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        General >> Give/Need advice to/from others >> Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
        
(Message started by: pappa on Jul 10^th, 2008, 7:39am)

Title: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by pappa on Jul 10^th, 2008, 7:39am

Some time ago I bought a poorly equipped, but a Ghia spec Diesel Scorps. I've been improving it a bit, adding electric chair and fixing many little things that were wrong with it. Then a hailstorm destroyd the bodywork and it's now queued to insurance inspection, but that's another story...

The Hidden Gold No #1

I was adding a diesel power module into my car and was looking for a good place to put an on/off switch for it. Looked under the driver side footwell, because there was NO computer in the car and of course NO Mode/S/R buttons either. I found out there was a plug for the computer Mode/S/R hanging inside the fascia! That made me suspect that the computer could be possibly make to work, but there was NO display in the speedometer.

I decided to take out the instrument panel and have closer look at it. So I did and to my happy surprise, there was a plug in the speedo for the computer display! So I went on and dismantled my under breaking Cossies speedo, took the LCD panel from there and plugged it in, cut a hole for the LCD panel and... At this point the project took another direction... I decided to make the speedo background white... But anyway the point is that when I put all things together again, I now have a working fuelcomputer with all the nice features!

Some pics:
http://frogrider.net/images/speedo_v1_under_cons.jpg
http://frogrider.net/images/speedo_v1_testing.jpg
http://frogrider.net/images/speedo_v3.jpg

Edit: The V1 shows a Cossie SPPEDO background. This was the very first pahes of testing...

The first versions did not let blinkers and warning lights through properly in daylight, so I had to settle for the V3. Now planning on V4...

The Hidden Gold No #2

The stereo did not have the steering wheel column remote in it. Again, further investigations lead to finding a plug for it and the "under breaking Cossie" had to part with the stereo remote switch :)

Other hidden GOLD probably exist and awaits for the next time I take the beast into pieces.
;D

Sorry about the length of this story.

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by gozz on Jul 10^th, 2008, 9:00am

pappa.
You are indeed a patient and persistent fellow,well done !
GOZZ.

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by pappa on Jul 10^th, 2008, 9:07am

Uh... Thanks :)

You're right, it needs quite a lot of patience. The fascia is not the thing you'd like to go on taking out and putting back many times in a day. ;D

I did that four times over and need to do at least once more. The fuel gauge is not showing right, I need to take out the needle and put it back on into correct position. YAWN!

My speedo btw is now spot on, not showing the typical 10km/h too much! ;D

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by joe-satch on Jul 10^th, 2008, 5:40pm

very nice indeed...well done. :).

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by pappa on Jul 11^th, 2008, 7:04am

If anyone's interested on how the white background was done, it's very simple. I dismantled the speedo into pieces, removed the black background (it's a plastic, thick sticker), scanned them into my computer and then made the colors negative with a photoshop software. Then painted all the black readings to light grey, added a light green drop shadow into them. Then some more fixing and fine tuning of the colors etc. and print it out, glue it on the original black background and put all back together again. Oh - I did use some transparent self adhesive film on the gauges, but it does not look good.

If someone's interested in doing it I can drop scanned images somewhere on to my site for download.
16v and 24v uses the same background, but Diesel is different. I think I've got them all. The files are huge.

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by Geoff_W on Jul 11^th, 2008, 8:52am

Hi well done, a very smart modification and you are breaking new ground.

Presumably the diesel VSS provides sufficient data so that the computer functions work fine. I notice that you have what is a very rare steering wheel over here and it is complet with cruise control, does your Ghia diesel have cruise?

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by Highlander on Jul 11^th, 2008, 1:41pm

on 07/11/08 at 08:52:20, Geoff_W wrote:

I notice that you have what is a very rare steering wheel over here and it is complet with cruise control, does your Ghia diesel have cruise?

Plenty about Geoff ;)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=360066074812&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=023

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by pappa on Jul 12^th, 2008, 9:49am

Hi ya.

Yes it has a cruise control. Very good to have and works extremely well.

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by dead-goon on Jul 12^th, 2008, 8:53pm

That white background is pretty horrible like.
I wonder why Ford didn't bother putting the fuel computer in the TDs.
They're quite thirsty when driven hard, so a fuel computer would help people drive a bit more economically...
Weirdly I saw a TD estate in a scrapyard with a fuel computer control panel, but no LCD. ???

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by pappa on Jul 13^th, 2008, 7:22pm

Taste's are plenty, I like white background, but I'm not yet happy with mine. But I will be, that's for sure. ;D

To my opinion, anything driven hard is thirsty. A friend of mine has Skoda Octavia Diesel RS, 5.7litres per 100km under normal driving and going up to 9-10 etc. if driven hard. (It's not bad though). My granny drank 10.5 litres per 100km and I thought it was very good for a 195bhp V6 auto. And I was not usually too careful with the pedal.

Many opinions roam about and they're all equal.

;D

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by pappa on Jul 16^th, 2008, 12:22pm

Hidden Gold No #3
(Fools gold)

There is a LIVE plugin for the TCS in the car, but there's definately NO TCS in it.
The car seems to be a funny mixture of stuff. There's electricity for the drivers seat (no memory seating unfortunately), but not for the passenger. I had to take current from the cigarette lighter for that.

Has anyone information was there ever TCS for a manual tranmission? (I think not). I'm not expecting to get it working because it would need a totally different ABS system to begin with, but just out of curiosity.

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by Geoff_W on Jul 16^th, 2008, 11:57pm

Did you buy that Stuart?

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by Highlander on Jul 17^th, 2008, 9:47am

Within the first hour!! ;)

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by pappa on Jul 17^th, 2008, 9:51am

Get out of here! You're chatting in my thread!

;D

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by Highlander on Jul 17^th, 2008, 10:01am

He started it!! ;D
In fact no, you started it!! ;D

found anything else in that diesel??
I'm going to have a shot at the fuel computer one myself..

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by pappa on Jul 17^th, 2008, 10:15am

Well.. ok, I admit to that, I started it :D

Haven't been poking around it after yesterday anymore, so no more hidden gold until next time I have to strip it down. Took it to the paintshop today to get an estimate for the insurance company for the hailstorm damages. They said that the paintjob already goes close to 3000e So it may be that they want to write it off.

I'm not willing to give it up, these good diesels are quite rare nowadays. I'm kind of hoping that they would make me a good compensation for the damages and let me fix what I want and how I want.

What I would like to get into the car is the mirrors tilting down when I stick it into reverse. Do you Stuart happen to know can it be achieved by swapping the control unit in the doors? I've got ones from the -96 dead Cossie.

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by Highlander on Jul 17^th, 2008, 10:31am

Hmmm not sure of that one, I suspect theres more to it than that as there has to be signal coming from the reversing switch somewhere but its worth a go.

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by mijfife on Jul 20^th, 2008, 9:07pm

I'd quite fancy doing the computer upgrade too, especially as I've still got the dash & switch from the 2.3 I broke. The only question I have is that mine doesn't have the electronic injector pump like the late 97 model would have, do you think it would still work?
Well done on the white dash mod Pappa, not really my thing but you've certainly put a lot of work into it and if we all had the same tastes, life would be very dull ;)

Cheers Jim

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by pappa on Jul 20^th, 2008, 10:00pm

Thanks mate, I've gone back to black speedo again, wasn't quite happy with that version, so another one is on the drawing board.

This is my first diesel, I haven't got a faintest idea would the computer work in your car. You can start by having a look under the driverside footwell where the computer Mode switch should be located. If you have the plug for the computer mode switch (it's a small blue plug) then you may have chance. The next thing then would be to boldly go and remove the speedo. If it has a plug for the computer, then you're half way there! This is the route I took. Not all the Scorpios, especially the last ones out from the owen, are the same. They seem to vary a lot. I have a 2.3 speedo too, and it does not have the plug for the computer display. Many variants roam about mate. ???

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by mijfife on Jul 20^th, 2008, 10:23pm

Thanks pappa, I've had the dash out a couple of times, in fact I changed the entire facia when I put the pumice leather interior in and it wasn't that bad a job to be honest. I know I've got the blue plug and when I plug my switch unit in I get a 'bing' when I press the mode button :) I'll need to have a look at the dash later, much more important jobs needing done before it's mot in December first! ::) I just wondered if the computer took a signal from the fuel pump or from the ECU to do it's calculations.
Cheers Jim

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by pappa on Jul 20^th, 2008, 10:28pm

I'm fairly sure it takes the info from the ecu (only fairly sure :) ).

I think you've got what it takes to make it work! The BLING was the first sign for me too after plugging things into their places. :)

Title: Re: Hidden GOLD in late-97 TD stw
Post by mijfife on Jul 21^st, 2008, 9:36pm

I'll put it on the 'toys to do' list ;) I've also got all the bits to fit the adjustable headlamps but as I said, the mot work will need to come first. I know I've got some welding to do on the rear chassis rails, some bushes to replace and probably most of the brake pipes as well. Oh, and the airbag light is flashing so probably dodgy connections at the steering wheel again :-/ I'm busy restoring my Imp just now then back on with the Scorp in a couple of months time.

Cheers Jim