Need some project ideas

[wannaBinventor]

Hey all,

I use to be fairly active on this forum and pretty engaged with electronics but I haven't worked on anything in the last 15 months or so due to a long activation with the military.

I've settled back in and I'm looking for some projects to get me back into things.

I also purchased an old classic car that I'd like to integrate into my projects. I don't want to do any modification of the car, but I'd be interested to see what kind of projects others have done in terms of sensors and data collection.

I'm open to any ideas.

I work with PIC16Fs and PIC18Fs and I can work with most any sensor.

Thanks!

 

[aljamri]

I guess, with a Classic car you will have problem with spare parts, so why don't you do some replacement. Start with using LED lamp instead of the existing one.

 

[cowboybob]

What is the classic you bought?

I've restored a 74' vette w/ a few engine (350ci) mods.

BTW, Thanks for the service. Did 7 in the Nav.

 

[wannaBinventor]

Thx for the replies, and likewise on your service. I actually bought a 76 corvette. I've wanted one for ten years now. What all did you doto it. Where did u find the best deals on parts.

 

[umarfarouk]

please help mi!!!

I have this 16f84 i want to program as a master switch to an office.d pic wil control wen to on d electrical components,its also connected to a light sensor and a temperature sensor so as to know when to on d lamps and wen to on d air condition.please help mi out asap,i need d circuit diagram and d codes.am just in a mess.thank you so much

 

[cowboybob]

Just short of a "frame-off".

Replaced the (not original) engine with a long block crate engine, new intake manifold, carb (4bbl), ignition (HEI), steering box, power steering, ALL brake calipers, master cylinder, gutted the cabin and replaced everything (kept as much of the original dash, instruments and seat components as possible), re-sealed the Muncie M21, lotta body work (both doors), new gas tank, more body work, new paint and so on. It was a basket case.

I used Ekler's, Virginia Vettes, Doctor Rebuild, Advance Auto, Jamison's Custom Corvette (local) and Ebay.

Also did some minor (audio amp type circuits) enhancements to the original radio (AM only).

 

[wannaBinventor]

Wow Bob. That is a TON of work. I'm sure it is a beautiful car.

So far I've only replaced the rag joint (steering coupler), front sway bar bushings, spark plugs, and I just took off the steering interlock cable because it was binding and popping the tranny out of park.

Literally on the way home from buying it, I had a front right blowout/tread separation and it busted up the fender. Luckily, insurance is going to cover it and I'm going to see about additional work being done while it is there.

Mine is an L48. Which engine did you have? In your opinion, what wakes up these stock engines the most? I'm not looking to make it a speed demon, but it's a dog right now.

 

[strantor]

Back when I was in the Navy and had a fast car, I always wanted to make an in-car dyno / 1/4 mile timer. Sort of a data acquisition module, maybe in-dash. Pick up a speed signal pulse, fuel flow signal, RPM, etc. and plot it on a graph, or at least save and export to a laptop to plot on a graph.

 

[wannaBinventor]

Back when I was in the Navy and had a fast car, I always wanted to make an in-car dyno / 1/4 mile timer. Sort of a data acquisition module, maybe in-dash. Pick up a speed signal pulse, fuel flow signal, RPM, etc. and plot it on a graph, or at least save and export to a laptop to plot on a graph.

The speedometer isn't working. I could fix it, but I thought about putting a magnet on some rotating piece like a wheel and setting up a magnetic pickup and making it a speedometer on an LCD. I wouldn't mount it anywhere, but I think it might be an interesting project. I also thought about incorporating gyros to measure body roll and some accelerometers to measure G's.

 

[strantor]

I assume it has a mechanical speedo cable? does the cable still spin? That would be the best place to pick up a speed signal IMO if it is, because everything else is moving around.

EXCEPT, if you were to do a dyno basing the HP on acceleration for a given weight, your numbers would be wrong any time the rear wheels lost traction. You would need a pulse coming off the front wheels to know how fast the car is actually moving.

accelerometers could also do the job but I've never used one and I assume it would be a lot harder to figure out and probably would not be as accurate (conjecture).

 

[cowboybob]

Mine is an L48. Which engine did you have? In your opinion, what wakes up these stock engines the most? I'm not looking to make it a speed demon, but it's a dog right now.

Mine's a reman (from Advance) 4 bolt main 350 with 11.5 to 1 compression ratio (not strictly 74' spec). Since a wanted a "normally aspirated" (i.e., carb) similar to the '69 I had in the Nav (except it was a 427), I got a Rochester Quadrajet knock-off (Edelbrock 650CFM with vacuum actuated secondaries) and the HEI spark system. Mileage, needless to say, is awful but I don't care.

I've got no idea the HP/Torque it's developing, but it is considerable. I can pull away, from a dead stop (feathering the clutch) very strongly in 4th gear.

As for the broken speedo, might want to check the pick-up gear in the tranny.

You might also want to google "C3 Corvette Forums" to see what others have done with digitizing or otherwise electronically enhancing or updating their machines, and then coming back to ETO for the "how to" for those projects. Sadly, the forums I joined while restoring the vette are now defunct.

69' on left, 74' on right.

View attachment 66251 View attachment 66252

 

[wannaBinventor]

Bob,

Both of them look great. I bet ya wish that 69 was still around the garage. I'm surprised Advance sold an engine with 11.5/1 compression. You ought to just take it to a test and tune night at your local track and take in o n a couple of runs just to say you did and get an idea of the times it could run

I love how on the shifter plate of my 76 it says "Engine: 350, Compression: 8.5/1." I'm not quite sure why 8.5/1 in an N/A engine was suppose to be exciting.

As it just so happens, I had my souped up truck for sale or trade on craigslist, and I had a guy shoot me a picture of a 79 vette with a carb'd LS1 married to a Turbo 350. He said he has a 700r4 he is building to hook up to it that he would throw at me if we made the trade. The only issue is that its a hideous color scheme (yellow and black exterior on RED interior). Strangely enough, my wife is on board and I may own a second corvette tomorrow. One of them wouldl have to go though so I'll play with both for a while and decide which one to part with.

Strantor:
Good call on the front wheels being the measuring point. I'm going to have to check the cable and see if it spins. As Bob mentioned, it's probably the speedo drive gear because the previous owner mentioned he had put a new speedo in with no effect. Shouldn't be hard to fix though.

I'd also be interested in fashioning up temp sensors for the engine, tranny, and differential with alarms for out of range measurements. Fuel flow measurement would be nice, but I'm sure sure what sensor out there would do the job.