Do it yourself

As an everyday person, we know that sometimes when you purchase a car, you can't get all the features. Power windows, keyless entry, satellite navigation, parking cameras, etc. One, you may not have enough money at the time. Two, you may not need all the features. However, as a Camaro owner, an "everyday person" living philosophy just doesn't cut it. At the time, the model I could afford was the 1LT Camaro. Now for those who don't know, there are currently 5 trims with the 5th Gen Camaro: LS, 1LT, 2LT, 1SS, 2SS. The short version, is that as you go up with the trims, so does the price of the car. My car is the 1LT. At the time, it didn't make sense for me to buy the 2LT, which was $5,000 more, just for a full leather/vinyl interior. Obviously that included some fun stuff, like 4 Gauge Auxiliary Cluster, Ambient Lit Door Panels, etc.

In my line of business, you develop a soft spot for technology. The 2LT trim offered some good tech... So obviously, I had to get a hold of some of this tech. Luckily, it wasn't impossible for the 1LT to be modded closer to the 2LT; it just took some time and money.

This was the stock 1LT interior. See that little tray where I have some pens and a note pad? For the regular folk, this would do just fine. I even know a couple people who love this tray, because they can put stuff like their cigarettes in there.

To me... I prefered what the 2LT had in that place. I went and looked online, and found http://www.gmpartshouseusa.com/

They sold a cheap 4 Gauge pack cluster, which I bought, and the customer service was excellent. If you are interested in buying anything from the catalogs, speak to Gene. He'll make sure you are taken care of.

As for the installation. If you bring your product and your car to the dealership. They will charge you around $50 for the installation fee.

I thought to myself, "Why spend $50 when I can install it myself?" That is what I did =) Each GM product has written instructions on them. So my installation procedure took me around 45 minutes to complete.

After the installation, the center console looked so much better. Lots of bright lights, and the gauges are functional of course! As you can see, it measures four statistics: oil pressure, oil temperature, battery voltage, and transmission temperature.
All in all, this was a fun little project to do yourself. If you have any reserves whether or not to do it yourself, don't. It's so easy, even a monkey can do it.