Ive been doing a little research this morning and have a few questions that require expertise outside of my own.

I'm currently doing a restomod on a 1984 ford f-250 ext. cab.

I'm down to wiring and interior. I have all the components for a huge stereo. I need guages.

I looked at dakota digital and autometer nexus guage systems. I didnt like the dakota digital ones.

I have also been toying with the idea of putting a "carputer" in the truck and its looking like a better and better idea.

So in the interest of saving money i was thinking i could just use the computer as a guage display. Only problem is i can't find anything that will do that unless you have obd ii. Which i do not. I have all custom ignition and fuel on a very large blow through carb. (set up for twin turbo's)

So does anyone know if anyone makes a module that will take regular old senders, plug into them, then plug into a computer via usb or some other interface?

I already have programmable igniton which having the on board computer means i could make timing adjustments on the fly. And the audiophile in me wants te in car computer because the sound processing capabilities seem almost limitless.

Any opinions?

 

You are on the cutting edge.... I haven't HEARD of any commercial programs that will help you..... Experiment....let us know how you do!

 

I have, but I can't come up with the names tonight. Check with B&B electronics, they will have the hardware, but the software will be a little more difficult. I want to say that L&M electronics (they do a lot of nice lambda wide band o2 and other data logging stuff) will have what you want. L&M's data logging may be just what you need to collect the data, but the display may not be what you're looking for.

 

The Labjack U12 USB interface can read analog signals, but it would be best to add some signal conditioning and protection. If you're interested, I've got a few bare-bones (board, no case or terminal blocks) left over from a failed project.

Resistive senders could probably be read using an analog joystick port.

Consider using a serial, USB, or parallel-port alphanumeric LCD (or LED or VFD) display. They're dirt cheap (for common or used LCD types), and easy to interface to the parallel port. They come in various numbers of lines and characters. Or if you don't mind spending money, Matrix Orbital has them ready to go with a serial (and probably USB) interface adapter. Or, there's plans for building your own serial or USB adapters. Another bonus is that cops are unlikely to bust you for having a TV or computer screen within view of the driver, and thieves aren't likely to want it.

There's all kinds of support for displaying stuff on them: date, time, drive space, Winamp. And, there's a program called Girder that mediates between strange input devices and programs. It's lately become a pay program, but a little searching will turn up the last free version. Girder should be able to read from various analog input devices.

An option for small graphic displays might be the LCDs out of old Nokia cellphones. http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/noklcd.html

 

check out the fusion brain, multiple analog inputs and digital outputs....was thinking of doing the same thing. They have a great following on mp3car.com.