Been a while since I redesigned the Griff dash...

[dnb]

So I thought I'd have another go:

I'm annoyed about the accuracy of the speedo, tacho and fuel gauge, and TBH the speedo is well passed its best since the odometer stops nearly every 1000 miles (when I get time to drive the car) and the speedo tells awful non-linear lies.

So the answer seemed to be a nice set of stepper motor instruments. The cost is considerable, and doesn't quite get me what I want. Plus they don't look quite like I want them to and have all the features I'd like.
So I decided to make my own. After all, how hard can it be...

An evening with a CAD package later, and I have the following:

Front:


Back:


Wireframe:


All parts are easily produced and assembled. The electronics should be fairly straight forward - a few counters and stuff in an AVR chip will suffice. Next step is to lay out the PCB.

[Barreti]

I never cease to be amazed at the technical knowledge people on here have

Good luck dnb, I'll watch your progress with great interest

[shoggyraminator]

Yes the inaccurate speedo readings which also make you look as if though you have done more miles that in fact you have and temperamental taco are a real pain. On my drive back from collecting my Griff the wife's car showed 280 miles while the Griff had clocked 320 miles, that's quite a difference over many thousands of miles.

[griffdude]

Dave, that looks great!

Just a thought, what about incorporating adjustable shift lights? I use a gizmo called 'shift-i' but I bet you could come up with something similar? Maybe along the lines of the BMW M stuff?

[dnb]

Good idea. I haven't thought through all the elecronics features yet, but there is a lot of scope.

[V8 GRF]

Caerbont showed me & Mike Vernon a set of TVR logo'd stepper motor instruments over at Bristol Avenue a year or so ago. They looked the part and weren't ridiculously priced. It might be worth you giving them a call.

[dnb]

Unfortunately even reasonable pricing is probably going to be £450+ these days. And doing this sort of design project is more fun than just spending money. (I will remember them when my design doesn't work...)

[Norbert500]

It better work and in reasonable time....

[dnb]

Quam difficile potest esse?

[MuffDaddy]

Here is a thought, why not add in the Rover diagnosis software on to a touchscreen. It's written in QT and if you can find someone to do the dev I can provide a test BlackBerry Z10 I am certain it will work on. Electronic speedo and tacho?

[Norbert500]

I think VEMS tune would be more appropriate.

[TVR Beaver]

Just another thought.. nothing technical but worth considering.....

Whilst out in my car last night (first time this year ) in noticed the bottom LHS gauge reflects quite badly in the winscreen when the lights are on... the rest are shrouded by the overhand on the dash top, but this one is quite distracting.... so you may want to lift the outside ones to a level where this won't happen??..

[MPoxon]

That looks great dnb.

[blitzracing]

MuffDaddy said:

Here is a thought, why not add in the Rover diagnosis software on to a touchscreen. It's written in QT and if you can find someone to do the dev I can provide a test BlackBerry Z10 I am certain it will work on. Electronic speedo and tacho?

Nice idea as all the gauges are there already execept the poor old 1 MHz 8 bit processor in the 14CUX runs out of puff at higher RPM, and stops updating the serial port so the readings freeze, as the ECU is far to busy dealing with important things like injectors. You might get away with just a couple of gauges, and turn the rest of the inputs off in the software.

[dnb]

It's been a while since I did anything much car related so Thought I'd better update this. For some reason work keeps getting in the way - specially when I get paid to go on sea trials in sunny parts of the world...


I got the pieces of dash laser cut at the end of last week. The picture shows the gauge assembly without the steel dash panel and gauge bezels in place. The PCBs are made and populated. "All" I need to do now is test the software, finish assembly and install them in the Griff.

Apart from the colours, it looks the same as the CAD drawing.

[MPoxon]

That looks fantastic! I never thought you would actually build it. I love the TVR and Griffith 500 logos on the clocks.

I cannot wait to see what that looks like finished. Top work

[V8 GRF]

MPoxon said:

That looks fantastic!

So you built and designed the instruments as well? How thick are they because from your pictures they look superslim?

[dnb]

Yes. I did a lot of the detailed design in spare time while I was away working in the summer.


This shows the thickness. All told it is less than 60mm, and with a bit of additional design work could be reduced to 40mm.

Edited by dnb on Saturday 14th December 21:56

[V8 GRF]

Very nice and neat. :

[JazzyO]

Very impressive.


Onno