New Dials and senders
The gauges were a job that desperately needed doing, a short circuit under the dash caused parts of the loom to burn and fuse together and it’s not a pleasant experience when your driving!. The short-term measure was to disconnect the affected parts including the gauges. Since we suspected they were faulty or at best inaccurate we had committed ourselves to replacing them and seeing the entire set in person at the Donnington kitcar show presented a great opportunity to buy them and ask all our questions!
The complete set from Europa spares cost approx £350 including a new fuel sender & dial (this would give a more accurate reading than the existing one) temperature sender (they supplied the adaptor which allows fitment to your engine block). New tacho and a new speedo sensor and dial.Firstly came the job of yanking out the useless eyesore that were the old gauges.
As the wiring was such a state I didn't take much time to note anything as I intended to replace as much wire as possible.We invested in a Multimeter for £8.99; this (with also the use of a 9v battery) enabled us to confirm the identity and integrity of some usable parts of the loom (ignition live feed, Dash lighting etc). I set about constructing my own basic loom, this was to ensure that the gauge wiring was all colour coded. Red, Black, Yellow and Blue wire were used for Ignition live, Ground, Instrument light and senders respectively. Male/female connectors on every wire ensure the dials are easily removable.
The temperature sender was just a case of unscrewing the old one from the block, mounting the adapter and screwing the new sender straight into it, very straight forward just a little restrictive movement wise in our case; so its 100 1/4 turns of a spanner!.The old fuel sender simply unscrews and lifts out, the new one is assembled as per instructions (you measure your tank depth and it gives you the dimensions to assemble it to; the excess is simply sawn off).The Tachometer in our case (as it does not have electronic ignition and a dedicated output from an ecu) comes from the negative side of the ignition coil.
The complete set from Europa spares cost approx £350 including a new fuel sender & dial (this would give a more accurate reading than the existing one) temperature sender (they supplied the adaptor which allows fitment to your engine block). New tacho and a new speedo sensor and dial.Firstly came the job of yanking out the useless eyesore that were the old gauges.
As the wiring was such a state I didn't take much time to note anything as I intended to replace as much wire as possible.We invested in a Multimeter for £8.99; this (with also the use of a 9v battery) enabled us to confirm the identity and integrity of some usable parts of the loom (ignition live feed, Dash lighting etc). I set about constructing my own basic loom, this was to ensure that the gauge wiring was all colour coded. Red, Black, Yellow and Blue wire were used for Ignition live, Ground, Instrument light and senders respectively. Male/female connectors on every wire ensure the dials are easily removable.
The temperature sender was just a case of unscrewing the old one from the block, mounting the adapter and screwing the new sender straight into it, very straight forward just a little restrictive movement wise in our case; so its 100 1/4 turns of a spanner!.The old fuel sender simply unscrews and lifts out, the new one is assembled as per instructions (you measure your tank depth and it gives you the dimensions to assemble it to; the excess is simply sawn off).The Tachometer in our case (as it does not have electronic ignition and a dedicated output from an ecu) comes from the negative side of the ignition coil.
The new Electronic Speedo, We opted for the newer sensor which rather than using magnets to count revolutions counts prop shaft or inner wheel bolts for example, this is a more secure fitment as magnets are prone to flying off at 90- apparently!.
A custom made bracket was needed to house the sender and as we do not have a welder we made one to our own design; we bolted it on and wired up the dials then it was a matter of doing the calibration.
First we had to push the car out on to flat ground and marked the point where the tyre touched the ground this was the start point and one on the tyre then we rolled the car forward one full rotaion of the tyre and measured the distance traveled(63360 divided by the distance covered in millimetres = tyre revs per km).
Then you have to Measure the rolling radius (RR) of wheel and tyre, from centre of hub to ground in inches/mm.and the number of bolts that pass by the sensor.
Calibration number = (tyre revs per mile or km) x (differential ratio) x (no of magnets or bolts this gives you the number you then use to set the speedo.With the gauges in place it was time for an anxious turn of the ignition, fortunately it seems everything was traced and wired correctly and the Tacho and Fuel immediately sprang to life. A flick of the sidelights confirmed they were illuminating.
All that was needed then was a test drive and "yes" they all worked beautifuly.
A custom made bracket was needed to house the sender and as we do not have a welder we made one to our own design; we bolted it on and wired up the dials then it was a matter of doing the calibration.
First we had to push the car out on to flat ground and marked the point where the tyre touched the ground this was the start point and one on the tyre then we rolled the car forward one full rotaion of the tyre and measured the distance traveled(63360 divided by the distance covered in millimetres = tyre revs per km).
Then you have to Measure the rolling radius (RR) of wheel and tyre, from centre of hub to ground in inches/mm.and the number of bolts that pass by the sensor.
Calibration number = (tyre revs per mile or km) x (differential ratio) x (no of magnets or bolts this gives you the number you then use to set the speedo.With the gauges in place it was time for an anxious turn of the ignition, fortunately it seems everything was traced and wired correctly and the Tacho and Fuel immediately sprang to life. A flick of the sidelights confirmed they were illuminating.
All that was needed then was a test drive and "yes" they all worked beautifuly.
