Thanks to Orlen Brown I have a restored I/C cluster and steering wheel for the brown Cav that I have started a restoration on.
I traded some parts with Orlen and got a few I/C clusters and a steering wheel to play with. I was able to get one to work by combining parts from four different Clusters and here is what I got.
I then painted the trip counter post black and the pointers fluorescent orange as well as the inside of the cluster to get the light to glow orange at night.
I followed Orlen's thread on resetting the odometer to match my old one and followed Ron's advice on disconnecting the speedo at the trans and dropping the steering column to make it easier to remove and reinstall the cluster ( THIS IS A MUST). I also located a fake wood dash trim and installed the correct stereo install kit to eliminate the screws that stuck out of the dash that the previous owner installed. Now all I have to do is prep the replacement doors ( another Ron Love find) and get the entire car ready for paint. Hope to have this done by fall lol.
I cleaned and painted the steering wheel.
Here are some before and after pics.
And one last note to Paul, the gas gauge came from the Cimarron cluster you sent to Orlen.
One cool thing, the gas gauge now has a low fuel light and it works. Anyone know if this only came in the Cimarron?
Great Result John!!
Looks like this was one of those projects that everyone had a little part in. I remember ole' Hannibal Smith on "The A Team" used to say:
"I Love it when a Plan comes Together!"
This is what J-Body is all about!!
..................................................................!! Power to the People!!
Gotta know where you found that WoodGrain Dash! This is Lovely, never seen one an any J I've been around either. I bet it blends in wonderfully with the Brown interior too!
Keep the adventure chugging along, never get bored!
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Cool!!! I really like the factory tach! You did a great job of combining everything and it looks good in your car. That wood grain instrument panel is the BOMB!!! Gives me an idea for my 'vertible...
I do like the low fuel light as well, and you did a great job of painting and refurbishing your steering wheel. Mine was fubared, (if you don't what that military term means, email me privately) so my good buddy Tom gave me a leather wrapped wheel he had laying around his garage, from off of a Chevy Truck. It's black and cool because it's got CHEVROLET printed in red, and it's a bit bigger than a Cavalier wheel. I've gotten some nice remarks about it from this guy that Tom and I know that has an 84 S-10 pickup that he shows. It's got the same 2.0 engine that so many of us have in our Cavaliers.
When we swapped out my 84 intake and exhaust manifolds along with my throttle body, (also from a spare engine, an 85) since we were doing a lot of customization of my engine, we used the valve cover that was on the 85 engine that kinda looks like an Edelbrock. Let me tell you, this guy with the S-10 went nuts, inquiring where we got it, and you could literally see his eyes get as big as quarters. Tom and I chuckled a bit over it, and he did ask us to look for one, but we couldn't find one for him. He's done some nice mods to his S-10, he's put a bitchin' set of lakepipes on it, and he's swapped out his factory seat for a nice set of bucket seats outta of a wrecked Buick. He's also set up his hood to open towards the grill of his truck (a mod I'm not real crazy about, but it's his, not mine) and he's racked up quite a few best of show trophies in our club's 1980's truck catagory.
That upgrade looooks freaking nice.Seems your improvements are starting out pretty good.The wood grain does go with the interior no question.Great work john.I had to double check the b4 and after to def see a heck of a difference espec the steering wheel is wayyyyy better.Cool stuff I hope to start doodling with sunny in a wk or two once I get the inspection done this wk and can tear things apart.No more waiting and even have a friend waiting me to find a trans for his family ford ranger(oh my this is going to cost him dearly if I find one).He got in touch with last nite and said well I know YOU find stuff and always tell me about your junkyard fun so I was 1st on his list to see if I can go ehh ford parts hunting.We will see,idk right now.Good work john and just had to share looking/finding parts story for umm something wayy different.
walter do you mean a valve cover like my now spare 2.0 I got in 2011 and yeah I have one spare cover but,not selling.This is a specific year thing and not easy to find.Mine has this same setup and yeah my whole engine has been repainted already.
Hi Ron,
Yep, that's the cover. I don't blame you for holding on to it, in fact I was just mentioning how he wanted one so bad. BTW, did you paint it stock black? I just had to have mine in Chevy Orange, I think it looks outta site.
Here's a picture of my engine after the upgrades were done.
For some reason the picture link didn't work...let me try again.
3rd time outta be the charm...sorry
One CLEAN looking engine there Walter! As for the dash lights. All I could find on ebay was colored LEDS, so I checked my local Autozone and they did not have any at all. I did try some #579 10.2 watt bulbs,
but as I thought they would, they got really hot, so I pulled them and went stock.
Stock one on the bottom and the 10.2 watt is on top.
I have my block semi flat black for a true stock engine color.I will dig around and find my old post and revive it,showing the engine,when I did my intake gasket job which led me to paint the block all around and oil pan and etc.
Just curious Ron, did you get a personal sandblaster for the cover and pan, or did you take them somewhere? I read completely through the thread to make sure you didn't describe those details first. Was wondering what kind of costs was involved. Also I gotta know what was the magic stuff you used to get the top end of your head so clean? It is a shame no one can see all the work on the insides , there is a lot of effort there that no one knows in there!
Like you I'll also be having an extra 2.0 OHV decorating my Garage later this year. It's just too tempting to take some parts off it , clean them all up nice , purty & shiny and swapping them on the old Wagon as I get a chance.
Have been contemplating about making a trip up to Scranton, Pennsylvania to acquire Mark's 1.8 OHC out of his 84 Wagon.Kinda concerned if my old '86 Ranger is up to the task....LoL.....but honestly as complicated as the new automobiles are these days, I honestly think the odds are in my favor the old Truck would fare better, so much less stuff to break. Even if something did give me a problem, at least I can work on it. The great thing is that it is a 4cyl. 5spd. and gets about 30 on the highway! Gotta not put the cart before the horse quite yet, I haven't received a PM back from him as of yet.
Also, I was wondering how Walter got that Exhaust Manifold so silvery-shiny? You and Thomas have to do a little photo shoot an share your J's with us!!
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Oh yes, I been meaning to thank Ron with that tip on disconnecting the speedo cable when removing the IC. Man you don't know the hell I went through over the years fighting that IC when I had to get one out. Tearing my hand up.....
The first time I tried your tip I couldn't believe the difference!!
Thank You for Ron!!
You got any tips on that nagging speed sensor???
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As for the oil pan and valve cover I have a sand blasting container that hooks up to my air compressor.basically it is a upright plastic container with a tube in the bottom coming out front,then a six foot line rubber that slides on the gun that blows the sand.Then hook up the air line and air pulls the sand.I paid for it years ago maybe 60 bux or more idk.As for the valves shined up I used my cordless drill(now dead black/deckr) with some 1/4 inch shank fine brushes to clean the residue off that cleaners want always cut thru.I used the same brushes on the block before I primered and painted umm everything.On the intake same brushes to luster the aluminum to shine new.The FINE brushes are gold and sold at lowes in various sizes.I spent wks doing the engine cover,tape, etc I felt like I was in a paint shop.The engine has tons of primer and paint and used duplicolors engine paint products.Now you mentioned speed sensor stuff.If your needle is jumping around put a small touch of white lithium grease in the end at the trans and back of cluster.The grease is safe and napa sells that.being the inside cables are metal but the end on cluster side is PLASTIC (however metal on the trans end) they get stiff due to no lubrication and make needle slow or jumpy especially when cold(we most complain) about it.My mazda truck is notorious for this and actually has metal(at speedo end and trans) driven inside and can yank the whole drive cable out of the sleeve and lube cable reinsert and done aside from reinstall on the truck.Any analog cable driven ride will do this eventually.Hope this helps and any more ?s just ask.Btw you can pull our inside cables out they are metal just the end at the speedo is plastic tip,but metal at trans hook up.
Todays! engine pic and yeah I am charging my battery I leave it unhooked while sitting,and maybe thurs (roads dry) I will take for the safety inspection.I did have a stuck rear drum(but old problem) with whl cyldr and soon to be umm all new parts back there so no big deal.I did fix the problem so no dragging on drum.Felt kind of weird working on it again been wayyyy to long since I wrenched on it.Anyway new view of engine as it sits,covered inside.
Where did u happen to find the fake wood trim at?? Is it just the stick on type?
~~1986 Chevy Cavalier CS~~
~~2.0 TBI~~
Came out of a 83 or 84 Sunbird sedan at a local junk yard. It looks to me to be Factory.
great job on the dash. i love the wood grain, it looks very clsssy. what a great find! now i have a favor to ask of walt and ron. could you please take some close up pics of the alternator bracket on your 2.0?. the wishbone shaped bracket that is on the side of the radiator is the one i need to see. i don't know if mine is mounted correctly. i had to bend the bracket slightly wider to get it to fit. idk if the alt is the correct size or what? i replaced the water pump and went to put back the alt i ran into this problem. i should have paid more attention when taking it a part. i know this should be so simple but something just isn't right. thanks
Opps j.galt there is 1 bolt on the white plug side.Not 2.in hurry to get it up for you.
Great job on the dash! That is one slick convertible. If you are still looking for regular LED bulbs Advance Auto Parts normally carries them. You can also buy them directly through pilot on the web.
That wheel looks very good. What type of dye did you use? My red wheel is worn off, due to alot of use.
Thanks.
that's crazy lol. Did you upgrade all the lights to LED's while you had it all part?
Ok this is almost every angle thought of pic I can take.Hope these help and NOTE the side of the bracket with the white plug you have 2 bolts that side one top one down lower for adjustment.I also snapped a pic of my spare engine minus the alter so you can see it just wide open.If you need something different or a explanation just ask.I work sat-tue so I chime in late those days.