Ok, I want to mount my trans temp gauge somewhere where it will be out of the way, and still easy to see. Along with a few other gauges. My girlfriend is freaking brilliant and suggested making a HUD.. I searched around but I can only find people talking about ones that display speed and RPM.. Is there another one out there that I am not aware of?


My second idea is a ghetto HUD. Cut a hole in the dash pad, mount a bunch of digital LED gauges down there, facing a mirror, that would then reflect the light off the windsheld, to my sexy eyes.

Any ideas? Yay? Nay? Horray?

 

bumpity bump bump look at Ryan go....

 

Last I ever heard HUD's being mentioned is when used in a helo or fixed wing aircraft

 

It would be easy to make a mess out of. Doing it well would probably be difficult and expensive.

 

it would be awesome to have! i drove a 03 (i think) vette Z06 the other day...it had a HUD...it was awesome!

 

This might give you some ideas.....?

http://hud.cz28.com/

 

I say Hooray. I'm designing my own digital gauges at the moment and i'm really considering doing HUD also.

 

I'd love to see pics when ya done with it all.

Right now I can't stop thinking about how a dirty inside window would affect the HUD

 

Ahh, thanks for the replies, guys. Well I have heard that most digital gauges aren't the best thing arround, so I just ordered an Autometer analog trans temp gauge for now. I think I will hold out for a multifunction display that just uses an LED display that I can reverse engineer to display backwards. My dashpad is cracked so I have no problem cutting it up to test, once I get a new one...

 

If your gauges are electrical but use the analog dial then they are no different than the digital gauges. They are just different in the final display. Digital is more accurate. If you dont look at an analog display head-on you can get a wrong reading. Like looking from the side view. Plus, companies can make a digital display accurate to .1 degrees, i dont know if they do though.

 

Yeah, that's what I thought. But I couldnt find any electrical digital ones in the store anyhow. But still, I want one that will project more than just one thing...

iirc HUD windshields are also coated with something to help them reflect better, so I need to figure out what that is and where I can get it. The alternative is crappy one-way tint.

 

Yes, the inside of the windshield is coated, without it the image looks dim and indistinct.

A HUD doesn't just reflect reflect the display off the windshield. The digits in the display are actually fairly small, and the projector uses curved mirrors to project a larger virtual image out over the front bumper.

 

Yes, the figures are usually focused at infinity; you can see them no matter what you're looking at through them.

Mark.

 

That's what I thought, but in the Bonneville SSEi I was driving, they definately weren't.

 

LOL, sorry, Military HUDs are focussed at infinity

 

I know they are. But dont they also only project into one eye..?

 

No, they're projected onto a screen. You're thinking of the IHADSS or something.

 

The HUD was used on Cobras(AH-1), among other aircraft. It used two plates of glass. The top plate was the actual focal point, at least of the pilots eye, because he looked thru it and aligned it with the targets. I didnt deal with them much. The Helmet mounted displays for the Apaches(AH-64) used a smaller version. It focused on the small lense that sat inches from the pilots right eye. Cool system, but expensive as crap. Much more sophisticated and easier to work on. They were all green light. I believe the biggest problem would be the reflection on the windsheild. You would have to get a HUD from a donor car and try it out to see if the windsheild angle would be compatable. Also understand you have to wire it to dim at night (considerably) and cut the dash so it sits in it. And what about the defroster and A/C vents? You might be able to build your own if your good, But you would have to build it in a mirror image, etc... I think its cool, but not worth the trouble,JMO.

 

Actually, I was thinking of just putting the display from teh gauge IN the defrost vent, and then making a plastic blockoff plate. Screw symmetery, that doesnt matter to me.. Another issue is the ammount of room under the dash pad if you cut stuff..

 

Correction, digital is more precise, analog is more accurate.

Anyway, LPE used to sell an aftermarket HUD kit that would let you display a multitude of things. May be worth checking out.

 

http://www.dupont.com/safetyglass/lgn/stories/1004.html

"New heads-up display technology uses DuPont™ Butacite® Wedged PVB"

"Delphi Delco Electronic Systems of Kokomo, Indiana (USA) is the world's leading supplier of automotive Heads-Up Display (HUD) units which depend on a wedge-shaped PVB interlayer in the car's windscreen for optimal visibility."

 

News video of a HUD in a Cadillac: http://reviews.cnet.com/Heads_up_dis...7-6214355.html

 

I have been screwing around with hud stuff as well.

I have an 01 Zo6 I installed a hud (factory) into, since it was not avalable that year. the windsheild does not have a coating, and guess what, it works perfect.

I picked up a few used huds from ebay for my 90 vette. I played with it a little. It looks like if you just get a hud unit, it will display it correctly.

Your digital display needs to be mirrored already though. the Z06 factoy unit is mirrored at the florecent display. then it is shot at a mirror, then to a front mirror that is slightly bent. this mirror moves on a pivot and allows you to adjust where the hud is vertically on the windsheild.

it also appears to maybe magnify the digital image.

basically it works like this.
image is backwards
hit's mirror = forwards
hits curved mirror = backwards
hits wiendshield = forwards.

Now defi makes some hud stuff that reflects off the windshield, the image is in the windsheild (such as the tint method) the hud puts the image out in teh front of the car. I have tried this on my C4 window and it appears to work. there was not a ghost image. but I have not got down to really getting it in the dash area. I put led's in the display window and shoved it up on my dash.

I am going to use the defi speed unit for my speed. I have a led tach I want to build a tach with.
and I would like to have digital boost up there as well, and I am trying to figure that on out still

And if this does not work for you, another option is kenwood made a cheesey hud type thing that I got 3 of em off ebay. it is a digital display that shines into a clear plastic piece that has a slight mirrored finish on it. it is a nice alternative to having a piece of tint on the windsheild. this piece can be looked through, and it will also reflect the image on it, with out ghost images.

 

I don’t know if it will help you much, but you may want to look at some of the late 90’s and up Lincoln dashes, even the likes of the lowly continental (basically a Taurus) used a projector/mirrors to show the gauges in the dash instead of using normal gauges. Unless there is practically a bolt in setup (like the vette) for your application, these Lincoln bits and pieces should be way more common in the JY and much cheaper to find/get

 

I was looking into this a few months back, when I bought my GTA, and had almost bought a Granf Prix, that had HUD.

Yes, there is a special film in between two sheets of windshield glass.

I found one guy who had made his own HUD, but it was practically invisible in the daytime.

I may look into it in the future, dunno. Can't afford to fab anything right now. Much less have the knowledge to fab something!

 

what did this guy use for a display?
did he use a hud, or reflect stuff off the windshield.
can you give some details.

 

I looked through my bookmarks, but couldn't find the link. I know it's out there, some where. I'll search.

HUD uses a reflective strip of sort. I know it was some sort of LED display, with reverse lettering.

 

HUD Pictures

this thing?