LED galore or "I guess I'm a control freak"... (long with pictures)
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,921
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From: Lisbon
LED galore or "I guess I'm a control freak"... (long with pictures)
My multi-gauge, multi-led, headunit relocation project is coming to a close... Someone may find interesting some of these mods so here is a report.
The project involved these items:
Water temp gauge
Oil temp gauge
Oil pressure gauge
Control unit for the above
Out of range water temperature warning LED
Out of range oil temperature warning LED
Out of range oil pressure warning LED
Sequential Shift Light & Control Unit
Self raising windows on alarming
LED illumination for door handles
Rear speakers
Audio install rebuild including amp swap
Non standard headunit location
More Mods to come shortly:
LED illumination for starter key
modifry "convenience module"
modifry "illumination mod"
2nd Generation Smarttire system
Other cosmetic changes...
I'll describe some of these mods and show you some pictures, but if anyone wants additional information, just let me know.
*****
I bought the gauge set during the S2K Japanese trip, in a Spoon outlet, where it was on sale for a slight discount. After getting them home, I quickly realized that installation would be close to impossible without defacing the car. Something I definitely did not want to do.
I opted to install the gauges in the headunit location, and move the headunit elsewhere. The sensors were installed by an Honda dealer, the gauges by a specialist audio shop. A carbon fibre face was custom built to hold the gauges and secured using the stock headunit attachments.
And here is a picture:
One of the problems of installing the gauges in the headunit location is that you can't see them if the headunit door is closed
. This wouldn't be much of a problem, if one of the reasons for the gauges were not to monitor out of range situations. To address this problem a set of 3 high intensity LEDs was installed on the outside just below the headunit door, each LED connected to an individual gauge. The LEDs will blink furiously if a programmable thresholds is exceeded. Currently I have the water temp limit set at 100C, oil temp at 120C and oil pressure at 2 kgf/cm2 (a lower limit).
And here is a picture:
Finally the control unit was relocated to the glove box. This was lined with a rubberized material to avoid rattling and improve looks.
... and... predicably.. here is a picture:
The sequential shift light is an interesting mod. It serves multiple purposes:
It helps with optimal shift points (you shift depending on programmable rpm set points that light up LEDs)
It helps evaluating performance mods (you measure time between LEDs turning on)
It helps detecting "race orientated" dealers (by resetting max rpm value before taking the car to the dealer, reading it afterwards, and finally raising hell if they even nudged the VTEC point : ) ).
I opted to install the LEDs on the A-pillar together with the LCD display. I'm not 100% happy with the aesthetics of the end result so the LCD may still migrate elsewhere and the pillar cover redone (you can imagine how popular I am with the shop technicians ; ) )
And here is a picture:
The on/off button and the set/preset button went on the blank to the right of the steering wheel.
The source of this system was a SPA unit that was taken apart to allow installation in a cramped space.
I also made some minor changes, like the illumination for the door handles:
and self raising windows... unfortunately, a bit tough to picture.
This is the end result seen during the day:
and this is how it looks like at night:
In this last picture you can see that the warning LED for the oil pressure was on (actually blinking, but again a bit tough to picture on film). The engine was off, so oil pressure was nil.
As I mentioned earlier, having had to relocate the headunit, I also took the opportunity to redo my audio installation. I'll write a report tomorrow, where the final destination of the headunit will be ultimately revealed ; ).
The project involved these items:
Water temp gauge
Oil temp gauge
Oil pressure gauge
Control unit for the above
Out of range water temperature warning LED
Out of range oil temperature warning LED
Out of range oil pressure warning LED
Sequential Shift Light & Control Unit
Self raising windows on alarming
LED illumination for door handles
Rear speakers
Audio install rebuild including amp swap
Non standard headunit location
More Mods to come shortly:
LED illumination for starter key
modifry "convenience module"
modifry "illumination mod"
2nd Generation Smarttire system
Other cosmetic changes...
I'll describe some of these mods and show you some pictures, but if anyone wants additional information, just let me know.
*****
I bought the gauge set during the S2K Japanese trip, in a Spoon outlet, where it was on sale for a slight discount. After getting them home, I quickly realized that installation would be close to impossible without defacing the car. Something I definitely did not want to do.
I opted to install the gauges in the headunit location, and move the headunit elsewhere. The sensors were installed by an Honda dealer, the gauges by a specialist audio shop. A carbon fibre face was custom built to hold the gauges and secured using the stock headunit attachments.
And here is a picture:
One of the problems of installing the gauges in the headunit location is that you can't see them if the headunit door is closed
. This wouldn't be much of a problem, if one of the reasons for the gauges were not to monitor out of range situations. To address this problem a set of 3 high intensity LEDs was installed on the outside just below the headunit door, each LED connected to an individual gauge. The LEDs will blink furiously if a programmable thresholds is exceeded. Currently I have the water temp limit set at 100C, oil temp at 120C and oil pressure at 2 kgf/cm2 (a lower limit).And here is a picture:
Finally the control unit was relocated to the glove box. This was lined with a rubberized material to avoid rattling and improve looks.
... and... predicably.. here is a picture:
The sequential shift light is an interesting mod. It serves multiple purposes:
It helps with optimal shift points (you shift depending on programmable rpm set points that light up LEDs)
It helps evaluating performance mods (you measure time between LEDs turning on)
It helps detecting "race orientated" dealers (by resetting max rpm value before taking the car to the dealer, reading it afterwards, and finally raising hell if they even nudged the VTEC point : ) ).
I opted to install the LEDs on the A-pillar together with the LCD display. I'm not 100% happy with the aesthetics of the end result so the LCD may still migrate elsewhere and the pillar cover redone (you can imagine how popular I am with the shop technicians ; ) )
And here is a picture:
The on/off button and the set/preset button went on the blank to the right of the steering wheel.
The source of this system was a SPA unit that was taken apart to allow installation in a cramped space.
I also made some minor changes, like the illumination for the door handles:
and self raising windows... unfortunately, a bit tough to picture.
This is the end result seen during the day:
and this is how it looks like at night:
In this last picture you can see that the warning LED for the oil pressure was on (actually blinking, but again a bit tough to picture on film). The engine was off, so oil pressure was nil.
As I mentioned earlier, having had to relocate the headunit, I also took the opportunity to redo my audio installation. I'll write a report tomorrow, where the final destination of the headunit will be ultimately revealed ; ).
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
From: Cambridge
Hey, you have some excellent ideas in there ... Some comments and questions:
- Love the gauge cluster ... it looks great.
- What's the lighting process for the LEDs?
- What's on the LCD display?
- Do you have any information on the circuits that you put together?
- Replace that red button! It doesn't quite fit with the rest of the interior ... perhaps you can find another rocker switch that will do the same? Is it a momentary switch? If you can get switches that illuminate in red, that'd be sweet.
- Where did you end up putting the head unit?
- Love the gauge cluster ... it looks great.
- What's the lighting process for the LEDs?
- What's on the LCD display?
- Do you have any information on the circuits that you put together?
- Replace that red button! It doesn't quite fit with the rest of the interior ... perhaps you can find another rocker switch that will do the same? Is it a momentary switch? If you can get switches that illuminate in red, that'd be sweet.
- Where did you end up putting the head unit?
Former Sponsor
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 7,049
Likes: 1
From: Timonium
Nice work, Luis! James Mullins and I are half way through the installation of four digital gauges (oil pressure and temp, water temp, and engine bay air temp) in the head unit cover. With modifcations, the gauge housings are about 3/4 inches deep, which leaves the cover fully functional and the head unit itself fine where it is. We'll be posting some pictures this weekend of the work in progress.
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,768
Likes: 0
From: Southwest Florida
As my homies would say, "that sh!t is TIGHT".... ethier that or "that is off the chiz-ain".
I don't care about the other guages, but the programmable LED shift light is swank ass.
How would I go about installing a shift light like that??
I don't care about the other guages, but the programmable LED shift light is swank ass.
How would I go about installing a shift light like that??
