Photograph required

[FFMan]

I am toying with the idea of making a shift light that either uses my not-connected MIL light, or utilises the entire lamp panel with a ladder effect. The aim would be to retain the function of the panel as is, but to squeeze a high brightness LED alongside the current bulb so that it has dual function.

Does anyone have a photograph showing how the rear of the MIL lamp panel looks ?

thanks

[450Nick]

Depending which gauge you have, you may already have a shift light (not connected).

On the later type rev counters, there is a shift light at the bottom right hand side of the rev counter with a non-connected bulb plugged in the back. Just wire this up to your shift light system and job's a goodun.. TBH though, I've done this and I never ever look at the bloody thing, waste of time really!

[steve-V8s]

I tried using the built in light and you really don’t see it unless you are looking at the Speedo, which is unlikely as you are approaching the rev limit. The next thing I tried was a row of bright LEDs mounted above the speedo but they don’t really catch your attention either. At the moment I have a row of 8 Bright LEDs on top of the dash which I do see. I think however a better solution is an audible alarm with two volume settings which you can choose depending on wearing a crash hat on or not.

[450Nick]

Surely though you just learn the engine note at which you change gear? You shouldn't need a light to tell you to change gear, and if you somehow forget then there's a nice fat limiter to hit!

[Johno]

I built 3 in line LED's into the steering column cowelling. They are very discreet and when you hit the limit they reflect off the clocks and the dash.

These aren't race cars and therefore for me I didn't want a bloody great shift light mounted on the dash etc . . Agree though with Steve, that an audible warning would also be good. I have my shift light set at least 350 - 500 rpm below the best shift range as it helps if you don't notice it straight away and in general road driving it is not often I'm bouncing the valves anyway . . . well . . maybe occassionally

[FFMan]

i have an early griff 500 with the clocks that go the wrong way so no built in light.

i find the leds needs to be mega-bright if you are to notice them when not actually looking at them, and i prefer to keep my eyes on the road when going full tilt ! I made a 4 led one for my formula ford and it works just fine even in bright sun shine. probably would need a dim option for night use though !

[steve-V8s]

450Nick said:

Surely though you just learn the engine note at which you change gear? You shouldn't need a light to tell you to change gear, and if you somehow forget then there's a nice fat limiter to hit!

You are right, on the road shift light is fairly pointless. On the track however they are beneficial. If you have a power curve for the engine and know the overall gear ratio in each gear you can calculate the point where the torque at the rear wheels is more in the next gear. The optimum point is often a lot lower down the rev range than you would expect. Setting the change light at the right value really does make a considerable difference to acceleration. I have three shift light settings. One for the track which gives optimum acceleration, one for the road, which is set a fair bit lower and reminds me that I am being silly if I reach it and one for the wet that along with the soft cut limit is set a lot lower.

[Johno]

The difference with mine is that they point upwards, not at your eyes, so no dimmer option needed for night time and you get a flare effect during the day on the dash, so I'm not looking for the individual LED's to light up . .

[450Nick]

steve-V8s said:

450Nick said:

Surely though you just learn the engine note at which you change gear? You shouldn't need a light to tell you to change gear, and if you somehow forget then there's a nice fat limiter to hit!

You are right, on the road shift light is fairly pointless. On the track however they are beneficial. If you have a power curve for the engine and know the overall gear ratio in each gear you can calculate the point where the torque at the rear wheels is more in the next gear. The optimum point is often a lot lower down the rev range than you would expect. Setting the change light at the right value really does make a considerable difference to acceleration. I have three shift light settings. One for the track which gives optimum acceleration, one for the road, which is set a fair bit lower and reminds me that I am being silly if I reach it and one for the wet that along with the soft cut limit is set a lot lower.

For a race car when you're looking for fractions of a second out of your lap, yes I agree and in mine I have a 6 light system which will indicate both optimum shift point and flash all lights when you're about to hit the limiter. For a road car though it seems a little pointless, even on a track day. Each to his own though - I have one, in my road car. I just reckon that the OP might save himself some bother

[Bluebottle]

I use one of these:
http://www.spa-uk.co.uk/design/sequentialshiftligh...

Its just over 2 inches by 1 inch and sits neatly on top of the steering column cowling with velcro and doesn't obstruct any of the gauges or dash leds behind. Added advantage is the digital rev counter as my original bounces all over the place and lies ( which is handy for noise testing as it say 4.5k when it only doing 3k rpm, so i remove the spa guage for scrutineering )
LED's are programmable to whatever revs you want and they are REALLY bright!

Alternatively i notice Andy Race is selling these;
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

Edited by Bluebottle on Tuesday 29th June 19:29

[Hedgehopper]

These are the only two pics I could find. Hope it helps.

[FFMan]

pics just what i wanted thanks

some good lights out there - i just fancy making my own as i have the bits already