Gauge swap and floor shifter swap

[EastEnder]

Hi all, I'm in the process of buying an 80 Malibu wagon (v6, bench seat, not split) and wanted to know how are it is to swap a few parts. The first things I was looking to do was to swap gauges, and mount a floor shifter, and bucket seats.

I really like the look of the olds rally gauges, but i think that cluster is too wide to fit into a malibu, correct? Would it be better to go with a set from a monte ss? Im not a good electrician, so Im looking for more a plug a play. I can hook up sending units, and run a few wires, but not looking to solder circuit boards. Can I get the tach to work on the v6?

As for the floor shifter and buckets, I see plenty of threads on the bucket seats, but not many on floor shifters. Is it better to use a monte ss floor shifter vs a buick or olds or GP? Does it matter if its solid mechanical linkage, or can I use a cable? Will the shifter lever bolt in or do I make holes? Any helps or link works well for me.

Thanks for the help!

 

[joesregalproject]

If you are just looking to swap the cluster, then the Olds gauges won't work, you'd need a whole dash. If I remember correctly, the Monte SS gauge cluster should swap right in although you may need to run some wires for any gauges it has that your car doesn't. As for the seats, you will need g body bucket seats and the floor mounts for the inners which will have to be welded to the floor. For a floor shift, you will need a console, a shifter, the shifter cable and boot, the brackets to mount everything to the floor, the bracket for the cable to mount tho the transmission, and the bracket that attaches to the transmission itself where the cable changes the gear. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's the procedure.

 

[EastEnder]

Thanks for the help. Know of any how to thread or build threads where guys were putting floor shifters in?

 

[joesregalproject]

Now that you mention it, I don't believe there is. There should be though, because it really isn't as straightforward as many people make it out to be. I'm going to be installing a floor shifter at some point, God knows when, but I will do a how-to on it. Good luck with the swap.

 

[skulledmonte84]

Iv come across some vidz on youtube how to put an after market shifter in,keep in mind you'll need to take your old shifter linkage an stuff out, not hard ,That is if you can get to it easy .For mounting the shifter you could either used self tapping sheet metal screws or drill holes in the floor using bolts,washers ,an nuts if you go this way you will have to drop the back of the trans down
"a good bit of work" so you can get the nuts started on the bolts an,if you do it this way i didn't have any help ,i used a brick an place on top of the bolt so i could get the nut started After that i used vise grips on the bolts an got under there an started tighten them.The vise grips will hit the shifter allowing you to tighting them down.Of course a hole will need to be drilled for the shifter cable, I just did this the other day,You'll also need to run wires for the neutral safety switch an back up lights

For the buckets you can use other cars.All the g body 78-88 "will bolt right in " BUT like joesregalproject said your going to need the inner brackets an weld to the floor,All the g body 78-88 with bucket seat or 60/40 seats will have the brackets you need,you can drill the spot welds an pry them loose weld them in your car,"if you find 60/40 seat" you could do what i did an cut the passenger seat down to fit a shifter an console

Here's a link,that will help you decide for the seats

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=42839



Links for console ideas

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=18027

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=50197