Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications General Mods digital voltmeter in dash project (pics)?

Wait, you're mounting it in the plastic insert right? Tha piece is straight.


There's the spot with the trim removed.How deep is the V meter? I think it'll be flush, or flush enough that it doesn't matter.

Have you bought the V-meter??

yeah, im mounting it in the little dash insert piece, like you did with your switches. its not EXACTLY straight, which is why im just a little worried of how it will look when finally mounted, you know what i mean?
i havent bought it yet, im not sure of the depth, the diagram in the pdf file i posted is kind of hard to read...

Hmm
This one is too big

The cutout for is is too wide, according to the .PDF sheet.

hmm..i just realized- it looks like the one that would work best has a lcd face that has a height of 18.3 mm and the circuit board behind it has a height of about 26mm or something...it will fit in the dash hole, but i'll have to cut off one or both of the clips, and then secure the dash piece in there by gluing it...

hmm..here's one that would definitely work without cutting off the plastic clips, its very small
not sure about how it looks though...

This fits...
Nate, what size hole have you cut? I'm holding the dash insert right now.

yeah, im looking at it too...the height can be at most around 18mm-19mm maybe, in order to fit between the clips. i just like the green one b/c it matches the rest of the lights..
the cutout height of the green one i just had a pic of is like 11 mm, length is 28mm. outside trim is 14mm height, and 30 mm length

Looks like 11/16's an inch between that or 17.5mm. That second gauge (the black & white one) should fit no problem between there.

I'd hesitate to remove the clips since you may need to get back there from time to time, gluing it on may be a bad idea....

yeah, i think im going to go with the green one that i just listed a pic of. its very small and will fit fine, and also has a built in regulator...so now, i need to know how i can wire this. (i still need to order the voltmeter sometime, probably wont happen for another 2 weeks or so).
here is the one i think will work best:
http://www.martelmeters.com/products.php?cat=3&action=detail&id=8
http://www.martelmeters.com/pdf/DPM_1AS-BL.pdf

ok so first of all, how do i wire that to my car? i need 2 resistors, right? someone is telling me i need a 27k and a 3k resistor..is this right?

also, how can i physically wire this, meaning, am i going to have to take off the whole dash piece in order to do this? how do i take it off?

Nate, sent you e-mail
No idea on how to wire, but removing the cluster surround is easy. 5 screws. Two under hood by the gauges come out easy with a long phillips. They are angled so no twisting necessary. 3 are hidden under the plastic inserts.

Remove fog light piece & unplug, plastic insert next to that hides a screw.

Remove defrost & unplug, another screw. Remove clock and that little piece next to it, last screw.

Then the cluster surround pulls right out as one unit. You'll have plenty or room to spare.

About the wiring, that's outta my league...

The datasheet for the voltmeter should tell you what resistors you need for it (and how to hook them up) based on what your intended voltage measurement range is. You probably want to use the 19.99 volts range since it's got a 3 1/2 digit display (ie, 1999).

As far as where to connect it...for best accuracy you might want to run a wire directly to the battery positive terminal. If you don't care about accuracy, then just connect it to the clock or radio power wire.