garvice Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Hey Guys, I don't want to waste your time, so I will show you what I have, then if you like it you can keep reading. VDO Tach, Signal from Aftermarket Computer, Indicators built into face like the factory. Ok, so you obviously want to find out what I did, other wise you wouldn't still be reading. For starters, to get the tacho to work with my computer's output, I needed to put the coil of a relay (Removed the contact from the relay) between 12V and the Computer output, then put computer output side into the tacho. The VDO Tach comes in a nice compact case with a really nice Glass front. It is much clearer then using the factory curved plastic, however it doesn't look right in the dash doing it this way. So I started by removing the front. You can remove the bezel twisting a screwdriver in the bezel. I did this all the way around, then did it again with a larger screwdriver until I could get it off. Next I traced the current indicators with cardboard, and placed the cutout on the Tacho face. Then I used a stanley knife (Razor Blade) to scrape the paint off the front of the face (The face is painted clear plastic). Covered the face with Paper and painted the plastic with green paint. I think this would have worked just as well without painting. This is what the face looks like after painting it. Drilled two holes into the side of the tacho for the indicators. Used a little bit of black tape around the screw mounts to seperate the lights from the indicators. Don't have photos of this, but you will work it out when you open up the gauge. Next I mounted it in the standard bezel. Used a couple of bolts as jacking bolts to centre the gauge. As per others, I filled it the gap with silicon. This is how it looks mounted into the car. Photo at night without flash WIth flash This is with Lights on and Right indicator running (Hard to time the flash as the sound doesn't match the bulb lighting. Left Indicator No Lights with right indicator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZeder Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Excellent work. I like the original type styling not to keen on the white faces or the blue lighting some do, just a personal thing (the purist in me I guess I like the classic looking black face white font and green lighting) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators RTz Posted January 15, 2009 Administrators Share Posted January 15, 2009 Nice job! I'm not far off from installing a set of VDO Visions in my Dime... you gave me something to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Thanks guys. The original plan was to use the VDO electronics and the Original Face as I prefer the original tacho face to any aftermarket tacho I have seen, but it wouldn't have been easy. The Indicators on the original tacho have large metal light guide tubes running to the back of the gauge. The VDO tacho has the circuit board running where these go, so it would need some modification. Maybe if I find a lot of spare time I'll modify the board and do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essdeezee Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Hey, just wanted to pop in and say that I really like the re-clocking of the speedo. Function over form looks nice here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 Cheers, I had a thread explaining why I did it http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=141981 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 Guys, I upgraded the look. Check out the details here. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?p=1099864#post1099864 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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