Whaddya do for turn signal indicators?

[RPMS]

Okay, for Christmas my mommy got me a new AutoMeter tach and speedo to complement my soon-to-be V-8'ed 260Z. I've noticed that a lot of y'all swap out the tach for aftermarket units. What do you do about turn signal indicators? I've been toying with the idea of using a strip of LED's set into each binnacle, but I'm not sure that's the best solution. Since I hate to re-invent the wheel, I thought I'd ask whether someone on this forum might have a better solution.

 

Thanks,

 

Scott Ferguson

1974 260-Z - still wimpy.

[pparaska]

I have the Autometer Pro-Comp In-dash 5" tach in my 240Z. I cobbled it onto the stock Tach bezel at a near stock tach face "depth" in the dash.

 

For turn signal indicators, I installed some small green indicator lights from RadioShack. The are a threaded shank with a nut. I simply drilled a hole on either side of the stock bezel, in front of the clear plastic, and put the nut on the outside. Doesn't look O.E., but it works. Wired them to the wire for the O.E. indicator sockets.

 

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Pete Paraska - 73 540Z - Marathon Z Project

pparaska@home.com

Pete's V8 Datsun 240Z Pages

[RPMS]

Thanks, Pete. I spent about thirty minutes in the car yesterday evening just looking at the dash, wondering what solution would present itself. At the top of the center console, there are two cutouts - one for the seatbelt warning light, and another blank one. I may wire them for the blinker lights. I've also thought of putting two strings of LED's a the base of the windshield, one above the tach binnacle, one above the speedo. I have also toyed with the idea of putting fiber optic filaments into the "eyebrows" of the binnacles, so they would be invisible unless the markers were blinking. But that would be serious work, snaking the cable through the dash plastic.

 

[This message has been edited by RPMS (edited January 06, 2001).]

[BLKMGK]

I've been wondering this myself. I've pretty much decided to use SMALL LEDs for turn signals and a blue LED for high beam indicator.

 

However, your mentioning of fiber certainly has my interest! I can get my hands on some of this pretty easily I think, I'll have to give this some serious consideration. My only worry is that generally you must be looking dead on to it in order to see the light emissions...

[Andrew Bayley]

If it's just an indicator you want, I'd consider using just one light as an indicator for both. My Merkur has this. At first I was a little annoyed, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. You have a 50/50 shot of guessing which directional signal you insipidly left on.

Just another option.

 

-Andy

[MYRON]

Take a look at my car in Members rides of featured cars. There should be a pic of the dash. I mounted 3 lights in the dash under the factory water/oil/fuel guages. the one in the middle is the high beam indicator.

I looks pretty good and it is easy to do

and best of all it will only cost you a few bucks!

 

Myron

[RPMS]

Thanks for the info, y'all. Right now the most interesting solution is a string of six rectangular green LED's on either side of the tach, between the tach's trim ring and the instrument binnacle. This way they'll be nearly invisible until they are activated, then they should show a bright green arc on either side of the tach. The "gee whiz" factor should be quite high! I was also intrigued by BLKMGK's idea of using blue LED's for the high beam indicator. I'd forgotten about that need, but now that you mention it, I'm having a Homer Simpson "d'oh!" moment. The only issue with blue LED's is, they're screamingly !!BRIGHT!!

 

If anyone is looking for a source of LED's that's MUCH cheaper than Rat Shack, go to www.bgmicro.com. Many of the more common sizes are 10 to 15 for a dollar.

 

Scott Ferguson

1974 260-Z - Awaiting a massive dose of Vitamin V8!

[Owen]

Interesting site...may come in handy...

 

I saw this in the Featured Products section.

"IR Illuminator Kit

Let's get serious about this infrared thing with our IR ILLUMINATOR kit. Kit comes with 36 high power infrared LEDs, a 2" diameter PC board with silk screen and solder mask, 4 resistors, and assembly notes. Approximate assembly time is under 1 hour. IR ILLUMINATOR is designed to operate between 12-15VDC, with maximum efficiency at 14VDC. Units can be daisy chained. Mount anywhere with the convenient hole in the center. At 24 feet, the beam is approx 3-1/2 feet across. Light up the dark with the IR ILLUMINATOR. LED1007....$12.95"

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't an IR signal capable of interfering with speed detectors? How much I don't know but I read somewhere that the high beams of a car can sometimes aid in blocking/interfering with radar guns, etc.

 

Not thinking of breaking the law or anything like that...just doing some creative wishful thinking

 

Owen

 

PS. speaking of LEDs, I was looking into putting LEDs in the tail lites, turn signal assemblies, etc. to get rid of those stupid automotive type connectors and bulbs used right now. I looked into Lambert Enterprises http://www.lambertenterprises.com/

but they are pretty expensive.

However, certain parts being sold in the above post are much cheaper.

 

 

 

 

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http://www.homestead.com/s30z/index.html

[pparaska]

Yep - LADAR uses the IR spectrum. Incandescent lights put out visible, IR, and other parts or the spectrum, and you can use IR filter material over regular lights that will make them look like they are off, but putting out IR to "blind" or fool LADAR.

 

IR LEDs put out mostly IR, you can't tell when they are on with your eyes. And they are usually (always?) much more efficient than incandescent, especially in the IR spectrum.

[RPMS]

Hey, Owen.

 

Yeah, the IR illuminator is an interesting item, and one wonders if it would interfere with lasers. Only thing that would worry me is, do laser guns have a video screen on them? If so, putting IR devices on the front would be a BAD idea, since CCD elements pick up IR radiation really well. If the guns are aimed optically, then you've got no worries.

 

Scott Ferguson

1974 260-Z (Awaiting V8 conversion)

[BLKMGK]

Honestly, I'd have no idea "blinding" a CCD camera while I was coming down the road (shrug). I'm pretty sure these things are all optically (sp?) sighted though so no worries. Cops around here hate to use them I'm told - it's more "work" to actually have to aim!

[Guest EPS]

I used a small tack mounted in front of the stock unit. You can see the turn signal indicators, and it really does not look bad. Short of a dash tear-out to adjust the OE tack (which can be done with a screw adjustment at the back), I think this is a good compromize.

[BLKMGK]

Yuo don't have to tear the dash out - they pull from the rear somewhat easily. In my case I'm simply going to swap out all of th egauges including the tach and speedo for Phantom gauges. I've not YET purchased the tach and speedo though since supposedly Autometer is going to improve the speedo with an LCD tripmeter here soon - per one of their techs The 5inch jobs slide right in apparently - fun fun!