I hate the 85 mph speedo, and I have a 79 with the 130. can this be a swap in and swap out? I know i have to change the speedo sender unit on the tranny for it to work.

 

Probably,but youd be giving up the oil pressure gauge and the full time voltage gauge of the FB cluster.

An 83 cluster would be a direct swap,would get you the 130mph speedo,and retain all the standard 81-83 gauges/idiot lights.

 

See if the speedo from the 79 and the one from the 82 are the same dimensions. If they are just swap out the speedo sections of the clusters. The gauges for made to be replaced individually. I would bet that it would work.

 

You don't need to change the "sender" unit on the tranny to make the 130mph speedo work right. Its a matter of just swapping out the speedo itself from one cluster to the other, not a hard task. PM me if you would also like to know how to make the odometer read the same as your current one.

 

Doc is right. The speedo unit itself should fit.
The entire cluster would be more of a hassle than it would be worth, due to the differing gauges, and the tach/volt meter. The 79 tach also doubles as a volt meter, when the key is on, engine not running. While the 82 tach has the volt meter as a seperate unit.
You shouldn't need to change anything at the trans. Both speedo's are cable driven, but the 80-82 models were required by US regulation, to have the 85MPH speedo.

 

I have the RB oil pedistal for the oil gauge/pressure.

reason I am asking, I dont care much about the volts my car has when it is running, so the 79 will do. and I have 2 79 speedos here with me. I dont want to swap out just gauges, cause isnt the backlighting different?

 

i know both are cable driven, but I dont know if it sets speed by the cables RPM, as in 70rpm = 70 mph in the 82 speedo, but 70 rpm in the 79 speedo would be like 45 mph, if you get what i am saying.

 

Hey you might not think you like the volt gauge but in the long run you will wish it was there, right in front of you. I would do like the rest of them said and swap just the gauge.

yeah on the 79 i think its green and on the newer ones its orange or red but who cares about that. Function before style remember that

 

I have a 3 gauge pod, oil pressure, oil temp, and volt meter

 

The difference is inside the speedo units. Speedo Cable and gears inside the trans are the same.
Backlighting is dependant on the buld covers, and can be changed as desired. Personally, I prefer the red/orange backlighting in my 83, over the greenish in my freind's 79. I can see the gauges much better in mine. I also used to convert my Kenworth's to red lighting, for the same reason. Doesn't matter what the gauges are showing, if ya can't see the dern things.