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‘82 C-3 I want to change my speedometer to one that reads over 85 mph. I’m trying to figure out how to keep my cruise control working with the swap. I’m finding out only the 82 used cruise with resume so I need to keep those wires and yellow box (the cruise control speed buffer) that come from the speedo unit. Since I can’t just swap out with a ‘79 unit with 140mph, I’m thinking now maybe I could just reface my existing speedometer and change the lil plastic tranny gear to make it read differently.
has anyone changed their speedo and kept cruise control working? I’m running out of ideas. Thanks- Mark (new guy)
ent.
I had similar dilema and swapped all the gauges to dakota digital. They are expensive but I found someone selling a new set on offer up. They are awesome if you can swing it. Of course you'd still have the cruise control issue.
Buy a good used speedo from a '78, then determine which trans speedo bullet you need. If you can find someone parting out a '78, grab both parts from the same car. Shouldn't be too difficult or expensive, just a little labor intensive.
Yea I can do that quick easy but I lose the cruise and this is a driver for me, I like my cruise. Not much city mostly highway about 80 miles round trip. I know I’m spoiled why I wanted the 82 (the overdrive for highway)
There is a company out there that refurbishes speedometers and tachometers. Unfortunately I don't have a name for that company, but one of the options they offer is to reface and recalibrate your unit from one format to another (85mph to 120 or 140mph). I haven't tried to look up the company that does the work, but Gulf Coast Corvette out of Houston will facilitate their service if you want to look them up.
I have seen companies that sell reface number kits for 4 th Gen Camaros gauges. It would seem that gauge overlays would be available for Corvettes. You would have to change the tranny gear that goes to the speedo cable, to make the numbers / mph correct. The cruse control doesn’t know the speed your car is moving, it just copies the cable revolutions, I think.
That "buffer" as you put it is the vehicle speed sensor (VSS) and has nothing to do with the cruise control. The cruise control has the speedometer cable already running in and out of it. The VSS is for the ECM and is solely responsible for the torque converter lock up and idle air control valves. Changing the transmission speedometer gear will cause issues.
Services Gallery | Redlineg.com Here's where I'm sending both mine , sent the original to Eklers and they lost it , bought one from eBay but it bounced bad , Eklers found mine 3 months later , converted it to 140 and worked good until a 140 mph sprint , bounced for a couple days then quit all together so this time I'm sending it to Redline in Michigan
From: Arizona - If you don’t know CFI, STOP proliferating the myths around it...
Originally Posted by Eric P
Services Gallery | Redlineg.com Here's where I'm sending both mine , sent the original to Eklers and they lost it , bought one from eBay but it bounced bad , Eklers found mine 3 months later , converted it to 140 and worked good until a 140 mph sprint , bounced for a couple days then quit all together so this time I'm sending it to Redline in Michigan
This is the shop you want to send your speedo/teach to for any upgrade or repair. Mine will also be going in for both a speedo 140mph upgrade and tach repair and repaint for redline. I have talked with the owner several times, very nice guy.
Last edited by Buccaneer; Apr 28, 2023 at 12:27 PM.
I would get in touch with Corvette Clocks & Gauges. They used to be Corvette Clocks by Roger and were the best in the business. They did my cluster for my '66 years ago and did a great job. Don't know for sure if they are doing C3 gauges but I would bet that anyone who rebuilds the instruments could make the conversion.
Lose the 85mph speedometer
