Gauges

[PaulAmes]

Ok - its time I start thinking about my dash - which meand thinking about gauges. I am getting the 130mph cooper S speedo, smiths 10'000 tacho, clock, water temp/oil temp - also something for the power - would you suggest amps or volts or both? Any other gauges that people would suggest I need. Also what speedo cable would people use for the smiths speedo - Honda or mini? Will I need to get the speedo recalibrated and if so - where can I get this done?

[VTEC]

Volts gauges are excellent. They tell you all the information you need to know about the cars charging sytem....

Avoid Ammeter like the plague, they cause massive problems due to their difficulty in installing, and are pretty much useless anyway....

[FeEBLeUK]

oooh i just came on here to ask about guages! All my guages are smiths I have a 130mph speedo, 7k rev counter, water temp, oil pressure guage (worked out how to use that and get vtec rethreaded already) ammeter (connected it to the input on the amp and it rises and falls to the bass :D) fuel guage (simple enough) and voltsmeter (also was simple).

Just want to know if i can use my rev counter for it. Im going to contact geoff about using my speedo to see how much he charges for the conversion cable.

Also, are the senders for the water temp guage the same on the vtec? What did you lot use?

[FeEBLeUK]

Ah! One of my friends (mini2001 on mini classic, have his msn if u need it) has told me a way. Before i had a t piece splitter for the oil sender and the coil pressure guage on my mini engien. The 'pipe' for the oil sender has two different ends, one for the guage and one for the plumming. To get the plumming to screw into the vtec the thread has to be changed on the engine, i think he said its tapered inwards or something, but the threads are very similar. If you want and hes online later ill try find out some more info!

Cheers for info about rev counter!

[Colin.ab]

The cable you need from the Honda engine to a Mini Speedo is a Rover 215 cable, and then you put the mini connector on the end.

It wont connect to the Magnolia gauges like I have though, as the cable is smaller than the hole it fits in to, I’m speaking to speedy cables at the moment to get a couple made.

C.ab

[PaulAmes]

Cool - can you get me a couple made - I will have the 130 magnolia speedo - will these fit - I can give you the money at the Xmas meet?

[FeEBLeUK]

I dont know! an adapter would be usefull! where should i try find out?

my speedo is the old style smiths screw on too, is this the right one for the rover cable? will be fantastic if it is! thanks

james

[Colin.ab]

PaulAmes - I'll post detail on here when I finalise what Speedy Cables come up with.

Darren- Yes

James - Speedy Cables and yes it fits the old centre Speedo - but mine is still short of the correct cable inside - I also don't have any gauges working except the water temp at the moment. I have to use Sat Nav to see what speed I’m doing.

Bear in mind that you will still need to send off your Speedo for recalibrating, as it was meant for a normal Mini and therefore wont read the correct speed or distance, as your wheel and tyre combination will need to be accurately measured, their web site tells you how to do this.

http://www.speedycables.co.uk/

C.ab

[MiniMike]

Do the speedo drives on the VTEC engines mentioned here have mechanical cables? On my engine, this was an electronic setup and so I ended up using an electronic speedo from Auto Meter. It gets wired in and then you calibrate the speedo by setting the speedo into calibrate mode, drving 2 miles and turning off the calibrate mode. It works a treat and is very accurate as it takes into account the wheel/tire combination you have on the car.

As for the temp guage I used the Mini one hooked directly to the Honda sensor. It tends to read high, so I will ikely adjust with some inline resistance. I replaced the gas guage with one from an MG as the old one was internal to the old Mini speedo.

[MiniMike]

Thanks Warren! I didn't realize this forum was here and it would have been great while I was building my car. I didn't know there was still mechanical speedos in the Hondas, maybe its limited to specific models, or does the Watson kit replace the electronic sendor with a mechanical style?

[PaulAmes]

Going to fit teh speedo soon - but my engine runs on electronic speedo - I pluged the honda one in and that works. I want to use my smiths cooper s one though - is there a mechanical exit from the engine somewhere or what. There must be a way I can do it?

[PaulAmes]

Anyone know?

[BassAddict]

Sorry Paul - no idea !!!
Rich

[PaulAmes]

lol - oh well. I will try to put the honda speedo inside the cooper s one - that should do it. Anyone know how to adjust the honda one to account for different wheel sizes?

[Colin.ab]

Its on the top of the diff case, just behind the starter motor.

C.ab

[FatKev]

Sorta on topic, but a bit off - Anyone know any decent digital dashes? Someone said I should consider a good bike dash, but I didnt think that could be done. Also I couldnt find anything at all on digital dashes for Honda cars, just a bunch of crap. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Kevin

[PaulAmes]

So the electronic speedo sensor I have in my box at the moment will come out and I can plug a cable straight in - is this correct?

[SUNNY]

Hi Paul, you should be able to remove the electronic sender unit and get an adapter for a mechanical cable. Look through some of the Honda sites about the electronic sender. Please let me know if you find anything because I am in the same boat as you. I will search for it too.

P.S. any luck on the bulkhead?

[PaulAmes]

Hi sunny,

Baulkhead - what about it? I am going to try and get speedy cables to make me a cable up - aparently the electronic sensor comes out and a manual one will just fit in - simple stuff.

P.S - you live near me I think - where abouts are you. I am kinda in the cambs area in the week and the east norfolk/yarmouth area on the weekends.

Paul

[PaulC]

I think sunny means me. He's got the wrong Paul.

I haven't forgotten sunny it's on my list of things to do!! (Bloody long list but you're near the top) Have you fitted your frame yet Sunny?

Paul C

[SUNNY]

I am going over to the body shop this thursday and will try to fit the subframe.

[duck]

PaulAmes - are you using the Honda ECU ? if you are you will need the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) on the gearbox unless you have another way of supplying the ECU with a pulse to signal so that it knows the car is moving, if the ECU does not get a signal from the VSS the VTEC will not engage.

This is one of the biggest problems I think with using the Honda ECU and the mini speedo.

Ignore this if you already know about the VSS

[PaulAmes]

Oh yeh - s**t. I cant take the the speed sensor out can I! There must be a way that I can have both the mini speedo and the sensor. Are you sure it is needed to get the VTEC to work?!

[BassAddict]

Sounds about right - Honda ECU only engages the VTEC when not just above certain revs, but also upto normal temp, with enough oil pressure, and when the car is travelling above a certain speed - damn those overly cautious but clever Japanese !!!!
Rich

[PaulAmes]

Is there any way to trick the speed sensor? ETC - would ppl have thought it would be possible to take the honda speedo apart and put it into the mini speedo?! Is it possible to change the honda speedo so that it ready accuratly with 13" wheels.

[MattG]

does the DTA ecu use the speed sensor then ? did not think the DTA had that as a input? but could be very wrong

Matt

[PaulAmes]

This looks usefull - bix extream but should fix my problem. :?

http://www.gaugeguys.com/cablex.htm

Or I have just found this:-

http://www.conrad-anderson.co.uk/prices/access-prices.htm

with this surely I could remove the honda one and install a manual cable and then use this sensor for th ecu and it would never know the difference? ...................................

I have just called the company - has a very helpfull man on the other end but he knows nothing about VTEC systems etc. However he did say he should be able to match the pulses the engine is giving the ecu - if I know it. To measure it I have to locate the pulse cable and then rotate the wheel once. This should give me either 4 or 8 pulses - he can then sell be the right pulse generator. Simple!!! Dont suppose anyone would know what the pulses per rev would be on a 1.6 vtec?

Paul

[duck]

From the research I have done it is 4 pulses per one turn of the speedo cable, the ECU needs the car to be travelling at around 20mph.

It would be worth test this out as this is only info I have found on the net which is not always 100% reliable.

Just a thought if you got one that did 8 pulses the VTEC would engage earlier.

That pulse generator sounds just what is needed, I was going to have a go at making my own but probably will just buy one of them.

[MiniMike]

You can fit an AutoMeter Procomp 5189 or Speed Comp 3989 into the same hole that the stock Mini speedo mounts. It hooks up to the Honda Sensor and you can calibrate it for any size wheels. Take a look on their site, follow through to the Sport Comp or Pro Comp pages..

http://hp.autometer.com/products/sport_comp/indash_tach_speedo/indash_tach_speedo.html

http://hp.autometer.com/products/pro_comp/indash_tach_speedo/indash_tach_speedo.html

[strudel]

Here is another option for the VSS. You have to read about half way down the thread but it gives the how and where for an inline VSS kit. Hope that helps. JS
http://www.redpepperracing.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6924

[PaulAmes]

Just if anyone else has this problem in the future - this is an Email from speedy cables:

We could make a speedo cable with a sensor built in the cost of the sensor is £35.00 and the cable would cost £25.00 I think this should do the job for you. All prices are + P&P and vat. Regards Andy


Paul

i am into eletctronics, and am thinking of building a circuit for a digital speedo and bargraph tacho, the tacho's no problem, but does anyone know the number of pulses the sender gives to 1 rotation of the drive shafts, or how many turns the cable on old box's does to 1 turn of the drive shaft, need this to calibrate software for the micro.

[PaulAmes]

On my Honda b16A2 there is 4 pulses per 1 rev of the wheels etc.

[PaulC]

You can fit an AutoMeter Procomp 5189 or Speed Comp 3989 into the same hole that the stock Mini speedo mounts. It hooks up to the Honda Sensor and you can calibrate it for any size wheels. Take a look on their site, follow through to the Sport Comp or Pro Comp pages..

http://hp.autometer.com/products/sport_comp/indash_tach_speedo/indash_tach_speedo.html

http://hp.autometer.com/products/pro_comp/indash_tach_speedo/indash_tach_speedo.html

I don't suppose anyone would know if you need a sender from autometer to get an autometer speedo to work and engage the vtec? or would it just run off the standard honda one?

The autometer senders work off 16 pulses per rev.

http://hp.autometer.com/products/accessories/prog_speedo_sender/prog_speedo_sender.html

in theory i suppose i don't need a sender unit just wire the gauage in place of the honda one and off i go!!! It can't be that simple though :lol:

Just would like a second opinion.

Thanks

Paul C

[vitecmini]

hello,
I am using the Innocenti Minicooper Gauges in my Dashboard
(now for about 18 Years) and it was a MUST for me if i had fixed the
Honda Engine the gauges must be the same bevor.
* Speedo (modified with a speedsensor)
* Speedocable with a little Gearingbox for correct calibrating
* UPM/meter (Tachometer?)
* Watertemp (modified with an LED for controling my Fan working)
* Oiltemp (modified Watertempgauge)
* Oilpressure (modified with an LED for see my oilpressurlight going off)
* Amperemeter
* Tankgauge (modified Tanksender from Innocooper for the Rovertank)
* Glock (modified with Chromebezel from a Fiat 124 Glock)

check out this:
http://www.16vminiclub.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=10061&pos=40

[MiniMike]

For my car, the stock honda sender signal comes into the Autometer speed and then there is a connection on the autometer Speedo to send the signal on to the ECU. so there is nothing you need to add to get the VTEC to engage as it is done from the ECU and the ECU is getting the signal from the VSS. Keep in mind that my engine is from a 1994 so earlier ones may be different..

Mintec,

Per the Autometer website, their speedos will work with any speed sender that operates in the 500 to 40,000 pulses per mile range. If you need to buy a seperate sender, their sender operates at 16 pulses per rev. Not sure what that equates to in pulses per mile.

Brian

[PaulC]

Thanks Guys,

I saw on the web site about the 16 pulses per rev.

My engine is a 95 so who should be ok.

Thanks Paul