after many many hours, I have finally completed my Gear Position Indicator build!

yes, i know its "pointless" to have a gear position indicator on a manual transmission car, especially since i know how to drive one... but after becoming inspired by another similar project from another website, i just had to do this one!

i got the actual indicator electronics from ebay (of course) for a few bucks. the reed switches i ganked from work (they are from water meter registers actually), and the rest is bits i had around my workshop.

the indicator only goes from 1-5. so no indicator for R, or 6th gear, which is fine by me, since thats cruising gear, and theres nowhere else to really "go" from 6th, other than down :P






yes, it looks messy, but thats ok. doesnt effect how it works. and yes, there is a lot of glue of all sorts. i had to use both hot-glue and superglue: hot glue to put stuff in place, then superglue over / around stuff to hold it long term.

and no, i wont build you one

 

very nice

great mod

scott

 

Thanks! longest build for such a small price. i think it was $5 for the indicator, the rest of the stuff was "free". prolly spent 15 hours? making this thing work proper. most of the time was R&D, trial and error, getting those reed switches to work how i needed them to.

 

very cool, nice work

 

Awesome!

This appeals to me greatly because there's been several instances where I've gotten "lost in the gears", never had that problem with my old 1986 5 speed Saab.

I've seen these on ebay and indeed they are cheap, but I'm a clueless dunce with electronics and doubt I'd be able to rig it up.

The switches with actual mechanical contact seem infallible too --- looking for easy alternatives I came across a company in Germany called Gaslock, they make a 52mm round gauge called an Indy-Cator that uses a sensitive position sensor on the gear lever itself so there is a possibility for inaccuracy if on steep inclines (mountain roads) --- I've contacted the company to ask some questions, somewhat hesitant due to price which is 100 euros, but may make the plunge as it seems like a nice bit o' kit to me.

Another downside of sensor vs mechanical switch is that there seems to be a slight delay with electronic sensor,
perhaps 1.5 seconds or something.

 

 

Cool DIY, nice work man

 

Very cool. Congrats on having the patience to create that.