Thread: On the right track? Aftermarket gauge in oem cluster

For a while now I've been wondering how I can mount my gauges differently so that I don't have anything sitting on the pillar. It looks like a boost gauge to the uneducated. Here is the current setup.




I then rediscovered chriscar's method of mounting one of the gauges in the oem water temp location. For a long time I've considered this but thought it was not do-able. Chris's thread gave me some motivation. 7 years after he originally did this. Lol

Gauge installation writeup - Gauges - SR20 Forum

At first I thought I could do this in a simpler way than Chris, but I ended up with an even more involved installation.

First off, my manual n14/b13 circuit board look very different from chriscars.



Traced all the paths on the circuit board and the plug that will have to be removed, and made some notes to keep track of everything




I then cut off the one stock 12 pin rear cluster plug




And wired up another oem style plug I had laying around.




Basically this is what I want to achieve. Have the vdo water temp replace the oem so I can free up space in the centre bezel for the air fuel gauge.





Now here is where it gets messy. With the aftermarket gauge you WILL have to cut away some of the printed circuit board. Here is an example of where I have taken a Stanley knife and scraped off some plastic so I can bridge and reconnect some of the circuit that will be lost during the cutting process. Am I on the right track or have I messed up my circuit board?




I am adamant not to loose any of my lights in the cluster so I had to scratch open a few places and reconnect the circuitry. This was my second time soldering and I hope I did it right. Here is a pic of all the places I had to reconnect t the "new" plug. This plug off course attaches to the one I replaced right up top in this post. This way everything is still detachable when the cluster comes in or out.




With all the circuitry bridged onto the new plug I could cut away the section that was interfering with the vdo gauge.





The vdo will be wired up by piggybacking off of the rev counter circuitry as follows:






My main concern is if I have messed up the circuits by doing it my way? The car is down right now so I can't test out the cluster just yet.

Will follow up with final pics once everything is tested and working.

I think when you jumped the green wire/yellow stripe you covered all of the circuits that would've been broken from cutting out that section of the board. As long as you don't have any soldered connections that would cause breaks in continuity, in theory, I think you have covered all your bases.

Thanks Ferrari.

I tested the cluster out today. Seems to be working fine, except that my oil pressure and battery/charging warning lights didn't come on. I'm guessing that might be because the oil pressure sensor and alternator aren't connected? (The motor is out of the car right now)

Can anyone confirm if those lights should still function without being connected to their respective ancillaries?

Following for results when back together. Great job from what I see

Update: All gauges and cluster lights are working fine now. Only one illuminiation back light isn't working. I'm busy sorting it out.

I did however manage to make myself a carbon fibre tripple gauge face plate. Still in progress but quite pleased so far.

Although I had to hack up the clear lens for my in-dash gauge, im still happy i saved myself the wiring and cutting of the circuit board....

http://www.sr20-forum.com/general-maintenance/59813-how-dash-aftermarket-temp-gauge.html

I do believe the next time I fiddle with this, I'll take apart the gauge so the cluster doesnt have to be cut up...

Finally had some time to take pics of the finished product. Managed to replace all the illuminating bulbs with clear led lights. Looks slightly blue in the pics but it's a nice clear bright light in reality.

More importantly, everything works.

nice job