cheekychimp
Well-known member
I have had this idea to modify a stock gauge cluster with a shift light for some time. What has stopped me from doing it so far however is that I'm not sure how practical this would actually be and once something loses practicality it quickly becomes "rice". It could however work as a 'sleeper' mod on a stock appearing car that you want to slip under the radar.
So here is the idea. This is the 'T-Sport Rev-Lite' available from MRT
It is designed to be placed on top of the dash in the driver's peripheral vision and the number of LEDs illuminated progressively increases with RPMs the last two GREEN LEDs coming on as you reach 'redline' or your shift point. There are six LEDs in total.
Now take a look at the stripped down stock gauge cluster here.
Notice the segments in the centre? Those are redundant on the manual cluster as they house the gear status indicators for the automatic transmission. There are seven segments in total.
Now I haven't disassembled the Rev-Lite or seen the internals but logic dictates that it would not be difficult to separate and if necessary extend the wiring to each LED so that each could be located in its own segment, greens at the top and reds at the bottom. The guts of the box I am sure could be located on the rear of the gauge cluster without too much issue. If that isn't possible, it could simply be kept in the original housing and remotely located but that would make removing the gauge cluster in the future more difficult.
That in essence is it. As you look at the gauge cluster as RPMs rise a steady line of LEDs would progressively move up between the speedo and tach. My issue with the mod is this. If you are actually looking at the gauge cluster, is there really any point in having a shift light right next to the tach? Initially I thought 'no' but on second thoughts I know the extra large drag tachos that mount on top of the dash have an integrated shift light. It would also serve some purpose I guess if you have a built motor and a higher than stock rev limit.
I am not sure if the idea of having these in the peripheral vision will still work with the lights in the cluster. At night I guess it will work but during the day I'm not sure. This is a doubled edged sword because if the LEDs are very bright, I imagine it could get very annoying at night. The option here perhaps would be to wire in a power switch to the unit so that it could be switched off at night, whilst cruising or when not at the track.
Another possibility might be to house the LEDs in the top of each of those segments and drill a small hole in the centre of each plastic blank that covers each segment on the manual cluster faces. This would diffuse the light more but would likely eliminate almost all chances of seeing the lights unless looking at the gauge cluster directly.
So is it an idea worth pursuing or does a device like that need to be mounted higher (say in an A-Pillar) to be effective? I've never used a shift light and I can't see a great deal of use for one on a daily driver, I've always considered them a track accessory whether that is drag OR circuit racing. That said, on my Police Motorcycle I have hit the 10,000 rev limiter on numerous occasions during pursuits and whilst attending accidents because the revs rise so quickly, so I am wondering if this will be worth doing on the project car (with the aluminium rods) as it is going to wind up much faster and has a much lower rpm threshold.
Thoughts?
So here is the idea. This is the 'T-Sport Rev-Lite' available from MRT
It is designed to be placed on top of the dash in the driver's peripheral vision and the number of LEDs illuminated progressively increases with RPMs the last two GREEN LEDs coming on as you reach 'redline' or your shift point. There are six LEDs in total.
Now take a look at the stripped down stock gauge cluster here.
Notice the segments in the centre? Those are redundant on the manual cluster as they house the gear status indicators for the automatic transmission. There are seven segments in total.
Now I haven't disassembled the Rev-Lite or seen the internals but logic dictates that it would not be difficult to separate and if necessary extend the wiring to each LED so that each could be located in its own segment, greens at the top and reds at the bottom. The guts of the box I am sure could be located on the rear of the gauge cluster without too much issue. If that isn't possible, it could simply be kept in the original housing and remotely located but that would make removing the gauge cluster in the future more difficult.
That in essence is it. As you look at the gauge cluster as RPMs rise a steady line of LEDs would progressively move up between the speedo and tach. My issue with the mod is this. If you are actually looking at the gauge cluster, is there really any point in having a shift light right next to the tach? Initially I thought 'no' but on second thoughts I know the extra large drag tachos that mount on top of the dash have an integrated shift light. It would also serve some purpose I guess if you have a built motor and a higher than stock rev limit.
I am not sure if the idea of having these in the peripheral vision will still work with the lights in the cluster. At night I guess it will work but during the day I'm not sure. This is a doubled edged sword because if the LEDs are very bright, I imagine it could get very annoying at night. The option here perhaps would be to wire in a power switch to the unit so that it could be switched off at night, whilst cruising or when not at the track.
Another possibility might be to house the LEDs in the top of each of those segments and drill a small hole in the centre of each plastic blank that covers each segment on the manual cluster faces. This would diffuse the light more but would likely eliminate almost all chances of seeing the lights unless looking at the gauge cluster directly.
So is it an idea worth pursuing or does a device like that need to be mounted higher (say in an A-Pillar) to be effective? I've never used a shift light and I can't see a great deal of use for one on a daily driver, I've always considered them a track accessory whether that is drag OR circuit racing. That said, on my Police Motorcycle I have hit the 10,000 rev limiter on numerous occasions during pursuits and whilst attending accidents because the revs rise so quickly, so I am wondering if this will be worth doing on the project car (with the aluminium rods) as it is going to wind up much faster and has a much lower rpm threshold.
Thoughts?
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