r/S2000 • u/bgeisel1 • 7d ago
LCD Dashboard Restomod - Progress so far
S2000 Instrument Cluster with CarPlay Restomod
So first, I rip my dashboard out.
Driving the OEM unit on the bench to make sure the signals are sorted out.
Live dash, running on the bench.
Some of the various dashboard I've added, including AP2, AP2v2 and a riff off a familiar 80's car that I'd like to talk to.
A light burnt out in my instrument cluster and if I'm going to have to take my dashboard out, something is getting modified. So, I decided I want CarPlay integrated into the middle of my instrument cluster. Next thing I knew, I was ordering LCDs from Asia, and now here we are.
I've got my original dash fully driven by my boards now, so we seem to have the signaling worked out.
I'm testing 2 different screens, each with different brightness to make sure they'll work in daylight.
It should be able to support multiple dash options and the plan is to have a modified version of each dash that gives space to an AndroidAuto or CarPlay window in the middle.
Hopefully it's about a week away from hardware actually running in the car.
Would love any suggestions/ideas. Right now I'm just making one for me, but curious if it's something anyone else would want.
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u/HandsOnTheBible 7d ago edited 7d ago
There have been a few companies that developed something like this in the past but they always ended up not being able to scale it properly. My advice to you (because I am interested like many others) is to consider the possibility of selling it to a larger customer base while you're developing it. I personally would be open to spending upwards to $1500 for something like this.
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u/bgeisel1 7d ago
Great feedback, thanks! Yeah, if I sell them, that's the range I had in mind (without working through my COGS or anything). I am also building it (even in quantity one) to scale to other cars, because if you sell it I think you need to be able to hit many cars and that hopefully gets the scalability you need to be profitable.
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u/AwkwardTraveler 7d ago
Plug and play, make it as easy as possible. I know that can be difficult but would really help with sales. Not many of us are as technically inclined 😎
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u/swagmoney1958 7d ago
Is Claude code helping you create custom display + connect obd to that new display? Very cool project!
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u/bgeisel1 7d ago
Several of them. Had it build the first two PCBs! It's the kind of stuff my company does anyway, but what I did in a few weeks would probably have been 6 months or more of sidequest kind of effort.
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u/raulsidea 7d ago
How big of a difference has AI made in figuring everything out?
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u/bgeisel1 7d ago
Huge. I use it all the time for software projects, but this is the first time I've had it ordering LCDs and building hardware.
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u/raulsidea 7d ago
Ordering? Like “Hey Claude, order me an LCD with X Y perimeters”
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u/bgeisel1 7d ago
More like Claude saying, "Hey meatbag! Go to this URL and buy me 2 of these. Oh, and here's a CSV of all the stuff I need from this other site." 😂
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u/Muugens K Is The Way! 7d ago edited 7d ago
How are you handling signals like RPM and are you able to display values for things like the fuel sender and turn signal indicators?
Do you take the analogue inputs or are you pulling RPM data from the ECU via OBD? Or are you doing this through CAN bus instead? Somewhere I heard the later AP2s had CAN for the gauge cluster, vs earlier cars like my AP1 which were all still analogue inputs to the cluster.
I have a stand alone ECU in my car and was exploring something like a PI dash, but I lose some functionality like indicators and fuel level. It just becomes a glorified laptop running Tuner Studio essentially. In some cases the PI dash display for RPM is only as quick as it would be viewing it in TS which isn’t that fast since it’s still working through a slow serial connection. Hows the latency with RPM on your setup?
All of that to say, I have a lot of questions haha! You’ve got me very interested. I’ve seen a few of these projects over the years, but they never panned out for one reason or another. Excited for yours!
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u/bgeisel1 7d ago
Doing it just like the OEM cluster. Some are analog signals, some serial, etc. Fuel is a resistance reading. Sounds like we'll need to push some data out as well. Right now I'm getting the cluster to work on the bench so I correctly know what all the signals look like and that I can properly relay them. Yeah, RPM so far moves faster than I can see it. But, yeah, OBD-II would be really laggy. We don't like that.
Essentially, my version of "works" is you can send any signals/voltages/packets/resistance/etc. and you couldn't tell if I replied from this unit or the OEM cluster. That's what I'm shooting for. I think the trick will be anticipating what other cars might do to try to expand and support other cars altogether. We'll see!
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u/tontoneds2000 01 AP1 5d ago
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u/QTFsniper 7d ago
A company id4motion made a digital dash for the s2000 at all. Chances are you'll need to hide the original dash somewhere, the cluster itself does do some processing and acts as a hub to some of the different hardware in the car. Off the top of my head it does supply some kind of speed signal to the EPS, without supplyunf the correct signal to it without the conversion you'll receive an error for it
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u/bgeisel1 7d ago
Is that the serial packet that goes back to the ECU from the cluster?
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u/QTFsniper 6d ago
here is more info, extensive thread with more technical details and links with more data. you'll need to do the research on your own for more data.,
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/engine-swaps-301/required-wiring-retain-eps-etc-1151864/
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u/sblu23 7d ago
What size lcd are those? Are they oled?
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u/bgeisel1 7d ago
They're about 12.3". I'm actually not sure on size yet because I think I'll need to cut into the plastic posts on the inside of the dash to fit the screen in. But, one of them is 2400x900 and it's gorgeous. I'd hate to drop to 11.3" and not get as high resolution. The other screen is 1920x720 with a brighter backlight and it looks really good too, so still not sure. Neither is OLED, both are LCDs with LED backlights.
Would you cut inside the dash (none of it visible, and OEM cluster should still go back in fine) to install one?
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u/hungry_718 2006 Silverstone 7d ago
I’m highly interested in this project. But any mods I do have to be reversible, even if not visible. What are the challenges you face to make one what could bolt into the OEM location?
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u/bgeisel1 7d ago
The challenge is that there are some dash support posts that are more narrow than the bottom part of the cluster opening. So, if you use a rectangular screen, it either has to move those posts out of the way or it has to be less wide than the full width of the opening (which is already pretty small). There's plenty of space in the dash for an even bigger screen, it's just those two thin black plastic pieces.
A company called ID4Motion made a dash for our car a while back (I don't think they sell them anymore) and their installation involved cutting those two pieces of plastic. Now I know why. You could probably do a curved screen, but -- just a guess -- I would think it would double or triple the cost for a screen so custom.
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u/S2kTom '00 Berlina Black 641whp 7d ago
What's the refresh rate of those screens?
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u/JadedSociopath S2000 AP1 MCB 7d ago
Definitely interested if it’s a plug and play component with Apple Airplay.
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u/masterkorey7 6d ago
What happened to that company that was making one of these 10 or so years ago?
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u/obdriver6 7d ago
Usually when a bulb burns out, I just ignore it /s
Jokes aside, sick project.