Lotus Elan Central

by **Elanlover** » Fri 29.02.2008, 04:17

Here's a pic of the speedo cluster dials installed. Now, we just have to hope i was accurate in my placing of the needles.................. :roll:

by **Monty** » Fri 29.02.2008, 13:11

Looking good, don`t forget a night time photo :wink:

by **CJ101KT** » Fri 29.02.2008, 14:21

Have you or anyone got a photo of the back of the console where the wires go as Id like to do mine but am scared to disconnect things.

by **Elanlover** » Fri 29.02.2008, 14:30

Disconnecting the speedo cluster is really not that big a deal. I think there's 3 ribbon cables that simply unplug from the back. They are all different so you can't mess them up when plugging them back in. The hardest part of this enntire procedure is removing then replacing the needles accurately so your gauges read properly. Its not hard - just tricky requiring patience and forethought.

by **tigerdog** » Tue 04.03.2008, 05:54

Elanlover wrote:Here's a pic of the speedo cluster dials installed.

Gorgeous! I may have another project to add to my ever-lengthening list.

by **Elanlover** » Fri 14.03.2008, 18:40

How about this for service!

http://www.metal-monkey.co.uk/acatalog/Lotus.html

Seeing stuff specifcally designed for our car makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over :smt055

by **Elanlover** » Thu 10.04.2008, 14:02

As an update, Metal Monkey now has the heater control dial face available to go with the other dial faces they offer. Additionally, for you NA owners, they now also have the clock face available. So, to summarize, they offer:

- Speedo cluster dial faces in KMH or MPH and in the 170 and 160 mph (and KMH equivalent) versions
- Boost, Volts and Oil Pressure faces for turbo models
- Clock, Volts and Oil Pressure faces for NA models
- one piece heater control dial face

I will express my personal opinion here (with the appropriate disclaimer than this is mine and only my opinion and does not necessarily represent the opinions of LEC, its member, blah, blah, bla)

This is the BEST dial upgrade you can get and is better than the Lockwood set (and others) for the following reasons:

- stainless steel construction means they are durable and will last longer than your car will
- the dial faces are available in more base colours (white, black and a stainless steel look)
- the illumination options are greater (damn near any colour you want)
- they can be made to look one colour by day and almost any other colour you want by night
- they aren't Vauxhall dials, they are made for OUR cars including stuff like a 7200 RPM redline, proper mounting holes, etc.
- they are available in a FULL set so everything will be co-ordinated (heater as well as the other dials)
- NA owners can get a full set that includes their clock
- their customer service and willingness to work with us on this project was second to none

Now, although they offer LED's for "some" of the bulbs you may want to chnage on their site I found a supplier(S) who has better (stronger lighting) LED's and can supply ALL the bulbs and twist lock holders we need to upgrade all the instrument bulbs to ELD's should you want to. Happy to supply the info to anyone who PM's me.

by **Monty** » Thu 10.04.2008, 15:46

If your comparing to Lockwood why not compare prices?

BTW replacement LEDs are a waste of time, done that, been there and had to go back to stock bulbs :roll:

by **Elanlover** » Thu 10.04.2008, 16:24

Monty wrote:If your comparing to Lockwood why not compare prices?

BTW replacement LEDs are a waste of time, done that, been there and had to go back to stock bulbs

MM dials are more expensive I'm sure but I don't know what the Lockwoods cost so I couldn't really compare. :oops:

But, for me, the look is infinitely better and I don't mind spending what's likely to be an extra $50 - $80 - $100 (????) on something I'll look at everytime I drive the car. And, LED's are NOT a waste. You just need to find the right ones. Mine look great in the FB3 dials. Haven't hooked up the speedo cluster as yet though but they should be fine in there as well.

Try here for LED's. I've and tried out the first 3 types on this page (the twist lock holders are NOT the ones for our car however - different sorce for those). The 2nd type is the brightest although I have the 1st type in the speedo cluster to test shortly.

EDIT: Having a quick look over the Lockwood Dials thread it would seem that a set of Lockwood's costs 35GBP versus the MM dials which are 85GBP. Now, the MM dials also include the 2 warning lamp panels which look quite nice when installed but aren't really that critical to replace. So, is it worth the extra 50GBP ($100USD)??? Was for me. Your mileage may vary :-D

by **GeoffSmith** » Sat 12.04.2008, 07:40

McMurph, can you remember which LEDs you tried? I was going to give UltraLEDs a try as I've got several gone.

Blair, which ones did you go for? Much as I admire Joseph Swan, his days are numbered.

by **Monty** » Sat 12.04.2008, 11:04

GeoffSmith wrote:McMurph, can you remember which LEDs you tried? I was going to give UltraLEDs a try as I've got several gone.

Blair, which ones did you go for? Much as I admire Joseph Swan, his days are numbered.

errmmmm, it was a long time ago.

Just checked through the lockwood dails thread were i put a couple of links
http://lotuselancentral.com/forum/viewt ... wood+dials

think these were the ones
http://www.m-99.co.uk/Car_Neon_LED_Ligh ... bulbs.html

If you want my old LEDs that i removed your more than welcome

BTW the lockwood dials are £30 :wink:

by **Nige** » Sat 12.04.2008, 19:54

Monty, didn't you try blue LEDs? If so I think the blue LED shining through the orange of the Lockwoods would be what made them very dim. I still haven't got my instrument lighting working since fitting the MM dials but that's my electrical ineptitude and no chance to investigate yet, not the dials. When I do get it working mine will be white on black when not lit and green on black when lit. The MM dials are expensive compared to the Lockwoods and it's a matter of choice.

by **Elanlover** » Sat 12.04.2008, 20:24

GeoffSmith wrote:McMurph, can you remember which LEDs you tried? I was going to give UltraLEDs a try as I've got several gone.

Blair, which ones did you go for? Much as I admire Joseph Swan, his days are numbered.

Geoff, I bought all three types of bulbs on that page I posted (the first 3 types showing that is) and tried them all in the FB3 gauges. The second type seems to work quite well. The "3 pronged" type (1st showing I believe) seemed like a great idea but didn't look as good as the second type that's in there now. I haven't yet plugged the speedo cluster back in but I have the 3 pronged ones in there for now with extra of the second type listed if those don't look good.

Keep in mind that the bulb holders shown on their site NO NOT fit our clusters and I have a sack of them on my desk to prove it :roll:

I'll have to go look that site up if you need it but they came from the UK so I suspect they would be easy to find for you folks. Pretty sure it was somethign like Crazy LED's or similar.

I've used these guys (Auto Lumination) to basically replace EVERY light on the car with LED's to great success.

I just had a look at the site Monty posted where he got his bulbs from. If those are the ones he got then I can see why they'd not look good. These loo a lot like the ones Metal Monkey sent. If you include the 3 bulbs from the page I posted and the MM bulbs then the MM bulbs were by far the worst. Buy the second bulbs on the page and they'll be significantly better. I can't say they'll be "perfect" only because I don't know what your definition of perfect will be. They will be much better though. Also, I looked over the site you posted Geoff and the bulbs on that page appear to be identical to the 3rd bulbs showing on the page i posted. The 2nd type on that page is still better.

I wonder how much the dial itself impacts the use of the LED's??? The MM dials are built to have LED's behind them to give them the colour changes in some instances.

EDIT: http://www.crazyleds.co.uk is the place I got the holders from. These are new and look interesting though. Just ordred 8 of them

by **Monty** » Sat 12.04.2008, 21:24

If the ones that you`re getting from Crazyleds fit that should do the trick since it`s a cluster of 4 LEDs with gives a wider beam.

Nige wrote:Monty, didn't you try blue LEDs? If so I think the blue LED shining through the orange of the Lockwoods would be what made them very dim. I still haven't got my instrument lighting working since fitting the MM dials but that's my electrical ineptitude and no chance to investigate yet, not the dials. When I do get it working mine will be white on black when not lit and green on black when lit. The MM dials are expensive compared to the Lockwoods and it's a matter of choice.

Nige, it was 2/3 year ago when i tried the LEDs, IIRC it was the blue ones i went for. The main problem is they were a single LED so will only light up a small area ie a narrow beam :twisted:

So i had to remove them and just went back to the stock bulbs :roll:

by **Elanlover** » Sat 12.04.2008, 21:36

Monty wrote:If the ones that you're getting from Crazyleds fit that should do the trick since it's a cluster of 4 LEDs with gives a wider beam.

Possibly. I've been learning alot about LED's over the last year. Depends on the LED they've mounted in there. They'd have to be small so if their 4 smaller LED's give out more light than the other guy's one super bright LED then, yes, they'd be better. But, the light is still projected straight ahead meaning it might create a bright spot on the dial and not much more. Also, since they are integrated into the holder, they'll only be good for the speedo cluster (4 of them) and not the FB3 gauges. The second bulb on the Auto Lumination page works great in the FB3 gauges.

I'll let you know in two weeks. :-D

by **Nige** » Sat 12.04.2008, 22:16

My instrument lighting problem is not LEDs as I have the bulbs fitted still. Once I work out what the problem is (almost certainly something simple) and fix it I will progressively switch over to LEDs.

by **GeoffSmith** » Sat 12.04.2008, 22:32

I'm amazed how dim some of my lamps are - the glass envelopes are quite heavily metallised. LED technology has come along in the last few years, so finding a reputable supplier should give a satisfactory solution.

by **Nige** » Sun 13.04.2008, 13:04

Investigation of my lack of instrument lighting indicates that the problem is a lack of a feed to the instrument lights, being an S2 the instruments should be lit as long as the ignition is on. Looking at the circuit diagrams the feed is a red and purple wire which comes off the rheostat module (green relay type thing (A100M6059F) under the dash, same location as the intermittent wipe relay). The rheostat module is in turn fed by a red and white wire from the sidelights, my sidelights work ok, so logic points the finger at the Rheostat Module. Swapped the Rheostat Modules between Norma and S2 and S2 now has gloriously green instrument lighting and Norma has no instrument lighting. I've asked if anyone has one in the parts wanted sectionHere. I've just been hailed off but have managed a couple of pictures that I'll post as soon as I download them from the camera. I lost my lights when I fitted the first LED so I assume, for whatever reason the LED caused some damage in the Rheostat Module? I am reluctant to fit any LEDs at the moment in case I damage another Rheostat Module and any advice would be welcome

by **GeoffSmith** » Sun 13.04.2008, 13:09

They were in the Aftersales for £7.50 Nige.

Keep the old module and I'll take a look - LEDs shouldn't be a problem as the current demand is less than filament lamps.

by **Nige** » Sun 13.04.2008, 13:13

Brilliant Geoff , thanks, I'll see if they still are.

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