What globes are you using to replace your tail light ones? Seems like a fantastic idea, even for a normal street car. Reducing amp usage is always good.
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Dash o rama ii
Here's the updated template fitted into the newly trimmed dash. Perfect. I can see everything with two 4" main, 5 aux 2" gauges and warning lights.
Fooookkkkkkk. This damn fiberglass dash was obviously designed by this guy. Parallel lines meet, obtuse angles converge and the sum of angles in a triangle is always 270 degrees. Guess who he is.
Consequently, I had to fabricate a level plane with aluminum once the dash was in its final position. This gave me a known good alignment and center for the gauges.
Next step was many rounds of measuring, aligning and reshaping the aluminum template. Notice how the bottom break is angled? That's the actual shape of the dash with respect to the level plane. Tabs got realigned as well. When I was satisfied with everything, I went ahead and hammered alignment holes with a punch, drilled pilots then drilled the final gauge holes. End result looks great. You can still see the faint pencil line 1/8" inch below the far left and right warning lights. This is my "gauge line" that will be aligned with the dash.
Test fitted the gauges and warning lights. Still waiting for my 4" tach and speedo to arrive.
Test fit in the dash. Notice the level plane attached to the fiberglass. I love rivets. :devil: Good progress. Next the template gets pulled out, edges and holes cleaned up, primed and painted flat black. Then it gets riveted into the dash. That's all for today. Believe it or not, that took six hours.
Gratuitous low fuel warning light test before shutting down. I really like these warning lights.
"And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5Comment
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Warning light is shaping up. Automotive electronics is notoriously a pain to design because of the noisy 12V power rail, which is actually 13.5V - 14.5V. My circuit takes all that into account using a precision programmable voltage reference and comparator hysteresis. It's also cost optimized so I can build it for a decent price in low quantities.
Simulation results look good. V[Vb] is the noisy battery voltage. V[Vz] is the precision voltage reference. V[ref] is the programmable threshold voltage. V[sig] is the input from fuel gauge. Id[M1] is the current through the LED. No LED chattering, even with slow fuel level change.
I'm going to build it.
"And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5Comment
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Warning light board is shaping up. Big grey thing is a terminal block. Small grey thing is threshold adjustment pot. Board is also pretty small : 1" x 1"
Last edited by dvallis; 11-26-2017, 09:48 PM."And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5Comment
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Sequential shift lights arrived today. Will be embedding these into dash.
"And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5Comment
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I really wish this build thread's pictures would work. The last 3 pages are AWESOME!Comment
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Also see post #1 for photobucket chrome patch. Does not work with MS IE"And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5Comment
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Love the sequential lights! Really cool touch89' 325ix Diamantschwarz/Black rattle can...
Insta: r_moose_w
Originally posted by flyboyxComment
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Slow progress. Got the Flu last week. Ugh.
On the upside, custom vinyl is almost ready.
"And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5Comment
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Kind of a non-sequitur for E30's but since I'm building my own electronics I thought I'd share this.
Surface mount electronic components are --->small<---. They need to be placed on the PCB solder paste for reflow. Doing this with tweezers is a major pain in the ass. Easier way is with a vacuum pick-up tool. The little mechanical suction cup types don't work. I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars so I built a good one myself.
Here's the trick. These $10 aquarium pumps ("Whisper 10") have a simple reciprocating electrical element and one way air valve. The air valve can be reversed, changing the air pump to an air vacuum. It's a 5 minute job. Add some tubing, an empty Bic pen refill and a 120V foot switch to complete the unit.
Works great. Click on the picture below to see a video of it in action.
"And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5Comment
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Now that is some surgical shit right there. This thread keeps getting more and more crazy.
Love itComment
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Delayed due to weather. Its 40 damn degrees and raining. Will be back to 70 this weekend. Weird."And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"
1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
2002 E39 M5Comment
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