I had originally started a thread in the "wet behind the ears" section: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?157013-nother-1970-Riviera-owner&highlight='nother+70 Here are the latest Pics.
What did your speedo cluster come from and how was it hooked up and installed? Not something I would do on my car but looks cool.
Thanks Briz, I made the cluster using the shell of the original - it has a VDO speedo and Sun Tach with the casing/face plates etc removed. I built everything else. I mounted everything onto a perforated soldering board. I matched the face plate texture with the original speedo, I also built the speedo and tach graphics so that they remain true to their original face plates increments for speed & rpm. The rest of the gauges are just cheap analog ones that work. The first picture is the final configuration, the second is an older configuration before I completely remove the gauge shells & face plates.
Very cool. :bglasses: Thanks for the update. Why did you move the inside door handles? Looks like a lot of work went into that.
Hey Dale, Thanks. The door handles were moved because I didn't like having to twist my wrist around to open the door. The handles imho are much more intuitive where they are now. Regarding the move, it really wasn't much work. I only had to buy some rod. The door panels needed to be rebuilt so cutting a hole wasn't a big deal in my mind. I have no pix of this, but if you look at the door sheet metal it is as if the handles were to be placed there originally. There was a recess and mounting holes already there...o No:. I love them there.
Where did you have the custom speedo/tach gauge panel made? Is it an overlay? Have any write up or photos of the build you can share? Thanks
Tim what you see is what I made. I'm not sure exactly how to answer your question. I do have my notes to do this again or troubleshoot if there is ever a problem, but not as many pictures and definitely do not have this information is an easy to read "how to" or "how I made" guide, but you can kinda get the idea from the pictures I posted previously and in the older "wet behind the ears" thread I referenced. The overlay is glued to perforated PCB/soldering board, the VDO speedo and Sunpro Tach shells and overlay were removed and I then mounted the units on the PCB. The new overlay itself is printed on photo paper, I created it from scratch. To achieve the right color black I brought the OEM fuel gauge to Office Max along with the image I created for the new overlay, I worked with the tech behind the counter until the color matched perfectly. Regarding the LCD and the 8 Segment LED displays, I built the drivers for these as part of a 4L80E TCM. The chip I used was the PIC 16F648A - micro controller (Microchip Inc), and for the sake of simplicity I mounted the components on breadboard and placed it in a small project box located inside the dash above the glove box. I did generate a write up for the 4L80E swap. I know I posted it somewhere on the forum....I'd have to go search for it.
I was curious about the gauge overlay. What kind of paper did you use? Did you spray it to keep moisture from damaging it? It's cool to be able to see the evolution of your set-up.
Thanks Tim. The paper is whatever photo paper office max has. I am not too worried about moisture in AZ, but the tach hasn't moved freely past 3000RPM. It did prior to install over a year ago. It is more likely the result of heat. I will need to pull the cluster back out to better secure the overlay - probably put a nice coat of glue over the whole back surface. I glued around the edges hoping this would do the job but I guess not.o No: If this doesn't work I'll see if it can be printed onto some plastic...
When you reprint, take some pics and some notes so you can share please. I have been looking at trying to make some personalized decals/overlays for my project, but all the DIY stuff seems to have bad reviews about the ink not sticking/glue backing not sticking/no longevity. I live in an area where there is a bit more condensation and general overall rain than you, so I need it to be durable. Keep up the good work. :TU:
In another lifetime I was a photocopier technician. Try something called drafting mylar if you want to photo copy on to a sheet of plastic.
Years ago at print shops I worked at, we used to do a lot of transparencies off Xerox copiers, or the Canon color copier. It all seems so quaint now.
It appears the tach issue had nothing to do with the overlay. It was a mounting issue, there are two set of mounting holes I used the lower. So when the cluster was vertical it leaned away just enough to bind. So I put a dab of super glue on the upper portion to secure it. Here is a picture.
Why not print on to photo paper then laminate? :TU: This solves the printing on plastic issue and allows you to "texture" the pring because it is on paper that can produce high quality images. May take a few tries to adjust the color depending on lamination method (heat vs glue) but I think this would be a very feasible solution.
