Firebirds were equipped from the factory with printed circuits behind the instrument cluster instead of a harness to operate the gauges and lights. Not only was it more cost effective for the factory to use a printed circuit, but it saves space, weight and reduces the rats nest of wires typically found behind the clusters of earlier GM cars. Your 1978, 1979 or 1980 Firebird's printed circuit is simply a piece of plastic with conductive copper material embedded in it. Unlike solid hard computer printed circuit boards, these boards are flexible, translucent plastic sheets which operate in the same fashion by conducting electricity to the different dashboard functions. This Firebird printed circuit can act as a fusible link when using the wrong fuses in your fuse block leading to damaging and costly breaks in the printed circuit. If your Firebird gauges fail or the instrument lighting seems abnormally dim, your printed circuit may have gone bad. To easily check this pull out your Firebird printed circuit and hold it up to a light. You should be able to easily see the break. Be careful; your old flexible plastic board might be brittle and rough handling may lead to more substantial damage.
| Make | Model | Years |
| Pontiac | Firebird | 1978 - 1980 |
