Changing Dials

[Guest ian luxford]

hi

decided i am going to finally improve the dashboard on my exmo.

what do i need to be careful of when buying new dials? i am looking at getting the smiths classic dials.

Will i be able to just take out the old console (standard sierra) then plug the cabbles straight into the new ones? if not (as things are never that easy!) what do i need? and how easy is it to fit?

thanks for your help

Ian

[Guest chris]

Sadly ,as you say,it isnt going to be that easy!The sierra dials are connected by a plug,you are going to have to identify each wire in the plug as to what function they have.A while back I posted an item that may help,It is being used on the Northwest club site and you may find it useful to have a look,I will warn you though that Ford have a tendancy to change the colour of the wires from year to year and so the little piece I wrote is only intended as a guide.My technical abilities on the computer (or lack of)means that I dont know how to include a link to that article,may be some one else can .

hope this helps

regards chris

edit:I have tried to attach the article now

These_are_the_details_of_the_wire_colours_for_changing_over_to_Capri_clocks.htm

Edited February 5, 2004 by chris

[Guest ian luxford]

thanks thought it might not be that easy! will i be able to keep the same fuel gauge level reader thingy ( and yes that is the technical term! ) and what about callibrating the speado?

[Guest JohnS]

Smiths speedos genraly have a number on the face or somtimes on the case.

this is revolutions per mile.

you need on calibrated to 1000 revs per mile if your set up is ford box and diff.

I belive ex Triumph fit this bill

 

 

John

[Guest paul mercer]

I've gone for the full smiths dial set up. The fuel gauge needed a new sender, but you may be able to get one that uses the original sierra resistances. They're catalogue certainly has a few different options. If not, the sender unit they supply is fairly easy to fit. probably worth ringing.

 

As for the speedo, as long as you know your tyre diameter, you flick anumber of switches ob the back of the dial, and this calibrates the dial for you.

 

Fairly good instructions come with all the smiths gauges that i've used along with wiring diagrams.

 

Paul.

[IanS]

I replaced the sierra instruments in my exmo about 18 months ago.

I got a set of smiths instruments from a triumph dolomite in a scrap yard. These cost £15.

But Speedy cables charge £30 for a new speedo cable.

The speedo calibration was the same.

I used the original fuel sensor with the smiths guage, it is not linear but to my mind it works the right way round reading above the 3/4 mark when the tank is over half full and then going fairly rapidly down untill the engine stops about 20 miles after the guage needle hits the empty mark.

 

I had to make up a new dash face as I wanted the tacho and speedo in front of the driver not in the middle of the dash, I made this from a 4 foot by 1 foot sheet of aluminum (with the top corners rounded off to fit) and cut holes to suit the instruments then used this as a template to cut holes in the existing dash.

 

I made an instrument wireing loom to suit the instruments and added an old smiths instrument voltage regulator for the fuel and temp guages. The wireing was then just tapped into the connector for the sierra instruments.

[Guest Mr Pid]

I to am making myself a nice looking dash to replace the boring metal thing.

 

The plan i am following with regards to the multiplug on the sierra loom is to get another set of sierra dials and remove the bit where the plug attaches to and transfer it to my new dash. I can then splice the wiring into the dash (female) side and not worry about buggering up the original sierra (male) end.

 

Or if you dont want to get this involved you could just fit a couple of multiplugs once you have identified all the wires.

 

Hope this makes sense.

 

Stu

[Guest ian luxford]

thanks for all your help think i understand it all!

think i might have to have a look around a few scappies for a while see if i can get some dials to save a bit of money (then i might be able to get around to some other jobs!)

i am sure i you will hear from me again soon!

thanks

ian

[Guest brummy-ade]

ebay could be a good bet ive just bought a full set for 26 soon to fit in my exmo

ade

[Guest ian luxford]

i have managed to get some dials from a dolomite but now having trouble fitting the speedo.

what cable do i need? i take it the current cable i have for a sierra wont work with it? when i push the trip reset switch in the numbers dont move is this an indication that it is broke?

also how do i go about fitting a rev counter? i dont have one fitted at the moment so take it i need a kit where and how much?

thanks

ian

[Jon Bradbury]

Amazingly enough, the Sierra cable will fit on the end of the Smiths speedo, and it is calibrated properly too. You may need to trim the steel sleeve on the end of the cable a bit but otherwise you're in luck.

 

About the trip meter reset, I don't know which dial you have but mine has a short cable that you twist clockwise until the meter is reset.

 

Actually I've a dolomite and spitfire dial and they both have the twist reset.

 

TTFN

 

JonB

 

PS, Forgot to say, the matching Triumph revcounter is an easy fit as long as the car it came from had 4 cylinders. They are all electric, like the Sierra jobbie.

[Guest ian luxford]

thanks for that it all seems to be coming together!

what do i connect the rev-counter to? i dont have one at the moment so what do i need to connect it up? oh and it is just a 4cyl

also how do i connect a voltmeter up? can i just connect it accross live/earth or do i need a sender?

thanks

[Guest chris brown]

The rev counter is easy just connect it to the switched side of the coil marked -ve with the other side to earth this is usualy the case.

The volt meter (batery condition meter) can be conected directly to permant live but it is more common to connect to switched live (only works when iginition is on)

[Guest ian luxford]

thats great thanks

a lot easier than i thought it would be!! (why do i feel that when i come to do this at the weekend i am going to regret saying that!!)

thanks for the help

ian

[Guest ian luxford]

well i have connected up the rev counter today and it doesnt work!!

on the back of the rev counter there is a bullet style connecter and a spade.

i have put the bullet side to the -ve on the coil and the spade to earth? where the connectors are is like a sponge bit are these the right connections??

is there any way of checking the rev counter works? it is a smiths dial from a dolomite

thanks

ian