in colorado my brother on the other hand had a 70 firebird when he worked with my dad at my dad body shop in illionois well was drubk and ehit a row of mail boxes tghe old style and one had 4 ft steel pipe as a mount inthe groiund well he totaLED THE CAR I LIKE THAT YEAR TOO. but i had the 2st gen 68 at 16 in 1985 ended up trading it for a 1969 nova. as for the needlkes are actully paint like a flouresnt ornge frfom the factory so the illuminate at night with backlite on the dash my dad and i restiored alot of cars back then
gotta love em
@@Oldsmob455 some times i wish i never got rid of it ,, but looking at the prices of dash gauges for the 68 i paid less for the whole car in 85 gauges over a grand wow
very nice job! check your temp sensor for proper ground, i saw teflon tape on threads insolating from ground since this is a one wire sensor it needs proper ground.
That is a great suggestion I am having the same problem after putting in new engine put in a new sensor as well I put Teflon tape on the threads and put it in the manifold aluminum elderbrock performer RPM maybe that was keeping from a proper ground as well I am going to double check that thank you for that suggestion
And it was working perfectly fine prior to the engine swap and nothing was done to the dash so therefore it should have work and could not have damaged the gauge itself
I picked up a similar car that you have, and I am working on the same stuff you are. Your videos have been a big help. What LED dash bulbs and sockets are you using? Are the LED bulbs dimmable?
When you were testing the gauge cluster outside of the car, where was the 12V input to the cluster? I replaced all of my bulbs with LED's and now only my fuel and volt gauges work. I have no lights on the main cluster and I'm trying to troubleshoot. Great video, and beautiful car. Mine is a 1974. Thanks.
I only put 12v to the lighting trace
What did you find out about the sending unit/sensor? I have a '73 and my temperature gauge is doing the same thing yours is. Barely coming up to temp. Thought mine was the gauge went bad but after watching your video...I'm not sure. Thanks!
It's been a long time since I even looked at this car but as I recall I came to the conclusion that the new gauge was not accurate. There is a restoration place that specializes in factory gauge restoration and I plan on sending them duplicates of all of the smaller gauges and see how it turns out. Don't recall their name right now..
@@Oldsmob455 Let me know if you come across the name of the place that restores gauges. Do you still have the '73?
@@momansil Still have it
@oldsmob455
I purchased a new gauge combo like the one you put in. New PCB overlay also. The new temp gauge just sits there. It moves ever so slightly down when I turn the car on..
I went so far as to return it and get another one from Classic Industries (they were good about the return) Same thing,, I have tried 2 new senders and tried a wire directly from the sender to the sender post on the back of the gauge. It still sits...
I have some resistors 70 ohm, 100 ohm etc.. Im going to put those in line to the sender post and run the car and see if the gauge actually responds... or still just sits. Is that what you did? Added some resistors?
I have taken these gauges apart enough times to feel confident I could pull the needle off and put it in the right place if I can get it to respond to the proper OHM readings for the various temperatures..
Nice Video - Where did you get your LED lights? Looking to update my gauges and lights.
Amazon
Trans am specialties redid the bezel? I wonder if the sent it to Randy Combs?
I bet the dash bezel was out of a gold edition car
Where did you get the book with all the parts in it
I think you are referring to the AMES Performace catalog?
where did you order the bezel clips from?
I pretty much get everything from AMES
Hello Oldsmob455 your video is very interesting.
I have a Pontiac Firebird 1970 formula 400 and recently my tachometer stopped working.
So I changed it with a new tachometer, which is the same as in your video.
The new tachometer is mounted on models from 1973 to 1975.
The seller told me it could be mounted on my car. But it doesn't work and I don't understand. The old tachometer has a single terminal to connect the cable from the coil to the tachometer.
The new tachometer has 2 terminals, one positive and the other for probably connecting the cable that goes from the coil to the tachometer.
Can you help me please?
Thanks a lot
without looking at it I have no clue
@@Oldsmob455 ok thank you but how to send you a photo?