S2000 Cluster retrofit

So any of you who already know me from v6p probably know of my s2k project... but for those who dont any way want to tackle the project themselves.. I'm going to spill the info i gathered and developed since I started this project back in september 08.

The s2000 cluster is a fully digital display with no moving needles. the cluster is comprised of a backlit panel with a LCD in front of it, that turns "off" to display numbers... therefore the LCD itself acts as a window to the panel behind it.. and you can change the color of the display to whatever you'd like by changing the color of that panel. here are pictures of the stock cluster i received (this is a ap1 cluster- 2000 - 2003 models)

now... the 7th gen accord is a smart car.. too smart for the s2k cluster. the s2k cluster has a dedicated wire for each of the signals (door, turn, trunk, high beam, etc). the 7th gen accord however receives most of its data through can buses.. meaning the data is computerized and sent to the cluster through 2 or 3 wires, then decoded within the cluster. this means that to connect each wire in the s2k cluster... i would have to hunt around the car for those wires, instead of being able to connect them to the accord's cluster harness.

furthermore, the accord is smart enough to know when an *accord cluster* is plugged into it. when no cluster is detected, the car throws a CEL. therefore, I bought an accord cluster as well... and stripped it to its bare bones of a circuit board.. and wired LEDs to that board to be fed into the S2k.. this is what I came up with (first revision.. these wires were later replaced with thinner wires)

new wiring with connectors:

therefore.. the accord circuit board will sit behind the s2k cluster plugged into the car to keep the car happy... and the indicator lights will be driven by the accord board. in this setup.. the s2k mostly acts as a new faceplate.

next i changed the color of the backlit panel from orange to this..

it is essentially white... and in the tachometer... there is a red bar that increases as the RPMs sweep all the way to redline

next.. i had to deal with MPH, RPM, ECT, and Fuel signals. since the s2k uses different sensors and is a 4cyl (i'm working with a v6)... the signals in my accord are different and needed modifying.

using PIC microprocessors and some basic circuits i developed a converter box to read RPM, MPH, and ECT from the accord and convert it to the signals needed for the s2k to operate. the code for these signals was based on the code developed by members at clubintegra.net... some test videos:

indicator lights only test:

ECT and Speedo:

another vid

finally for fuel... there was no easy way to modify the fuel signal... so i picked up a s2k fuel meter and glued it to the accord's stock meter, which was then placed in the gas tank. the rod from the s2k's meter is attached to the accord meter.. so that they sweep the same distance and speed. the plug in the accord's gas tank luckily had one unused slot through which i wired the connection from the s2k meter straight to the cluster

and that brings me to where i am now... fabbing the bezel to surround the cluster. I have 4 defi blackface gauges that will be installed around the cluster for Oil Temp, Oil Pressure, Fuel Pressure, and Boost/Vacum (I am N/A at this time with a 3.5L built by nva-av6). through heavy modification of the accord bezel and fiberglassing... I am integrating the 4 gauges. I also have a AEM AFR gauge that i took apart and removed the numerical display.. which was placed directly in the corner of the bezel. the odometer display from the accord cluster is also installed on top of the bezel:
progression:

AFR display:

display button:

I am doing my best to have this completed in full by the end of june

enjoy! - Kai

EDIT- well after reading through my initial post it looks as if i took way too much credit for the developments made on this project.
MANY MANY MANY countless thanks to Paul (NVA-AV6) for the electronics help, Koneri and Othello of Clubintegra.net for their research and development of the signal conversions (they have a good thread over there detailing the research process as well), Marc Lamond's website outlining some of the details of the retrofit process, and last but not least Brian (Nexson on V6P) for his fiberglassing advice

UPDATE July 8, 2009
well, it's all come to this..

receiving coats of primer:

paint

INSTALLED!

Openning sequence when the car is started

random shots

thanks for following my progress!

now the project is 98% done. i had embedded a bracket in the bezel for two screws to hold it in place in the car but forgot to drill out the holes. also one of the backlight LEDs in the cluster died so i have another en route. ALso, i will probably repaint the bezel since i realized in broad daylight the color doesnt totally mesh with the car's interior.

there are imperfections in the bezel that became much more apparent after painting... but i've exhausted the amount of time i allotted for this project and am pretty happy with how it came out. maybe at some point in the future ill rip it out and do some more bondo-ing to improve it. you can especially see some of the imperfections in the pictures above with the flash... but they arent as noticeable otherwise.

VIDEO TIME!

i turned the key on and then off... you can see the openning "ceremony" as Defi calls it... and then the closing "ceremony"