Bye-Bye angle drive!

[Josh]

After my 4th angle drive died on me I decided to take a different approach.

I ordered one of these:

https://www.speedhut.com/ecommerce/p...peed-Converter
w/ the GM style Clip on cable.

the price is a little steep, but so is buying a new angle drive every year, just to have it break after 2000miles.

Installation was very easy. It could be mounted where the lambda counter is, I chose to mount it on top of my evaporator box.
The speedo cable snaps right in. I mounted the GPS antenna on top of the radio bracket (out of sight when the console is installed). It only requires a switched power and ground so those were tapped into the 12V outlet circuit. There is an additional VSS output that can be used to drive a cruise control unit, this is a problem with installing cruise on a delorean, you have to put those cheesy magnets on a driveshaft.



All in all I am very satisfied. The speed can be calibrated so it reads very accurate, more so than stock.
Hopefully this helps someone else out!

[refugeefromcalif]

How does this work in tunnels and areas where you can't get/don't have a good GPS signal?
That's the issue that I hate about anything satellite based.
In Alabama, (Yes we Are backwards on Many things), my XMS radio loses signal whenever we have stormy weather, (Also going behind Tall trees in ANY weather)...

George

[Gregadeth]

Nice. This is something I'd be considering when my angle drive eventually fails. There's also a similar device that receives the GPS signal from your phone via bluetooth. By the way, you said you tapped into the 12V outlet for a 'switched on' and ground. But isn't that particular circuit 'always on', in the sense that it has power even when the car is off?

[Josh]

How does this work in tunnels and areas where you can't get/don't have a good GPS signal?
That's the issue that I hate about anything satellite based.
In Alabama, (Yes we Are backwards on Many things), my XMS radio loses signal whenever we have stormy weather, (Also going behind Tall trees in ANY weather)...

George

I would assume it would drop out in tunnels, It would make sense it would not work in places your satellite radio or GPS map would not work.

Nice. This is something I'd be considering when my angle drive eventually fails. There's also a similar device that receives the GPS signal from your phone via bluetooth. By the way, you said you tapped into the 12V outlet for a 'switched on' and ground. But isn't that particular circuit 'always on', in the sense that it has power even when the car is off?

You are probably correct. I lose track of the stock schematics sometimes as I have heavily modified my electrical system. Either way, there are lots of 12v switched sources in the console area, behind the stereo. This unit draws very little power so it can be tapped into most any existing circuit.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Some GPS systems use an accelerometer to keep the speed shown working when the GPS signal drops out.

[Michael]

I must be damn lucky. My angle drive went bad on the first day of ownership on my 900 mile drive home. I replaced it, never once oiled it and it still does just fine. That was 9 years and about 20k miles ago.

[Drive Stainless]

If I didn't know better, I would think that this mod meant you actually cared how fast you were going in that ~400HP monster.

You should probably find a way to shut down the circuit once you've exceeded the speedometer max (85 MPH). That way, the unit will only be operating for 6 or 7 seconds each time you come to a stop. Maybe Bitsyncmaster can help you with that.

[nkemp]

The 3 rotor DeLorean conversion used a speed sensor that replaced the angle drive. But as I recall, it came off a non-US Mazda car (JCCosmo ???). So, theoretically, we could find a sensor, or mod something, that used the angle drive location for an electronic speed sensor.

[FABombjoy]

Porsche 930 VSS rings work well. This is on my own car using a 55505 gear tooth sensor and some aluminum bar stock for a bracket. Currently it only feeds Megasquirt but could also drive a speedo motor and/or cruise control unit.

[nkemp]

Porsche 930 VSS rings work well.

That is such a clean and professional looking install. I like that!

Anything special about the sensor?