Under the hood of the new instrument panel!

A great mod! It may take nerves of steel but the results speak for themselves! I thought it would be great to find a more integrated place for the controls I had added in the Fan Control Mod, so I thought... and I thought... and I thought... and, well you get the idea. Then, after careful study I thought a number of extra controls and indicators could be integrated into the tank top nacelle (tank top speedo housing). I wanted some extra for growth, so when I added a lightbar or something else of that nature I would have lights and switches enough to control it.

So I decided on the approach of adding controls suitable for electronic/ digital control. You could equally add controls of a purely direct (toggle switch) type. I wanted to eventually (once I get enough accessories to justify it) embed a computer or controller board that will interface with the accessories and the controls. So what I did was take five tactile key switches and create a "keypad" down the left side, put 3 LEDs down the right, a couple of yellow LEDs near the top corners of the fuel cap, and a couple of momentary pushbutton switches at the bottom corners of the speedo. You can click on the thumbnail below for a larger picture of the new control panel!

Click to see a larger pic!

So far the top "keypad" button turns the fan on, the left pushbutton turns it off (if on manual override), and the green LED indicates its state. As soon as I find some more things to control, I'll hook up the others! ;-)

UPDATE I have now installed a controller board! See the new section on the left for details!

The panel is now set out as follows:

Keypad buttons

LEDs

The two black pushbuttons are currently unused. I plan to use one for the garage door opener, the other... who knows!

@ Sean Flanagan, 2004. All rights reserved.