Just thought I would share a picture of my 1st attempt at placing a voltmeter between the clock display and the neutral lite.
I will update this with pictures on the inside mods as well once I work-out one more detail.
I am sure the LEDs will washout in direct sunlight, but I am not planning on doing anything about that. I may have to dim the display, which is quite easy to do.
The voltmeter was real expensive.....not....like US$2.00.
What do you think?
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That is awesome! I have been meaning to do that myself.... I have the extra gauges to make one..do you have pics of the backside? & which voltmeter did you use? please share.....Voltage looks a little low, bad R/R? :goofy:
Thanks,
Gary
I've done EXACTLY the same setup... I went to hobby shop and picked up a connector for wires, to facilitate any future dash removals, and then picked up power off one of the ignition switch connector, so that it would be straight from battery, but would turn off as soon as key was turned.
That looks great .
Roll On ..
[image: IMG_20150617_062342_9331.jpg] Okay here are the details:
The voltmeter size is length 23mm, height 14mm, depth 8mm, had mounting ears on the side which I removed. There are larger voltmeters, but would require cutting into the clock circuit board and light path. I did nothing to the clock assembly. Be sure to get the two wire NOT the three wire voltmeters.
The first picture shows the cutout in the unused indicator light tunnel. The depth is 8mm, same as the voltmeter body and then cut a space for the wires to pass through. The voltmeter fits below that small ledge that the colored lens would have sat on.
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I then cut some foam to support the voltmeter.
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Here is the voltmeter in place. Note that the voltmeter does not come with the red lens, I added this to hide the voltmeter body so just the digits show.
Here is a picture of just the voltmeter with no lens and with the mounting ears still attached.
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To connect the voltmeter, the clock assembly is removed very carefully: there are two screws for the large green circuit board and five screws for the smaller brown circuit board under the green board. There is a wire harness between these boards that is not very long. Place instrument panel on its face and remove the three terminal screws, flip back over and then remove the two screws for the green board. Carefully lift it out just far enough to get to the remaining two screws and lift the clock assembly out. The three terminals I labeled are: I for ignition, G for ground, B for battery. Just a simple matter of connecting the two wires from the voltmeter to two of these terminals. I plan on using I for the red / positive lead, G for black /negative lead. One could connect red/positive to battery, but this is an LED voltmeter and does draw some current, probably on the order of 10mA or so....much more than the clock does and would drain the battery in time. Be nice to find an LCD voltmeter, then I could connect to battery.
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Next is cutting of the black plastic overlay. This requires care and a sharp knife. Take careful measurements as to where to cut. If you are really careful cut the hole same size as the digits.
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As the voltmeter does not have a bezel or trim, I found using some 3/4" or 1" wide black tape over the cutout hides the rough edges. Put the tape over the cutout on the top side, slice the tape from corner to corner and fold the ends under. Makes a nice looking bezel.
As far as the red lens over the voltmeter, I went to an auto parts store and got a tail light repair kit which contained a 5" x 7" sheet of adhesive red acrylic. I just cut a retangle a bit larger than the voltmeter body and placed it onto the voltmeter.
ebay has lots of these mini voltmeters and in various color digits. I got mine from an online electronics store for a ham radio project. You can probably just get one of the ebay ones and be fine. Again be sure to get the two wire NOT the three wire.
I also suggest removing all the gauges before doing any cutting. Be mind-ful of the flex circuit board on the backside; I did not mess with this as it is fragile.
If anyone decides to do this little project and have questions, just ask.
I personally would NEVER EVER cut the dash of my '96.
But you are already committed.
Now go a step farther and make it flash with your RADAR detector or add super bright LED's to flash when the detector goes off.
That would be a useful tool.
That is why I bought a separate instrument panel from a wrecked '97. I did not want to try this on my '97's dash.
Thank you for the details Lanny I appreciate it! this will give me something else to do now.... paint my other upper left and move the voltmeter to the dash
I personally would NEVER EVER cut the dash of my '96.
But you are already committed.
Now go a step farther and make it flash with your RADAR detector or add super bright LED's to flash when the detector goes off.
That would be a useful tool.
or get a adaptiv technologies Radar detector and it is already built in (the leds are above the gps)
[image: 20150312 180334]I run a Passport with Legal Speeding helmet light.
But a strobe on the dash would be a nice added option.