My car is a turbo.....however it has no volt gauge, no oil pressure gauge and no calibrated boost gauge (it does have a clock big enough for the blind though). So I'm looking to make a custom gauge cluster using VDO units.....its certainly not like the good old days when it was all mechanical or a straight 12V hook-up. Now its all mV and circuit boards. BTW....I do have the schematics to all the dash wiring but not sure if they list actual voltage.
I don't want to alter or cut anything on the dash side....would like to keep the OEM connectors, but then tie the VDOs into the OEM board - I'll keep the original cluster housing as well - it would be almost orgasmic if I could keep the oem dummy lights as well (all the more an oem look - subtlety is everything). The car's original gauges are VDO, so I'm not sure how interchangable/user-friendly this venture may be. I have contacted VDO but they are absolutely no help whatsoever.
I guess what I'm asking is......what is the safest and most intelligent way to tie the guages into the original board? Drill a small hole and solder it in? The oem guages make their connection to the board actually through contact points at their mounting screws. I have also thought about just removing the oem board from the housing altogether and using it only as a "processor" of sorts. Also.....how adjustable are aftermarket gauges? (ohm ratings, etc)
Has anyone ever done this and lived to tell?
Thanks in advance.
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Subtlety is EVERYTHING.
I have no clue on the hook up part but have you checked out Defi brand gauges also, they are sweet. Just thought you might wanna checkem out.
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Fortune: You will continue to take chances, and be glad you did.
i dont think u will have to drill any pcb, u can normally find all the conections u need on the wiring harness that comes out of the clocks. it is much easier to do it there, soildering is by far the best way to make a good contact. this will also leave the oem stuff in place
When you solder though be sure to cover up the bare wire (i'm sure you know this). I recommend heat shrink tubing, mmmmm its so clean. Good Luck.
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Fortune: You will continue to take chances, and be glad you did.
VDO in Europe has some REALLY nice gauges. They're not available in the US, but whats really odd about that is.....they're in MPH.
Go figure.
I'll use VDOs just to maintain the subtle oem look. The circuit board on my cluster is very thin plastic - very flexible - so I think I can actually fold it down a bit to put in aftermarket gauges while leaving the bottom strip of dummy lights all in place and intact.
Should be an adventure.
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Subtlety is EVERYTHING.