Replacing the sweep speedometer

Billy1979malibu

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Dec 13, 2022
7
20
3
What are my options to replacing the sweep speedometer looking for round gauges. The easier the better and not digital ones. And place to buy. Any help would be greatly appreciated
 

pagrunt

Geezer
Sep 14, 2014
9,128
15,257
113
Elderton, Pa
It is easy to do with the need to repin or (not my preferrd method) splice in the donor car's connector being the more technical task. Any good wiring diagram for your year will show where each wire needs to go in the connector. If your Malibu is a factory V8 all you need to do on the engine side is just swap senders. V6 cars would need a few extra steps cause of the choke & oil switch are tied into each other.
 
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bruisedbanana79

Master Mechanic
May 6, 2021
264
753
93
Or you can spend some decent money and go with the dakota digital kit. When I finally get around to that I will be swapping my dash to the sweep style since I not longer use the idiot lights. Personally I like the look of the sweep style better when going to the dakota digital gauges

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SS_Malibu

Royal Smart Person
Supporting Member
Sep 27, 2021
1,131
1,975
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Mesa, AZ
I have a complete round gauge set with gauge pod from my 79 Malibu. PM me if interested.
 
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Ugly1

Royal Smart Person
Oct 26, 2021
1,605
1,332
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Lost in the woods of NH
What are my options to replacing the sweep speedometer looking for round gauges. The easier the better and not digital ones. And place to buy. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Dixie has most parts. BUT there is two things, 1) if the round cluster doesn’t have the full gage setup already the main surrounding is different and the center gage holder will not hold the pack. As well as the circuit board is different and needs hand wiring plus mod’s to the gages due to no clips on the main surround.
2) you have to change the wiring pins around. MalibuRacing.com has the PIN numbers to change.I’ll post some more pics of what I’m talking about.
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Ugly1

Royal Smart Person
Oct 26, 2021
1,605
1,332
113
Lost in the woods of NH
Picture 1 on the left is “round gauges“ but w/lights and right is a true gauge set center cluster. The plastic retainers are the same size but completely different assembly.
They will screw in the same place though.
The other notable is the the clock and tach are interchangeable ( I had a blank cover but the circuit board is able to do either one.)
On picture 1 and picture 4 you can see the clips that are used for gauges. Picture 1 has only for the gas gauge vs. picture 4 has them for all 4 gauges.
I am having to trim the temperature and voltage pins to fit my setup in picture 1. Running a ground wire and I have to figure out the power wire to the other 3. Then hard wire the oil, temp, and voltage off the harness. Plus make sure the pins are in the same spot for the directionals and so on.
My tach itself is a 8x1000 rpm one from Dixie Restoration. If you want a 120 mph speedometer a Monte SS of 86’-87(88’?) will work. Or you end up sending it out to be recalibrated and put on a new face. ( Have the love the government 55mph max speed highway years!)
So unless you get a full gauge dash there is ways to do it, but be ready for customizing touches.
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