Don’t Try This At Home: Another 80s Japanese Digital Dash Added To My Collection

There's no way I'm going to spot a junked 80s Japanese car with the optional super-futuristic digital dash and not go back and buy that instrument cluster. So, now I've got a genuine digital dash collection going on, adding the Cressida cluster to my '84 Nissan 300ZX Turbo cluster and my '83 Mitsubishi Cordia Turbo cluster. One great thing about Japanese cars of the 1980s and 1990s is that the instrument clusters are almost always easy to remove and install. There's a fascia that comes off with a few screws, then another half-dozen screws hold the cluster in the dash. On a Detroit car from this period, you'll find all sorts of one-way plastic retainers that made it easy for the line workers to smack the cluster into place with a sharp blow from a rubber mallet, Mickey's Big Mouth bottle, or whatever tool was handy. You'll break all sorts of stuff while removing the thing, because the low-bidder plastic used for the retainers has a service life of maybe five years. Meanwhile, German clusters are even worse, with all manner of crazy hidden fasteners, in super-overkill quantities. I'll stick with the Japanese stuff… for now. Which reminds me: here's how you remove the clock from a mid-70s Cadillac. No tools needed! Unlike the 300ZX, the Cressida cluster's harness doesn't plug into sockets inside the dash. I cut the wires as far from the cluster as far as I could get away with. I'll get a copy of the factory shop manual, which will give me the wiring diagram I need to control this cluster with an Arduino microcontroller. My collection still requires a Subaru XT digital dash. Did Honda do any digital dashes in the 1980s? from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 680102