311 replies to this topic

[Ricky Bobby]

Hey Dave, You are right. This is an earlier pic and I've modified it since then. I now run both lines up the centre of the valley to give me more flexibility. The AN fittings are now fixed to the heater core so I have cut a larger hole in the fire wall so they can be removed attached to the heater.

Edited by Ricky Bobby, 04 January 2020 - 07:20 PM.

[Swarbs]

All is well then - hate to not have brought it up, seeing it 

[jeffblanco]

Just a few more pics the gauges are auto meter with a GPS speedo and it plugs into the existing harness. You just add an extra oil and coolent senders to the block.I have located the washer bottle to the inner guard It's just one I got of ebay that looked like it may fit. And the list is getting smaller

Looks great Harvey,

I need to do the same to my hatch.

What is a GPS speedo?

Other than the new speedo, were any of the other gauges altered or recalibrated?

Any chance of taking some pictures of the oil and coolant senders you used, and where they screw into the LS motor?

What ecu /computer do you intend using?

If any of the questions sound a bit lame, it's because I don't know a whole lot about how cars go together.

 

Regards Mando.

​Is that an SL hatch console or a V8 console? I always struggle to tell the difference. 

[Ricky Bobby]

Hi Jeff, I purchased the gauge cluster from Classic Gauge Restoration. You can find him on Facebook. He is very prompt to reply, I have seen his work in a few cars now and he's very good at what he does. I told him what my engine was and he supplied the cluster complete with the correct senders.You just need to send him a replacement SL cluster. The oil pressure sender is at the rear of the block near the valley cover. You will need a oil pressure adaptor that will take 2 senders (Areoflow) and screw them in. Mine was a tight fit but it clears any metal. The temp sensor is on the front of the LHS head and there is a spare inlet in the other head at the rear. I removed the bung and fitted the new one. The ECU is a standard VU commodore unit, I have fitted it to a hinged panel to make it accessible. That style of console was made for Hatchbacks only I think SL had them as well. I hope this helps

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Edited by Ricky Bobby, 06 January 2020 - 07:37 PM.

[Bigfella237]

And a "GPS speedo" doesn't need a cable or speed sensor signal from the transmission, it constantly receives your location from the Global Positioning System satellites and calculates your speed from how far you've moved over time.

 

Similar to a GPS navigation system, only without any of the mapping, route guidance, etc.

 

Pros: Universal fitment, no cables or need for calibration.

Cons: Most need a dedicated GPS antenna, and obviously it needs to see the sky to work, so no speed readout in tunnels, parking structures, etc. (although I believe some have a "dead-reckoning" feature that tries to estimate how much your speed changes based on RPM).

 

Hey Harvey, just be aware that you will get a slightly cooler CTS reading from that port at the rear of the cylinder head due to the way the coolant flows through the block and heads. A guy over on the Holley forum proved it on an LS engine using identical sensors in both locations simultaneously and constantly saw reduced temps from that rear port when compared to the front.

 

Doesn't really matter I guess, just so long as you keep in mind that the gauge will show lower than the actual engine operating temperature. I can't remember by how much and I can't find the post right now (I *think* it was about 8ºF but don't quote me on that).

[DanWA]

Are you engineering this car or just driving it on current rego?

A lot of things you have done i was told by W.A rule makers i couldn't do :(

[claysummers]

I like the satellite speedo idea because you have a correct accurate speed, but I would be surprised if they allow it. There will be times where it doesn’t work in canyons and tunnels and poor geometry. When it does work it is accurate to within 0.1 kmh.


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[DanWA]

I like the satellite speedo idea because you have a correct accurate speed, but I would be surprised if they allow it. There will be times where it doesn’t work in canyons and tunnels and poor geometry. When it does work it is accurate to within 0.1 kmh.


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GPS Speedo is not legal (at least in W.A)

 

But here is the silly part about that

 

The engineer recorded my cluster speed vs his PHONE gps speed on my engineering report

[Com_VC]

GPS Speedo is not legal (at least in W.A)

 

But here is the silly part about that

 

The engineer recorded my cluster speed vs his PHONE gps speed on my engineering report

 

Can't see an issue with that, as mentioned only reason it won't be legal is because it can drop out.

[DanWA]

Can't see an issue with that, as mentioned only reason it won't be legal is because it can drop out.

Yeah that is the reasoning they gave here, Tassie could be different

[Ricky Bobby]

Hi, thanks for your input and questions. I'm having the car engineered for a mod plate so I can have rego in Tas (special interest plate) It will still need to pass full compliance. My current compliance engineer has left me in a hole. He will not be renewing his accreditation this year and has left me and a few others swinging. I have contacted a new engineer in the north of the state who travels down a couple of times a month. He will come down and look over my car maybe late next week or the next. The original engineer cleared the fuel tank departure angle, fuel pump in the boot and the rail mods. I hadn't talked to him about the gauge cluster or the manifold. I had originally planned to use a standard SS cluster with a digital to analogue converter which I have but sorting out the taco and speedo seemed to hard and clunky. Good news is I've finished the rail cover plates 5 x 50mm flat bar drilled and tapped with a rubber pad and the panel beater dropped off the re skinned drivers door. He has now taken the front guards. Much more news soon and I'm already filling up my dacks

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Edited by Ricky Bobby, 07 January 2020 - 05:06 PM.

[axistr]

Yes unfortunately GPS speedo's aren't legal in any state or territory in Australia. I did testing in Australia in the late nineties, I (Axis truck repairs) were the Australian agent for C.A.I (Canadian Automotive Instruments). They invented and make the electronic GPS drive system. Speed Hut paid big bucks and bought the rights to the system then told us we couldn't market, test or sell the GPS speeds in Australia, even though we were the sole Australian agent for C.A.I. (pissed me off)

 

However we fitted and tested GPS speedos in various truck and a few hot rods with great success, and approached the R.M.S for certification with a promising outcome before Speed Hut killed it for us.

A few interesting facts,

 

1) In the majority of Sydney tunnels the speedo still worked because they had a repeater GPS inside the tunnel. Anyone that has had their nav on driving through tunnels might realise their nav still works,

 

2) When on rare occasions a GPS signal dropped out the needle stayed steady and a small signal warning come up in the trip meter( warning GPS signal lost)

 

3) You only need 2x satellites to give speed, 3x satellites will give you speed and height. Because we don't use the third dimension driving or shouldn't, drop outs were not common, and generally not long enough for the driver to notice.

 

Satellites have increased in numbers since I was testing them and more high tech. I don't see a problem with them and have both GPS and the original mechanical speedo in the hatch. The mechanical speedo can change slightly on hot or cold days and even humidity can have slight changes. Electronic pulse systems are much more accurate but tyre inflation, tyre changes and wear can also have 3-4 kph  inaccuracies easily. At the end of the day how bloody accurate do we need our speedos.

 

All new speedos in cars having ADR 62 rules state that the speedo can read more but not less than actual road speed. Most new speedo's read 3-4 Kph more to cover them selves which suits than as the vehicle runs out of Km warranty 3,000 to 4,000 km earlier.          

[gtrboyy]

OBD11 bluetooth adaptor or dongle might be one way around it...then can strap android phone/tablet/device to steering column so then you got speedo etc to pass engineering.

 

Also saw in Rocket catologue can now get bluetooth guages to suit ls pcm etc just use adaptor for obd port

[Toranamat69]

Some great work. I love what your doing with this torana

Edited by Toranamat69, 07 January 2020 - 05:52 PM.

[Bigfella237]

~ Doesn't really matter I guess, just so long as you keep in mind that the gauge will show lower than the actual engine operating temperature. I can't remember by how much and I can't find the post right now (I *think* it was about 8ºF but don't quote me on that).

Seems I was a little out on my recollection. I found one post on the Holley forum (which wasn't the one I was thinking of) that says:

 

I swapped the locations of the gauge sender and the Sniper EFI sensor, and the temps swapped. It's 30°-50° cooler in the location by the firewall.

 

So, being an American forum, 30°-50° would be in fahrenheit, which is roughly 16-28° celsius difference between the two sensor locations.

 

I'm sure the other post was much more scientific but I still can't find it, I'll keep looking...

[Toranamat69]

Are those kframe bushes custom poly bushes taller than stock?

[Ricky Bobby]

Are those kframe bushes custom poly bushes taller than stock?

Hi, I'm not sure they came with the bush kit. The front end is really only held into place at the moment (no camber shims or any serious tightening) so they will bed in I hope. Well worth checking though so I'll look some others. Cheers

[Shiney005]

All new speedos in cars having ADR 62 rules state that the speedo can read more but not less than actual road speed. Most new speedo's read 3-4 Kph more to cover them selves which suits than as the vehicle runs out of Km warranty 3,000 to 4,000 km earlier.          

Toyota is the worst offender for this. Brand new, and bog stock, when my speedo was reading 110kph, it was actually doing 101.

[CI 0308]

Toyota is the worst offender for this. Brand new, and bog stock, when my speedo was reading 110kph, it was actually doing 101.

The reason I run a GPS in my vehicles to set the cruise control to.

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[Stinga]

just jumped back on the forum after a long break. Loving this build!!

 

where do you fill that washer bottle up from??

 

Cheers

 

Stinga

[Ricky Bobby]

just jumped back on the forum after a long break. Loving this build!!

 

where do you fill that washer bottle up from??

 

Cheers

 

Stinga

Hi mate, I will fill  through the inner guard with a screw cap in the engine bay

[Heath]

Holy moly. Just stumbled across this thread.

 

Very impressive!

[Ricky Bobby]

Holy moly. Just stumbled across this thread.

 

Very impressive!

 

Hi Heath, thanks for that. I have been watching the evolution of your car pretty much since the start, your fab and machining work are outstanding. 

[Ricky Bobby]

I've just had a meeting with my new auto engineer. He has moved to Tas from QLD and has just set up in north Tas. What an amazing guy !!! B.Eng Mechanical, B. Approved Science, Grad Dip- Industrial design. He has looked over, under and through the hatch and has no major problems with what I have done. The GPS speedo is not compliant in Aus as Axis said, the engineer offered a solution if I could install a digital speedo as a separate item and mount in the normal vision area that would work. ( I'm thinking something small with LED read out mounted on the steering column )… for a while LOL. He is concerned with the departure angle of the fuel tank, I'll follow up with Brown Davis and see if they can help. The rails, fuel pump, manifold, rims etc where all good so I've been busy this week ordering a new ECU ( my brother stole mine for his race car during the build ! ) My tune up guy will source that and flash it. I'm now turning it over for oil pressure and we'll see what happens next week.

Edited by Ricky Bobby, 17 January 2020 - 04:36 PM.