Hi there, I am from the Uk, and own a vauxhall corsa, holden in aus... Its showcar standard, with a lot of ICE, but the next move I want to make is to change the dashboard...

This idea has been in my mind a long time now, and I ran it past my installer this morning to see what he thought...

Its theoretically perfectly possible, although a few things have to be taken into consideration, some of which we probably havent thought of yet, and all of which I have no clue about...

I wanted to remove and smooth away where the standard instruments are, behind the steering wheel. These would be replaced, in the centre console, by something really cool and retro...

Originally I had thought of the instruments out of the new mini cooper S, but apparently this idea isnt going to be possible because in mini's the signal is received electronically by the instruments, from the ECU, whereas the corsas are analog, or basically works by a cable, as far as I understand. And the only the way this could be overcome was by getting some probably insanely expensive box that would sort all this out for me, which probably doesnt exist anyway...

Sooooooo... we moved onto plan B, being clocks from an old mini, which are still cool and retro... But my installer reckoned these were a mixture of both electrical and analog workings, which may again not work.

Sooooo.. plan C, was to go REALLY old school, and use clocks from something like a triumph spitfire, which will definitely be all mechanical workings, but might not work because of the connections at the back of the instruments.

Also, the length of the speedo cable has to be taken into consideration, as it will have to be longer to reach the centre console.

Not going to be easy, but was just wondering if anyone could help shed some more light, or give any information that might make it easier...

ok, this probably belongs more in the garage section, down the bottom.

but anyways...


what exactly are you wanting to know?? lol

i was really just wanting some advice...
Has anyone seen it done before? Is there anything on the market that changes analog/manual to electrical signal? Is there a large degree of variations in which even analog instruments work, are wired? Any suggestions on what dials to use? etc etc

Why not use aftermarket gauges that suit what you want for your application? Instead of trying to retrofit gauges from other cars?

Opel Corsa = Holden Barina.. just BTW for anyone wondering what he owns.

Check out the Euro style dash and Aussie dash, they might be different enough for your taste. You can usually get dash dressup kits, I forget the company name but some mob here makes CF overlays and EL white backs for most Aussie models.

But seeings as how you want something custom... forget about doctoring up some other models dash and installing it into your car. Go full custom, I recommend you look into Dakota Digital, Spitfire, VDO or Specco. Start with Dakota, they do really nice custom LCD's for old school rods, Harleys, etc. and can do pretty much anything you want. For a price

http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/pag...prod/prd214.htm

Mmmmmm, horny custom work...

theres actually a part which u can purchase which converts the mechanical takeoff into electronic pulses.
VDO part number: K46005
hall effect sender with mechanical take off (3 pins)

then you can use the aftermarket VDO gauges (provided you have the right calibration settings)

There are converters out there, just gotta find them,
The easier and far more cheaper way in the long run would be to look at a after market gauge setup.
Not sure what you have access to but DEFI do a great range of gauges, when there off the faces turn black and blend into the dash

But if you dead keen on a conversion I was lucky enough to find a mech to digital signal sender for a Tremic TKO speedo drive, so iam guessing there is just about anything out there.

hope it helped a little
Adam

Autometer do a series of retro style gauges, maybe check them out?

thanks very much guys, awesome help, all of you. il look into this mechanical to electronic pulse convertor! dakota digi's are done a lot in showcars, its kind of old news now, even though they look amazing, especially the flame design ones.

dont think DEFI do speedo's, just every other guage imaginable, the autometer ones are very cool, and massive range.

god its confusing. i dont know enough about the electrics of my car, and the electrics of all these guages. Im scared to purchase something without being 100% sure, and a lot of these parts come from overseas, like america, where they have never heard of a vaux/opel/barina anything!

A lot of the wiring is simple (ie a single or two wires) the biggest thing you have to worry about is the sender for things like pressure and temperature sensors. It's best to get the senders that are made by the same company that makes your chosen gauge (or find a confirmed match) and just match the threads so you can simply swap the old with the new.

How about something like this?

In case the pic doesn't work: http://www.autometer.com/img/products/1200_d.jpg

Anyway, in regards to the electrics its real easy.

Speedo: Basically hook up Pos, Neg and signal. Then you just calibrate it by driving a certain distance in 'set' mode, then the guage works it out for you.

Fuel: You just need to find the upper and lower impedance on the sender unit and find a gauge that matches (eg: 90 Ohms Full, 0 Ohms empty).

Volts: Just hook up to somewhere with a Pos.

Temp/Oil: just replace the factory sending unit with the sender that comes with the gauge.

Anything else you want to know?

no, im pretty well sorted for the moment. lots to think about, il definitely update you all with progress though.