With some money and time I'm concidering converting my current gauge cluster, with a shell I got off my wrecked '94 and removing all the gauges out of the instrument cluster, and FiberGlassing / Bondo in a display...



this display accepts VGA signals from 640X480 to 1600 x 1200
It does sub sample the image to a max of 800X600 but that still gives you plenty of resolution to put up some gauges. The Idea is to run that screen to a small pc with solid state drives, an A-D converter that would take signals from the wireing Harness, and display them on a dash controll unit that you would be able to display and download via a wireless ethernet card on the PC From your Home to your Car.
The case can be any variety, but I'm thinking a unit similar to this



which would fit in one of the storage units, (Passenger) since 1 You can lock it and 2 it's closer to the ECU...

You'd then be able to add an additional screen for the radio / DVD / MP3 Juke Box... with a small trackball imbedded in the center console you'd be able to select Dash Layout presets, Mp3 Collections, and or Radio Stations... Not to mention DataLogit, and AEM custumers could load their ECU software and monitor the car's performance in real time, whith whatever values they wanted to see...


This is a 8 Channel A/D Converter that could be used to read the values coming from the sensors,
and possibly be multiplied, by adding another unit for AFR, Fuel Pressur etc... all you'd need is inputs, and then run the wires to the pair of inputs you'd want to use... This box also has output so you could programm external warning lights etc.. but I don't see a real need for that since the display should be able to handle this...
The Box samples at 16 000 smaples / sec, more than enough to run a speedo or tach....

I've figured out just about everything, except how redicoulous this is going to make the car, and how prone to theft, since once the screens were off i'd be difficult to impossible to tell what was going on maybe with some tint...

I guess what I'm asking is, do you guys approve ??

-DC

 

I think one thing that would be kind of annoying is that you would have to wait untill everything boots up before the gauges come on. Another thing is that I don't know if the gauge cluster would look good with just one screen, in order to make it look right I think you would have to run numerous (probably 3 of them) and how would you go about controlling that (3 computers). I think that it could turn out great, but it could also be lame if not done right.

 

I hate you Crosby

 

That's something i wouldn't do man. The risk of become a lame car is great. Of course that's just me . Anyway i advise you to stick with something nice and already
tested.

 

give it a shot.. why not.. it might work.. I'm currious and hope it works out..

 

Your data aquisition box won't work for displaying things like RPM and speed because with those you have to count pulses, instead of interpret a 0-5v analog signal. Also, how are you going to figure out all the conversions, i.e. that 3.73v = 4.6 psi of boost? Or that 1.23v = 41C water temp?

Keep in mind that not everything goes through, or to, the main ECU. Stuff like your fuel gauge just goes to the control unit behind the dash, because the ECU doesn't care about it.

 

You may want to consider getting an aftermarket ECU and tapping the serial output from that to get info like boost, RPM, etc. This way you might even be able to look at fuel curves, injector duty cycles, etc on you dash cluster.

 

i would like to know where you got the pc for one. I want one....

a suggestion coming from someone who has built to "carputers"....

use windows ce.... they boot instantly, no wait time, and a company makes a dc/dc converter out of laptop power supplies you may want to check into, but they're pricey..


Check out www.digitalww.com for some cool touch screen (usb) kits for universal screens. I've got a 5.6" tft lcd and a touch screen off of them that i'd sell for around $175, brand new if you're interested.... never got around to putting it in this car because of the lag time for booting...

 

I thought about setting something up.. like GPS system/DVD/tuning for PFC..

I bought this computer.. Its supposed to be the worlds smallest PC..

I also got the Dc/DC converter.. i bought one from Circuit City for about 80 bucks.. It will convert 12V upto I think 24V.. It works Ok..

Here is the pic..

 

Boot time is not an issue, these days with sleep mode or (save to disk) and a solid state "memmory" disk, things like disk noise, potholes, and G-Acceleration, as well as speed, are no longer a factor... TheSolid state drives outperform disks by 10X or more... due to no moving parts and instant access to any memory location, I do belive size wise, they don't compare, I think they make 'em in 3-10 Gig Configurations.. so it's no 120 Gig Drive... but if all you're running is EMS and possibly some media could be on CD/DVD... then what do you need 120 Gigs for this is not for rinning a PS2 Emulator of GT3 ... that's for true Ricers...

As far as screen size... 7" diagonally might be enough... for the dash, and todays graphics cards do support 2 Monitor Outputs... So running one for the dash and one for the Stereo / Gauge Cluster / DVD player etc... possibly hooked to a 12" - 14" screen... is very feasable...

I could probhably photoshop something up as far as what the finished thing should look like with minor tweaking on the houseings of the screens...

Even if it's not possible for the engine cluster, it would make for an excellent GPS / DVD / Mp3 / CD Player....

and at 16 000 samples per second, any pulse from the tach, should be countable, and analyzable via some programming....

 

I think i'd just install a STACK display.

 

Stack meters/displays sound more reasonable.

 

Any Links to those ? Or can they be easily found with a google search ?

Edit: Found some pictures.....
Sure you'd come off quite a bit cheaper, but that's not neccicarily my intent... I wanted to create an application where you can design your own dash, from the ground up, kind of like the AEM dash, in their software, just that you could replace any visual component with any bitmap you ahd on your PC, and then save those as templates, and possibly compile them and sell / give them to your friends or co-workers, I would charge for the software, that I'd write a nominal fee .. $50-$100 or so, and you'd get full plans, and a list of companies to buy parts from and how to assemble the wireing harness... All very standard stuff, I could Immagine all you'd need to do is solder any sensors up, other than that I'd make it pretty plug and play, with the exception of the dash mounting placement, would be similar in difficulty as the AC gauge cluster relocation....

 

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/stack.htm

 

Yep.

"Digital" dashes were out of style by approximately 1985

 

the stack is awsome. Had one in our formula atlantic car we owned for a while. They are badass little units!

 

Now what would be cool is if you could a power fc commander screen for any engine but on a bigger screen.This way you could also monitor sensors,fuel/air mix, and other things i can't think of.this way while stack monitors basic function, you have screen monitoring the very high speed ****.

 

Hate the Game not the Playa !

 

I've always thought a big part of the FD's charm is it's a very advanced piece of engineering disguised as a primitive 70s European roadster. The only car that I can think of in recent history that has pulled off the same effect is the BMW z8.

The nice thing about this is you have very few distractions to take away from driving. The not so nice part is when technical problems occur you're not made aware of them before they are spiraling out of control.

With this in mind, I would rather have a small data display that you could use to cycle through different sensors (mounted in a din slot for example) coupled with an audible warning system.

Computer screens are not the most beautiful things in the world to look at.

 

But what about one of those DVD screens that flip out of the HU? (or multiple ones)

You could have a stack showing all the normal stuff, then have the screen to show what you want.

Fairly showy stack for normal driving, then the ultra-poser stylee screen for shows/racing

 

I'm worried about the resolution of the DVD / HU displays... since they're meant for NTSC 480 Lines on resolution... which isn't enough to make 12 pt. text legible on a 32" TV, it shure isn't going to make it any easier on a 6" LCD.... but something fold away DIN would be more of a troubbleshooting type thing... Could be nice...

 

Check this out: http://forums.audiworld.com/a4/msgs/1734601.phtml

 

Nice !!! Yeah that's what I was talking about, that way all you'd see is the buttons on the bottom, and you could make your own custum interface... and even if you're not a fan of the Dash, who wouldn't want a GPS / CD/Mp3 changer in their car, to make it faeture wise, up to date with today's high end sports cars... RX-8, Lexus etc...

I didn't get a chance to read through all the posts and replies, but did he mount that in a doubble DIN slot like we have !?

-DC

 

This is the interface s/w that he used: http://www.mediaengine.org . User definable skins...noice!

 

That just looks great !