OlderThanMe Posted May 25, 2007 Author Share Posted May 25, 2007 Ala-bomb-a-rama…Very cool. I like the display… Can you get it to animate a rolling tire doing a foggy and then rolling off the end of the screen… Post it in the FOGGY burnout thread… I also like the HUD idea. Definitely carries a lot of WOW factor. Are you going to use the HUD film as used on the early 240 SX for your HUD project? Yes I have been working on getting a Z to do a foggy burnout and then going off the screen. Just a simple outline of a z and then tires spinning. I am going to use a HUD film of some sort. Just not quite sure yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 I heard the HUD film in the S13 was made into the glass, can anyone verify this on way or the other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003z Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 I heard the HUD film in the S13 was made into the glass, can anyone verify this on way or the other?probably. it is in the corvettes, but on the C5 many people have retrofitted the hud and used their standard windshield without the film, and its 90% as effective as having the film. The only problems reported are in bright sunlight, so I think its not really necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 I heard the HUD film in the S13 was made into the glass, can anyone verify this on way or the other? you can buy polarizing film in squares that are larger than the required area. cut to fit and they are adhesive backed, so it's a bitch to position, but it gets on there nice and works well. make sure to test the angle u need to polarize before cutting and sticking (polarizing film lets light in only at certain directions, and can sometimes completely block them in others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 also, are you using the HD44780 LCD Controller circuit with your VFD? I built a 40x4 LCD for computer management and information display. the weirdest thing happened when I FIRST got it to boot up. i was fiddling with the RSS Feed, and the VERY first thing it said when I confirmed it was working was "Saddam Hussein has been captured" I was like "GAHHHHHHH, THIS THING IS POSSESSED!" and sure enough, I hopped onto cnn.com, and it was telling no lies! I'm curious as to how you will interface it with the Megasquirt? I've not read into doing that with the MS I Have sitting here for a 4AGTE project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 3, 2007 Author Share Posted June 3, 2007 Wel a little progress has been made this week. Got the servos for the guages working and calibrated. We are still working on finishing the wiring for the car. Everything is wired but I think weput some relays too close together (magnetic) or there is a bad ground somewhere or a bad relay. Should get that figured out today. I got 75% of the wires loomed up but have to redo some of the zip-ties. The others should be done soon. It all fits nicely under my aluminum dash and no wires hang down when properly tucked up. WOOHOO!!! We used an ENTIRE 500ft roll of wire in my car...and then some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 hey OTM, i'm wondering if you ever considered the ez2wire systems on ebay or the painless type systems. if so, what changed your mind? I like your setup because of the dash you're making, but it'd be hard to fit under a regular dash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 I am going to use a HUD film of some sort. Just not quite sure yet. this should be all you need http://www.3dlens.com/shop/polarizer-200x250mm.php the best way to apply this is to sit in the car once the hud is fully working, and draw a square that covers the area that the hud projects onto, and basically draw the way you want it to look onto the inside of your windshield then, while you sit in your normal driving position; have a friend (with the protective film still on, so it doesnt scratch) stand on the outside of the car and have them rotate the film using your drawn location as a center point. have him/her spin the film until you find the point at which the most light bounces back towards your eyeline... once you find that point, ask them to stop turning the film, and by looking at your line marks on the inside of the glass through the film, the can trace the size you need onto the film while it's in the position you need it. then when it's marked, cut it and paste it on the inside. make sure you make the scribe marks on the polarizing film with the adhesive side up, as it will be in the same position when it is applied to the inside of the glass. that should do that trick for ya, buddy interestingly enough, the way i found this out was pretty weird. I had an old LCD from a printer that would always display bugged out numbers and letters, but it had a backlight. so one day i decided to peel the film away and rotate it around 180 degrees, and it started showing the digits using the backlight. I later found out that this is what a lot of people do when converting LCD's to match their tastes, and it's quite a cool trick. *GGGGGGGG IIIIIII JOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 3, 2007 Author Share Posted June 3, 2007 I considered several of the universal systems. If I did it myself I'd know the whole system a lot better. I probably spent the same amount as a regular universal harness but it was worth it to get the experience wiring a car. The local guy that completely rewires cars said he would do the same thing for about $2,000!!!!!! And that is using crimp connectors! We soldered ALL of the crimp connections so that oxidation won't be as much of an issue for corroding the wires. It took at least twice as long to solder everything but I think it was worth it. I could do a similar wiring system to mount in the same place as the stock system. I just had extra space to mount it all by eleting the heater and fan. I put in an extra fuse block to allow me to add on some stuff in the future such as an EMS, extra gadgets and widgets, and maybe even a small ultra lightweight radio! Thanks for the link on the polarizing film! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 great stuff. how did the soldering go? often times, the copper wire crystallizes due to excessive heat (high wattage irons will do that) to the point where the connection is solid, but all too brittle, and can crack with excessive vibration if the rest of the wire is held down tight so the solder point becomes a stressed area. in most cases it's ok though, and i'm sure you know what you're doin. how many hours and what wiring diagrams did you follow to make the wiring yourself? did you use a different set of wiring schematics for a later car, or did you just follow the Z wiring? this is something I've yet to decide on. I'm debating a wiring kit with a detachable EMS portion, which I've found to be available on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 3, 2007 Author Share Posted June 3, 2007 Schematic? Haha... We just took a piece of paper and listed what all needed power and if it needed it's own fuse or not. Then we ran one wire at a time until the car was done. I think the solder will be fine. We used a 40 watt soldering iron which was a little slow at heating up the wire. Hooking up the horn was interesting. Since I'm not going to be using the combo switch I cannibalized it for the contact to the steering weel. I also have to figure out what to do for a turn signal switch. Undecided on that one. All of it's wiring is ready but it just needs a switch. Well we spent a LOT of hours working on the wiring... Maybe 100 hours?? We made plenty of trips to go get parts and MORE CONNECTORS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8_DatZun Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 i was thinking of doing the wiring that way also... possibly getting like a wiring diagram for an 80 model camaro or something.. just to go by so i know im going in the right direction. but ill probably lay mine out on a peg board or something so i dont have to strip all the wires out and can actually drive the car... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 5, 2007 Author Share Posted June 5, 2007 pic of a possible layout. The black rectangle is for if we don't do a HUD setup with the display. We are still planning on doing the HUD though. It definitely needs a seperate piece of lexan to reflect the display. The stock windshield turns the display into a bananna roated at a 30 degree angle... I guess I'll have the seperate, jet fighter type HUD screen... I still have to convince dad WHY I need more than a 120mph spedometer... Speedo is probably going to be digital on the display to free up a servo for another engine gauge. Probably boost or AFR... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 6, 2007 Author Share Posted June 6, 2007 The display will be mounted on the front face of the dash. It will put less heat and light into the display by not being in the sun all the time. These displays are pricey and I don't want to have to replace it down the road. Servos are mounted on a nice piece of 1/4" thick red oak. This will be covered in some sort of metal. One thought is to take a piece of aluminum or brass and have the guage faces just laser etched on to the face of the metal. There are also some other cool ideas that I have for the guage face. I need one more servo... Changed the layout a little more. I'm uploading a video of the servos in a test loop mode. It is cool that the display is still plenty bright even with a flash pic. The wood will be completely covered. It was just easier to mount all of the servos this way since we didn't have ant 1/4" aluminum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 6, 2007 Author Share Posted June 6, 2007 Here is the video: I know they are noisy but so is my motor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 6, 2007 Author Share Posted June 6, 2007 Well I have been looking for some pointers to put on the servos... Welcome: Clock hands. I'm looking at having some similar to these made up. I'm going to need them in 3/4", 1", and 2.5" lengths from center to the tip of the hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 here's some inspiration, OTM http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DOLPHIN-6-GOLD-MECHANICAL-STREET-ROD-GAUGE-SET_W0QQitemZ330131655355QQihZ014QQcategoryZ80739QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 8, 2007 Author Share Posted June 8, 2007 Car(e)less: That is what I am going for. The old school race car style guages. I just need to find some hands that have the half moon on them. That is absolutely perfect!!! I was considering buying a set of the dolphin guages but I am doing these servo controlled guages now. The local craft store had some good clock hands but not quite right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Car(e)less: i resent that! i have a car and it's in automotive limbo, much like many of the zees on planet earth =( LOL.. anyways, i like those gauges, they're pretty darn coolz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 9, 2007 Author Share Posted June 9, 2007 i resent that! i have a car and it's in automotive limbo, much like many of the zees on planet earth =( LOL.. anyways, i like those gauges, they're pretty darn coolz LOL... I just remembered that you were "Car Less"...sorry... Mine is also in automotive limbo! Guage project has been put on hold until we can find some motors or servos that are not so loud. Still going forward with mounting the display though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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