Seems that Little L.B.s electrical issues are completely under control .. Battery is holding the charge beautifully..and the charging system is flawless now.... re-installed his ign switch.. he is just purring like a kitten now. ( except 2 of his tires have gone flat :-\ ). If he sits for a couple weeks ..takes about 3 tries to get him started..but if its just a day or 2 he fires up first try!! Not to shabby for having a non-working choke.

I am wondering and wanting opinions... think its safe to install his working digi dash? Or should I just hold up until after he is finished being stripped down and sent off for body and paint work? I think its my biggest fear is to blow that dash...it took so long to find a working one.

 

Oh for the newer people.. L.B is my 83 Lil Blue GL-10 coupe..weberized EA81

 

Sometimes I do forget how much I LOVE that little car... He has been cheering me up the past couple days.

Edited November 5, 200916 yr by Bucky92

can you make-shift something else in there for now - an easier to find digidash or one with blown lights, etc for a few months to see how it goes?

 

i've driven subaru's without a working gauge cluster before, the entire assembly removed. so it won't prevent you from driving....it is quite an entertaining experience. though obviously i don't recommend it for safety, speed, oil, temp reason.

Gary.. I wish it was that easy.. the EA81 Digi is the weakest of the ones with Digis...and its very specific. Even the analog swap is a chore...if you want it to work like it was original equipment...the wiring is completely different. Nice thing is... the car doesnt get driven..and even if it did it would be down for the winter now. I would just like to know what more is going on with the motor when I run it.. We did install the most accurate temp gauge imaginable awhile ago..so I have no worries there.

If the electrical system is all good i dont see the harm in putting it in. I mean your going to put it in at somepoint either now or after the bodywork. I dont see the difference waiting or doing it now. At least if you do it now you can see what the car is doing. I know there is the fear thats its goiing to blow but if everything that was causing them to go is good now it should (fingers crossed) be fine.

if anyone is going to do welding on the car for any reason, do it after.

Thats what I was thinking Steve..Plus ..you know.. those Digi Dashes are so cool ..like retro cool when they work... You wouldnt believe how good that car is running now..

If one good thing happened... we all know I can have that digi back out in seconds.. installed and removed enough of them.

Yaaaay Connie, Im glad you didnt crush Lil blue, like you said you were gonna....lol, glad to se its working out for you

The digidash isnt going to tell you much, just temp, fuel level and speed - right?

I would wait till its done, or until you want to drive it again.

Yup...I agree with Rob. Why risk it. They'r just too hard to find in working condition.

 

Besides,if something was to happen to the digi-dash before the car goes to paint, it might instead be heading back to the Crusher.

Being as how the main problem with the EA81 digidashes is the VR that cannot be found, is there some way you can wire in some kind of external VR and some kind of fusible link? That way, in the event that something ever could go wrong, the dash would still be safe. Also I would leave the dash out until after bodywork, something could get unhooked - reconnected incorrectly and bam, no more digi...

 

-Bill

^agreed

^agreed

 

^agreed

 

Getting an external voltage regulator with over-voltage protection will save your digi dash from any voltage spikes or problems. This can be as simple as 1 12V IC VR with a capacitor to smoothen the voltage spikes.

 

If you don't know how to do this, perhaps contact a electronics student. He'll probably whip it out in 10secs and if you give him some beer he'll be happy (I know it works like that over here)

^agreed

 

Getting an external voltage regulator with over-voltage protection will save your digi dash from any voltage spikes or problems. This can be as simple as 1 12V IC VR with a capacitor to smoothen the voltage spikes.

 

If you don't know how to do this, perhaps contact a electronics student. He'll probably whip it out in 10secs and if you give him some beer he'll be happy (I know it works like that over here)

 

Pretty much. Would just need to know what voltage the dash runs on (the output from the stock VR), then it would be easy to make a small box to provide power to the dash.

Thats a good idea!

 

Its like a firewall for your digidash... by the firewall.

 

SO GLAD youre loving LB!

if someone wants to show me a picture of this..please do.. I have mentioned before..I may build electronic stuff..but I dont know any more then that about it. Give me a blue print etc to work with. cause all you are speaking to me is greek.

I think someone said a voltage regulator/circuit breaker before the digi dash to keep the voltage at a constant level somehow. like a surge protector to keep high power, unstable power surges out of the digi dash parts.

hopefuly someone has electronics parts number or something.

if someone wants to show me a picture of this..please do.. I have mentioned before..I may build electronic stuff..but I dont know any more then that about it. Give me a blue print etc to work with. cause all you are speaking to me is greek.

 

I think someone said a voltage regulator/circuit breaker before the digi dash to keep the voltage at a constant level somehow. like a surge protector to keep high power, unstable power surges out of the digi dash parts.

hopefuly someone has electronics parts number or something.

 

I think she understood that part.

I think she understood that part.

 

 

Hehehe.. ignore feature..I would have never seen that comment. Yes I understand that part..not that much of an idiot.

Take that digital door-stop and throw it as far out to sea as possible. I'm VERY pleased with my analog dash swap and will NOT be looking back.

Take that digital door-stop and throw it as far out to sea as possible. I'm VERY pleased with my analog dash swap and will NOT be looking back.

Well thats you... you werent restoring a car to original condition for show purposes. I am spending ALOT of money to bring this car back to show room..and being from a collector car area of the country.. by swapping it will lower its future value. Ask me how I know this?? I have restored a few cars in my day. If the car was to be a daily driver etc.. I would be right with you though.