Covan Classics Instrument Panel - Instrumental Maneuvers

If you haven't already noticed, the array of Auto Meter gauges doesn't leave a lot of space for indicator lights. Covan's Classic replaces the turn signal, high beam, "check engine," and brake lights with these small LEDs. After carefully measuring to ensure symmetry,...

...we placed the turn signal and high-beam lights across the center of the dash. The brake and "check engine" lights were placed near the voltmeter.

Each red LED lead was then joined to a signal feed from the harness. Each wire is clearly marked; here we have our right turn light (dark blue), high-beam indicator (green), and left turn signal (light blue).

At this point, our new cluster was essentially ready to go. All the Ultra-Lite gauges have been wired and connected to the new harness. The wires have been separated into bundles, including this group of ground wires; as with any electrical project, good grounds are essential.

Switching to the programmable Ultra-Lite speedometer meant saying goodbye to our well-worn speedo cable. You'll need a vehicle speed sensor if your Camaro has a speedometer cable. The VSS is sold separately, so be sure to get it when you order your cluster kit.

This is actually one of the easiest parts of the install. Matt taped the yellow and purple VSS leads to the speedo cable, then pulled the works through the firewall. The VSS itself simply bolts in where cable formerly resided and connects to the leads, which will in turn plug into the speedo. Voil!

Here's something you don't want to find out the hard way: Your Camaro's factory oil-sending unit and water temperature sensor won't work with Auto Meter gauges. The appropriate sensors should be packaged with the new gauges-if not, get on the horn and get 'em. The new pieces use a ring terminal instead of the factory slide-on setup, so some modification will be needed.

Speaking of modifications, Matt showed us a nice timesaver. The white tachometer lead in the new harness must be connected to the tach lead on the distributor. Rather than trying to fit a new connector into the cramped confines around our Camaro's HEI distributor, he snipped off the factory connector and attached it to the new tach wire.

At this point, the Camaro's factory harness had to be modified to work with the Covan's Classic harness we'd wired up to our gauge cluster. There's a black connector on the left and a white one on the right. The wires must be pinned out of the factory cavity connectors.