Das Beast: My E30 track / street build

[dvallis]

I'm gonna flock it. All by myself since there's no way in hell Obi Wan will go near this process.

Here's a link to the kit used in the video above. Used to be called DonJer Products, now they're "Flock It". You want to get the "Enhanced Suede-Tex Mini Flocker Kit" with nylon fiber.

[Elysian]

I'm going to flock the dash in both of my E30's, they're both cracked to hell, so it's a good solution after fixing the cracks.

[dvallis]

Electrical time. Here's the conduit exit from the trunk.



It goes through the bulkhead into a conduit L-back. Cover is removable to make wire pulling easier.



Side shot of the back seat routing.



Through the front cockpit. Conduit tucks nicely under the cage against the inside door sill. Other end gets terminated in an under dash box. That's next.



Back to the dash. We used the brake bend for final shaping with clean lines. Boost gauge is a place holder for the fuel gauge.



Pretty sharp. Will look good painted flat black in a flocked dash. Tach is actually centered. I took the photo at an angle.

[dvallis]

Almost forgot. We are going to add a low pressure fuel pump status light in the dash. Just an on/off when the surge tank pressure is above X psi. Here it is.



Unfortunately its TOO DAMN BRIGHT. "Warning. Do not look into Laser with remaining eye". That's "only" 4000 mcd. Back to Digikey for a lower power light.

[wworm]

glad youre going to flock the dash! I've been slowly trying to convince myself to pull mine out, flock it, and put it back in over a weekend one of these days.

[Digitalwave]

I think you mentioned that you could raise/lower the dash? I know in my car with the low race seats and lowered steering column, the 350mm steering wheel COMPLETELY blocks the gauge cluster. I can't see/read anything in it. My aftermarket gauges are however in the center A/C vent, and I have a shift light above the steering clamshell that is easy to see.

[vitiokas95]

Very nicely done so far. Gotta follow this one

[dvallis]

I want warning lights for the steam gauges. Low fuel, low oil pressure, high water temperature. Yes, eventually the fancy AIM system will do it but I want an all manual dash as backup.

I'm not finding what I want online (eBay etc.) so I'm leaning towards building one. It will have separate connections for low warning and high warning, adjustable threshold and adjustable hysteresis. The light won't chatter for slow changing signals like oil, water etc. There will be no giant relay on it. (Can you spell MOSFET?)

Here's what the circuit looks like. Low warning is D1. High warning is D2. These will be connectors for external LEDs.



And here's the simulation. Works really well. Cool thing is this can be used for anything in a car that requires action if a voltage is above or below a threshold. Put a relay where the LED is and you can switch high current. Warning lights, fan controller etc. Pretty cool.

[berndt]

This just showed up on BAT. Thought of this build naturally: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...ign=2017-11-18


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dvallis]

Electrical mega post

Here's the new LED from Fry's. Panel mount LED with diffuser and integrated current limiting resistor.



Much better



Cable management system. About $5 for 6' from Digikey. A good deal.



Me screwing it into the trunk rear bulkhead. Ouch.



Wire exits the conduit into the cable management run. With the cover on you don't see any wires. Looks good but more importantly keeps everything in place and is easy to access.



We use this double sided holy f##$ tape to hold the conduit on when screws can't be used. Rob says "They build airplanes out of this stuff". Metal will fail before it ever comes off.



Across the back of the trunk.



Along the inside of the body panels.



Then across the rear of the car, under the lights



Now we get to work harness building. Here's the setup. I'm following the wiring schematic from post 698. Was joking with Rob that this took 100X as long to plan as it is taking to build. He pointed out that it could have been the other way around. :devil:



Here's the original turn light. Can you believe one damn bulb burns 1.7 amps?!



New LED bulb only uses 0.2 A. Nice.



After a lot of measuring, cutting, soldering, shrink tubing and taping all lights are finally connected to the new harness. There are five circuits with their own unique color for the harness: Turn L, turn R, running lights, brakes and reverse.



Wow. Whole rear light harness only draws 1.3 A with every light on (which will never happen)



LED lights look good in the housing.



License plate light test.



Here's the final rear light wiring harness. Still need to attach the side markers. There is 25' of wire for each color off screen to the right.



As the build progresses we will have other wiring harnesses in the trunk: fuel system, data acquisition and exhaust cutout. These will get combined and pulled through the conduit bulkhead fitting here.



That's all for today.

[dvallis]

Electrical Extravaganza II

Continuing the electrical adventure. Here's the finished rear light harness ready for installation.



Harness installed and tested. Liking the lights.



Getting ready to pull the rest of the harness: low pressure fuel pump, high pressure fuel pump, surge tank pressure, fuel level, suspension senors x2, brake temperature sensors x2, differential sensor, exhaust cutout and a spare wire.



Cable goes through the bulkhead LB.



Snake pulls the cable harness through the conduit. Tape is temporary.



Harness pulled all the way through. Extra wire left for working with.



Trunk is looking nice and clean. No wires hanging around. Full covers are not on the wire management runs yet, since we still have things to do.







And now for a slight interlude. We are testing the fuel sender, checking voltage at each fuel level. I'll use this data to build a low fuel warning light. This setup is definitely not OSHA approved: Gasoline + exposed wires + electricity. Bah. :devil:



Another interlude. The dash is driving me a bit nuts. Driving to the shop this morning I was clearly able to see a 3-1/2" speedometer, 3-1/2" tachometer plus four other status gauges through a wheel the SAME SIZE as the E30. So what's up? Here's the problem. Gauges are mounted too damn high. If I lower them two inches, visibility increases hugely. Time for a new dash template. Good thing I have lots of aluminum drop stock.



Wrapping up a great weekend. Walking out of the garage I noticed Das Beast is looking really good.

[dvallis]

New dash template. 4" tach, 4" speedo, five 2-1/8" status gauges and four warning lights.



Math says it's going to fit. We'll see.

[Digitalwave]

I figured you were going to have problems seeing the gauges, which is why I asked about it on the last page. I can't see my cluster for shit. Hopefully that new layout helps.

[dvallis]

Yeah, you definitely called it. I've got high hopes for the new layout. There are 5 other rejects sitting on the dining room table. I've got another version using 3-1/8" main gauges that actually fits better, but VDO only goes to 160 mph in that range. Call it a vanity, but I want a 220 MPH speedometer. :devil:

[dvallis]

Dash o rama

And ..... we have a winner. Both 4" gauges are clearly visible, in addition to five aux gauges and warning lights. And lots of room off to the bottom sides. I'll use that extra space to optimize the final layout.



Time to fabricate the new dash plate. Brake bend getting some action.



Electric sheet metal shear from Harbor Freight is the best damn metal tool I have. Goes through 16 gauge like paper.



Lots of curves and breaks in this piece.



Fits in the dash nicely



Here's the optimized layout. Aux gauges are better spaced and not hidden by the steering column. Left to right they are oil pressure, water temp, boost, fuel pressure and fuel level. Upper warning light to right of fuel pressure gauge is high pressure fuel pump warning. Lower warning light is low pressure fuel pump warning.



Next step is cutting holes but it's late. Calling it a day.