I really need some clearer photos, as i cant make out where the jfet is connected on the back ect. Do you have a scanner??? Believe it or not my orginal pics were done on the scanner. Now the custom spedo pickup has two 12mm diameter alloy spacers and thier approxmiatly 11.5mm long. The washer were just used to spacer the circuitboard up so the wires wolud fit underneat. The 3 washers shoud equal aproxxmiatly 2.5mm Just remember thes figures dont have to be exact, but closer is better.

Wow .. amazing how well it comes up on the scanner .. never would have thought of that Ok: http://www.vidguide.com/board1.jpg http://www.vidguide.com/Board2.jpg Excuse the sizes, kept em in high quality so to preserve visibility. What did you use to cut away at the metal housing of the speedo unit metal body? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Ill take a colser look at those pics tommorow as ive had a few bruskies tonight. I just used a hacksaw and file to cut away the metal housing of the speedo. took a little while thou.

I had a look at those photos today and from what i can see, you havent done anything wrong. I compared it to mine and it looks identicle. all i can suggest is make the logic probe. you need to find out where the signal stops. Once yourve found that out fixing it shouldnt be a problem.

Hrm.. ok, even my logic probe doesnt work .. tho I have taken the DSE guys word that a 547 is ok in place of a 548 .. the LED stays on, but dimly all the time .. when on 12v, it glows brighter .. so I assume its still working, just the transistor works slightly different? Either way .. I've hit yet another problem .. I'd have to do the modification like you have, to move the speedo drive bit off the PCB, just to be able to logic probe it properly .. Any chance I can offer you some money and you'd make me up a PCB ready to go with the mods needed? If so, how much? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Yeah no stress, i dont mind building one for ya, ill go down to pick a part on the weekend. probably cost about $20 to do. That should cover the parts required for the circuitboard. Anyway let me know.

Ledgendary Let me know when you know what it'll cost me, and PM me your bank details, i'll transfer it to you ASAP .. How much extra to get the speedo bit in a lil container like yours too? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Ill try and do it over the weekend for you. It shouldnt take too long to biuld cause hopefully all the circuit boards are all the same. With the speed sensor, im not sure yet as i dont really think breakboard is going to work correct. I believe its too brittle for the pickup unit, i might try and sorce something a little stronger.

No worries at all if you dont want to/cant do the speedo sensor bit .. i'm happy for it to be all as it is if it works Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Im still going to try and get it done over the weekend for you, but ive come down with the dam flu. I got a circuitboard like yours today and i believe thier is a slight difference between the two. Maybe different trigger voltages, slighly new components with different specs. Who know. What ill do is hunt around for one like mine with the same code on it and ill take it from thier. They let me have the board for $5 so thats not bad, whats funny is that includes warranty.

Im so close its not funny to getting the dimmer to work properly too.

Don't rush it mate .. if your sick, let it be .. I'm not in a hurry for it .. appreciate the work tho .. You'll have to keep me posted on how your going with it.. Whats your solution so far with the dimmer? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Thier a relationship between the autodim wire and the lights wire. Ive figured out how to make it dim, but when i tried it in the car didnt bloody work. I think im going to definantly need the wiring diagram for this one, as i have no idear. I know how to trigger it but the voltages are everywhere. Oh yeah by the way remember how you siad thier was a box with an LDR(light dependant resistor)thats meant to connect to the auto dim wire. Well i pulled apart the whole vk calais dash that the instrument cluster came out of and found no such device. Ive got a seaky suspesion it dosent exist. I went to a commodore wrecker to get one just so i coud figure it out and he siad hes owened 3 vk calais and has never seen or wrecked a vk calais with the box i mention. Im really confused with this now. Ill have to wait till i track down that wiring diagram. Cheers Shannon

The small part that juts out to the left of the main dash .. you know how VK dash hutch's are raised right across the dash, to above the aircon center vents, and have some extra bit attached to the dash cluster. In there is some buttons (demister i think? can't recall exactly) and a small grilled section (no bigger than a button) behind this sits a LDR in a tiny metal box .. well, i presume its an LDR .. appeared to be what it was, has ventyness to let in light and was in some form connected to the harness that went to the lighting section ..

The part your talking about by your description is the buzzer. ive got the whole bloody dash now and thier is definantly not an ldr i can find. Ive pulled all the light bulbs from the hutch out and unscrewed it all. But i cant find it. Im now going to assume its done by the dimmer circuit in the vk somehow. Its the only possible thing. It just cant exist and if it does it aint on the dash. I evern looked in the speeker grill ontop of the dash.

Hrm .. bugger .. I coulda sworn it was an LDR .. shows how good I am with electronics perhaps Sorry if i wasted your time on that one .. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Dont worry champ, i wish it was would of made my life eaiser. In a few weeks time would you consider testing a speed sensor on your vl for me. New design much simpler but i dont know how accurate it will be. Id use my car but its kinda not registed or complete. Just makes it a little neater. Anyway ill speak top you soon shannon.

Yeah no problem. Willing to help out any way I can mate If you give me the specs for, or sell me a bracket to mount the dash in the car, then I'll be able to test anything you need, on the road Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

This is a pic of my new speedo sensor im working on, cause the other design is realy sensative to eletrical interference. I can fix it by shielding cable and making amplifier circuits, but this might just be eaiser. Just need to adapt something. Apparently the vl speedo gears are avalible in different teeth, due to people having different diff ratios. I was thinking if its not close enought i could calibrate it like that. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Hmm very nice looking Ahh I see where your going .. change the gearing so the signal rate is what we need, yeah? Would this have an adverse affect on cruise control/auto/ECU boxes? What did the VK use to drive the dash? Is the gearing the same in the VK as the VL? (perhaps not, due to being a different tranny .. ) Some original photos have not been recovered yet.