My 1989 Crown Victoria.

[sly]

+1 nice

[slack]

Thanks guys! I try to make all my mods reversible if possible. (I doubt it ever will haha )

[slack]

Front PI Sway Bar Painting and Clock Mod Prototype

Along with my 140 speedo I also got a front PI sway bar from Bowman85merc. I painted it the other day as it was warm enough to paint it before installing it.

Here it is unpainted:


Busing brackets painted:


Bar painted and drying in my friend garage.



Also, here's the clock mod. It's to I2C oLED screens hooked up to an Arduino micro. My friend and I are thinking of modding the standard 80s Ford clock to have time and sensor values similar to the trip one but also bring values that go below a specified threshold to the forefront if something goes wrong. Might work out pretty well. The screens are simple to program to. The below screen is during it cycling through the sensor screens on screen two. We'll see how it goes. The alarm project needs to get finished first but this is just fun.

[gadget73]

Seems the Arduino stuff is pretty flexible. I was looking at Arduino controls last night for an audio preamp. It handled volume control and input switching. I've seen it used for CB radios to replace the stock channel selection circuitry.

[slack]

I love the Arduino stuff. My friend has been trying to get me into playing around with them for a while but I haven't really had a practical (debatable. ) use until now. They're pretty flexible. A lot of stuff available for 5v... (I haven't messed with the 3v stuff yet) Code is pretty simple as long as you're somewhat versed in C. There's also a ton of premade boards for almost anything on eBay for cheap. Adafruit has stuff as well as Sparkfun but they're usually way overpriced.

[slack]

Oil Change and PI Front Sway Bar Installed

Got around to doing my oil changes today on both cars. I also put in the PI sway bar. (Even with it being like 30 degrees max) Not enough time on the new sway bar to truly tell how much of a difference I really feel but I can say it's MUCH heavier than the stock one and a little bit larger in diameter.

Here's a pic of the stock one next to the PI. (Stock one is the one with the Energy Suspension bushings still stuck on it... I reused them in the PI brackets even though they were a little small for the time being).


No pics of it installed as there's really nothing interesting to report. Four bolts to take the bushings off and one nut on each end link and it comes right out.

...I'm not really sure what to do with the stock sway bar now though...

[Bowman85merc]

I'm glad you're happy with the speedo and sway bar, and those are some smart mods that you did on the speedo!

Now, you just need to see if the speedo accurately reads up to 140 mph

[slack]

I'm glad you're happy with the speedo and sway bar, and those are some smart mods that you did on the speedo!

Now, you just need to see if the speedo accurately reads up to 140 mph

Haha! Yep! They work great. Thanks again. I do know the speedometer is off about 5mph at regular highway speeds (my last one was too) and I believe it's because of the larger tires I have in the back. 65mph = 70mph. So I wonder if 140mph = ~155mph?

[slack]

My old Deka battery that I had in my '91 Grand Marquis for years and now this car finally bit the dust. (I think it made it around 6 years?)

So I replaced that the other day around the 20/21st and on Christmas my alternator light came on and stayed on for a bit. After I parked and restarted the car it went away and hasn't come on since. I wonder if my 2G alternator is acting stupid and that helped kill my last battery. When I put the new battery in I was getting a solid 14.4v or so at the battery terminals with the car running so it might be an intermittent thing. (2G plug connector going bad?)

In any case... it looks like maybe a 3G swap is in my future come warmer weather!

[miamibob]

I would take a look at BOTH connectors and maybe even the one(s) by the overflow tank to make sure there are no issues. Take the connectors off and have a good look.

[slack]

Hmm.. That's a good point. I'll check it out. Thanks!

[Bobcat]

Along with my 140 speedo I also got a front PI sway bar from Bowman85merc. I painted it the other day as it was warm enough to paint it before installing it.

Here it is unpainted:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]41518[/ATTACH]

I like that little digi clock, how large is it? Is there a way to reset it, if the power resets and whatnot? I may be interested in acquiring one of those from you to put in my dash. I really like the date and time function.

Great job, I love seeing these old cars get modernizations and new leases on life. I applaud anyone who does.

Busing brackets painted:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]41517[/ATTACH]

Bar painted and drying in my friend garage.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]41516[/ATTACH]


Also, here's the clock mod. It's to I2C oLED screens hooked up to an Arduino micro. My friend and I are thinking of modding the standard 80s Ford clock to have time and sensor values similar to the trip one but also bring values that go below a specified threshold to the forefront if something goes wrong. Might work out pretty well. The screens are simple to program to. The below screen is during it cycling through the sensor screens on screen two. We'll see how it goes. The alarm project needs to get finished first but this is just fun.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]41519[/ATTACH]

How big is the little clock screen? I really like that and I was curious if you'd be able to reset it for whenever the car shutoff or if it could save memory for when the battery is disconnected. I'm not as skilled as you are in this field, lol. Don't mind me if I sound like a moron. But! If you could get one of these setup to be standalone and wired to 12v, I'd be interested in buying one from yah and putting it in my dash.

I like what you're doing with all the modernizing. I applaud anyone who continuesly wants to add more to their car. Good work!

[slack]

How big is the little clock screen? I really like that and I was curious if you'd be able to reset it for whenever the car shutoff or if it could save memory for when the battery is disconnected. I'm not as skilled as you are in this field, lol. Don't mind me if I sound like a moron. But! If you could get one of these setup to be standalone and wired to 12v, I'd be interested in buying one from yah and putting it in my dash.

I like what you're doing with all the modernizing. I applaud anyone who continuesly wants to add more to their car. Good work!

Thanks!

The little clock screen is actually really small. Here it is next to a D battery for comparison:


Here's the eBay page I bought it from: http://www.ebay.com/itm/191285233516...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The screen itself does nothing but display what it's told to display. All the meat and potatoes are in the Arduino I'm using to program it. I've actually switched over to a Teensy 3.1 for testing right now as it's much faster and has way more memory. To program it, you can still use the Arduino IDE and C.

For the clock display side, that could work after the clock code for the Arduino is uploaded to it. The teensy takes 3.7-5.5v in so you would have to regulate the voltage down from 12v to that. I believe the Arduino is 5v.

Here's a pic of an adjustable voltage regulator I had at my desk:


That said, my current idea was to have it work like a regular clock where if the battery was disconnected the clock would reset at that point (but would keep the time when the car was off). That's a really good idea though, I'll look into it having a battery backup in case the voltage is disconnected. Thanks!

Sorry the pics are so blurry. I'll keep you posted if/when I get one working!

[sly]

looks a LOT like the OLED screen in one of my Sansa MP3 players.

If you put a RTC (real time clock) chip on your rig, you won't have to "keep the battery connected" as it has an internal lithium battery that should last 10+ years. You can run your idea but the RTC will keep the time even if the battery is disconnected.

[slack]

looks a LOT like the OLED screen in one of my Sansa MP3 players.

If you put a RTC (real time clock) chip on your rig, you won't have to "keep the battery connected" as it has an internal lithium battery that should last 10+ years. You can run your idea but the RTC will keep the time even if the battery is disconnected.

Looks like it should be pretty straight forward. I can add it right to the Teensy 3.1. There's a spot for a RTC on the bottom of it. Just have to add a 3v battery.

Here's a link with the instructions: https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_Time.html#teensy3