VE commodore, Stereo change

[Bog60n]

Good evening,

I have a ve omega and the dash was all damaged(ex cop car) ,and i got a dash out of a ss/sv6. Can i change the stereo over? and Can i change the dash cluster over? so it all suits.
Any help is appreciated.
Luke

[ZerOne]

Hi there,

The short answer is yes it is possible to change the radio and cluster to any radio / cluster that was fitted to a VE Commodore (Both Series I and Series II).

I guess the real question you are asking is what is involved in doing this yourself ?
This would depend on how much time you have, and how good you are with Hex Editing and using an EEPROM programmer.

The headunit is easy enough, you just need to set the VIN number programed in the headunit to match your vehicles VIN number. (Which will authorise the headunit to work with your car, and prevent the security lockout message from
appearing).

This doco shows how to program a SSV/Calais/HSV headunit using the EEPROM method.
view_doc.php?doc_id=62&model_id=19
The SS/SV6 headunit is a little bit different, but the method should be very similar.

The cluster is a bit of a different story, as there is a lot involved in getting a different cluster to work.
There is a certain amount of messing around with EEPROM locations, however it is much more difficult than the radio because,
1) You need to set the VIN number of the cluster to match your car,
2) You need to set the Kms on the ODO to match your car,
3) You need to set the Engine, Transmission, body style, suspension, and other stuff.
4) Depending on the cluster model (White backed, or black back series I, Black Back Series II), the EEPROM locations will be different for a lot of things.

There is a doco for Early VE commodore clusters, however this doco is a guide only.
In no way is the information in this guide complete, or even mostly accurate.
It has helped some people in getting different clusters working on their cars, and it has helped convince others that they are better off shipping the cluster off to someone like Ultimate Conversion Wiring to have the thing completely programmed for them.
http://www.ultimateconversionwiring.com.au/

Here is a link to the cluster doco,
view_doc.php?doc_id=57&model_id=19

And here is a link to EEPROM programing for beginners to get you started.
view_doc.php?doc_id=69&model_id=19

Just one note with the cluster.
Considering the amount of work involved with programming the cluster to work with your car, I would HIGHLY recommend fitting a triple LCD cluster from a Berlina, Calais or HSV model, as realistically the only change between the single LCD clusters is just the LED illumination, needles and fascia. (All of which can be swapped much easier than what is required to program the cluster).

I hope this helps.

[Bog60n]

Thanks for the info mate! really appreciate it.

Just another question, Can i not just swap over the eeproms from my existing units, both radio and cluster, as they are pretty much the same unit?

Cheers
Luke.