Since the weather here has been really crappy I was able to do a little more more on installing the LEDs into the Riviera digital IC......
I have completed the installation of the LED idiot lamps on the Riviera digital IC. Hopefully all the LEDs have been installed with the correct polarity? Also the Riviera digital IC has been re-assembled and ready for installation into my 86GT.
Photo of the LED idiot lamps installed:
Pretty much the same photo of the Riviera IC LED idiot lamps with enclosure:
The next couple photos are of the Riviera IC idiot light labels (my version, you will note a couple idiot light labels have been altered. Photo of the Riviera IC idiot light labels -left side:
Photo of the right side idiot light labels:
I am still waiting on the new thinner face plate. Until I have the new face plate in my hands it will delay the final installation!
Photo of the Riviera digital IC installed in the Fiero IC surround:
Since the dash has been installed into the GT the final installation of the Riviera digital IC & Fiero IC surround should not be too time consuming? All that will be required is the installation (placement) of the Fiero surround, installing 4 screw and plugging in the Riviera digital IC. Then hopefully I will be done????
Then on to the next and hopefully last project for the 86GT.
Super slick work man. If everything works out, is this something you'd be willing to consider doing as a service? I know it would be expensive just from a time investment, but some folks would be interested. Some people are still reaching out to the guy who made that crazy digital dash (not the one made by Tom, the AEX or something).
Not sure I would consider fabricating one for another individual? There are too many variables to consider; I.e. You would need the following; 1. a BCM from Chris Eddy, 2. a working Riviera digital IC 91-93 plus connector, 3. a spare Fiero instrument cluster surround, 4. what engine & what features, 5. the list goes on and on.
Expensive is an understatement, especially in time. The fabrication and testing alone is very time consuming. Also, be prepared to have your Fiero out of service for quiet some time.
The cross over wiring would have to be accomplished by the cars owner or a shop.
Weather here is still really crappy, raining cats & dogs! We have had rain for the entire week now! So a little more work on the Fiero Riviera digital IC conversion.
Did a little test fitting of the Riviera IC face cover plate. The one I am currently working with is too thick but I used it for test fitting. Hopefully, the shop will be cutting the new thinner (1/16th) face cover plate tomorrow ?? I will be making a trip over to hopefully encourage them to cut the face cover plate. It only takes about 30 seconds to cut once the Laser is set up.
A couple photos of the Fiero surround with Riviera digital IC and lower Fiero surround cover plate. Be forewarned, the photos are not that great, sorry.
Front view of the surround:
Side view of the surround:
Once I get the new face cover plate I will need to drill a couple mounting holes on the upper left & right corners of the cover face plate. These holes will be used to secure the IC face cover plate in place.
A little more progress today..................& a couple steps backward..........
Received the new thinner face plate:
New face plate with protective covering removed:
I ended up trimming the bottom corners of the Riviera digital IC for a better fitment of the Fiero IC bottom cover plate:
Ended up placing black tape on the back side of the IC face plate to cover the void areas. Makes a neater appearance of the face place.
Now to install the Riviera digital IC & Fiero surround. In doing so I noticed that I may need to cut a bit of steering column support bracket to gain about 1/4' additional clearance for the IC wiring??
I have shaved the top right side of the steering column bracket. I did this to give me an additional 1/4" of clearance for the Riviera digital IC wiring.
Steering column bracket right side photo - before shaving:
Steering column bracket right side photo - shaved:
Steering column bracket-right side shaved with wiring protector added:
I have attempted to install the Fiero surround with Riviera digital IC installed into the GT. It was a not go!!! The Riviera digital IC did not fire up. I am hoping that I have not shorted it out when I plugged it into the car. The first attempt the connector (rear IC plug) was mis-aligned. it is very difficult to insert the rear connector with everything in place. I may have to come up with a better method of installing the rear connector. So now I am in the process of checking out the IC on the bench.
I am soo close, but no nickels today. I may go ahead and post a photo of what the arrangement looks like installed?
Hoping for the best, also looking for a replacement Riviera digital IC.
Pretty sure that something went wrong when the connector was mis-aligned when I powered the unit up. When testing the old IC unit, the only thing that lite up were the idiot lamps when the "TEST" button was pressed.
I have not yet torn the old IC apart to see if I can locate the problem! I am now reconsidering about relocating the rear IC connector for ease of connection and hopefully prevent the misalignment issues.
The replacement Riviera digital IC arrived this afternoon. I have already tested it to ensure the unit was not DOA (dead on arrival). All appears to be good. Now for getting the replacement unit ready for installation into the GT.
I have decided that rather than take a chance of getting the connector alignment correct I will be redoing the rear connector wiring and relocating it. Something I should have done in the first place rather than take a short cut. The short cut would have been great if it were not for the proper alignment issues of the rear connector. I already have one side of the connector made up (wired). Now I will need to wire the other side of the connector to the IC circuit board. A little more work but very doable.
Once I have completed wiring up the rear connector I will post results and photos.
A little more progress yesterday afternoon.........
I have completed the wiring for the Riviera digital IC rear connector extension. This method will eliminate the misalignment issues I have previously. The mating connector has guides/alignment pins to ensure proper mating connector alignment.
This photo is of the Riviera IC prepped for installation or mating to the Fiero IC surround.
I have since installed the unit into my GT. It took about four attempts until I cleared all the issues. One main issue was the fact the rear housing of the Riviera IC was interfering with the placement of the Fiero IC rear cover. In order for the Riviera IC housing to clear I had to remove some of the house at the outer corners. Photos to follow of what that looks like. The removal of material does not compromise the Riviera IC rear housing.
We are on the home stretch with this project..... Hopefully I will be able to do some additional work today if life doesn't get in the way.
Okay boys and girls........... this project has come to a close (completed)
As I had mentioned I have installed the Riviera digital IC/Fiero IC surround into the GT. It has been tested and all seems to function as intended. I must say I for one am happy the project has come to an end. I for more or less worked on installing a Riviera digital IC into a Fiero for over 10 years. Yes, you heard me correctly, 10 longs years. At one point I had the Riviera IC installed but hooked up to all the necessary Riviera components for the IC to function. BCM, A/C controller, etc. Way more wiring involved than the current setup. I eventually pulled all that out and moved on. Then Chris Eddy comes along, that sparks interest again in installing a Riviera digital IC into a Fiero. If it were not for his efforts this project would have never happened. The rest is history. A big shout for Chris.........
The next two photos is what the Riviera digital IC installed looks like:
Photo of the Riviera digital IC illuminated:
A couple, three clean up items remain. I have removed the Fiero dash again, it appears that I forgot to hookup my GPS antenna. All the wiring and antenna are currently under the dash. I will need to reset the odometer to what the Fiero IC odometer illustrated when removed.
Once I get the GT on the road I will do a video of the Riviera digital IC in operation.
Now I can move on to the next upgrade for my 86GT, a 2010 Chevy 3.5l transplant with a 4T64E.
Once I have a little run time on the new instrument cluster I plan on posting "Look back comments".
All take care and please stay safe...
Mike (aka Cajun)
[This message has been edited by Cajun (edited 06-25-2021).]
Congratulations man! And it's awesome you stuck with it. Even though there was a break in the development, you got the bugs worked out, stayed focused on what you wanted, and got it!! Focus and determination can go a long way!!
The dash is back in the GT. The re-install went a whole lot better than the last time after taking the time to clean up some of the wiring mess.
I was just thinking of something after looking at this photo, most Fiero's out there will not have as much wiring under the dash as mine! Over the years I have installed a 2002 Firebird BCM and a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix digital HVAC controller & head to my GT. There were a lot of wiring additions to make that happen. What I am saying is for most cars the Riviera digital IC install would be a lot easier and less cluttered wiring wise.
Here is a photo of the rear corners shaved on the Riviera digital IC. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. I should have taken a photo before re-installing the IC into the Fiero surround. The corners were shaved in order to clear the Fiero rear top cover plate. As you can see very little of the corner material was removed.
Before I can get the GT on the road and video the Riviera IC operation I will need to complete some center console repairs. I figured since I have it torn apart I just as soon as do the repairs now. Just need to add some PlastiAid to build up a section of the center console skeleton where some of the mounting screw bosses are cracked or broken.
I have completed re-installing the dash in the 86GT and accessories. Now that all bits and pieces are assembled as one unit it's time to re-do all the electrical testing to ensure that all is good?
Photo of the dash - driver side:
Another photo of the dash - passenger side perspective:
Once I figure out how to video the Riviera digital IC operation I will do so. The videoing part is not the issue, it's the placement of the camera in the cockpit while driving?
I already know of one electrical issue from a quick test run. When I operate the park or headlights the instrument or interior lights goes dark (off). Not sure what's the issue at the moment. I am in the process of reviewing all the associated drawings and wiring diagrams. It has to do with the Illumination circuit. Now real sure if I screwed the wiring some how?? Not a big issue at the moment but would become one real soon when one will be driving after dark!
Oh, the interior lighting is the only issue I have come across thus far. I have taken the Riviera digital IC through it's paces, so far so good.
Okay, as promised a video of the Riviera digital IC in a Fiero in operation. Please give me a little slack as this my first video post on YouTube and my first posting of a video on the internet period. Once I get the technique down I will post several other videos of the Riviera IC in operation with as many function displays as possible that does not require too much effort. I will attempt to illuminate as many idiot lights as possible in the upcoming videos.
So, when are you going to start selling the conversion kit? Now that you have it all figured out, do a plug n play conversion that you can sell to the rest of us.
Yeap, it looks like the dash is coming out again and I hope for the last time. I am starting to run out of time getting the GT ready to made it's annual trip to Fierorama.
I thought that I could sort out the dimming issues without removing the dash but that is not the case. I can and did access the dimming pot. The wiring there appears to be correct. I cannot access the terminal block associated with the Riviera digital IC dimming circuit and the terminal block for the Fiero BCM. Again, to do that the dash has to come out.
I will post results once the dash has been removed and hopefully the issue has been resolved.
Ok, I have removed the dash from the GT for not sure how many times thus far as it relates to this project.
Another view of the dash removed:
The issue I am currently having is the operation of the dimming circuit. The dimming circuit input is provided by the Fiero dimming pot. The dimming pot is wired to the Fiero BCM pins #8 & #12. Pin #8 provides the input, while pin 12 provides the ground signal. All appears to be connected and functioning properly. I am getting 4.03vdc on the pin #8 wire as indicated by Chis.
On the Riviera IC dimming output: Riviera IC connector pins AF & BF I am getting basically no output. The voltage reading is 0.115vdc. Rotating the dimming pot has no affect on the dimming output.
I have contacted Chris Eddy via email for my results and any suggestions he may have on how to correct or how to proceed.
[This message has been edited by Cajun (edited 07-16-2021).]
I have sorted out the remainder of the electrical issues. Everything works to my satisfaction. I hopefully will be able to take the GT out tomorrow for a road test weather permitting. This time of year summer rain storms/down pours happen frequently and almost every afternoon.
Another item I had to sort out was my headlight motors. It appears that the fuse powering the motors blew. No matter, new fuse and tested running amps of the motors in action. All is now good.
I will be testing the AC system and charge up if necessary. Needed here! I will attempt to make another video of the Riviera IC (instrument cluster) in action on my next road trip.
I have made a short video of the Riviera digital IC dimming circuit in operation. Sorry for the quality of the video. I am new at this. I have not yet mastered holding the camera and working the knobs on the IC.
I tried making a video of me on the road. But, the quality was really poor. The black surface of the IC acts like a mirror. Too much light reflecting. I will attempt to do another video but a night. Perhaps that will work better.
Other than producing the next video this pretty much wraps up this project. Needless to say I am very pleased with the final product and forever grateful to Chris Eddy. Without his contribution this project would have never happened.
I actually watched my own YouTube video of my last post. In the video you may have noticed a couple of items regarding the functionality of the Riviera digital IC.
1. At the beginning of the video the engine is not running. The "Low" oil pressure light is illuminated. Once the engine is started that light goes out and the gauge is showing oil pressure. 2. Notice the voltage meter, the voltage indication is low. Once the engine is started the voltage increases. 3. At the beginning of the video the "Fasten Seatbelt" light is illuminated. Once the engine is started and I fasten the seatbelt the "Fasten Seatbelt" light goes out. 4. At the lower right of the IC is a amber light. That indicator light is the "Headlights Suggested" lamp. The GT was in the garage. Not enough light to toggle the idiot light.
I have been busy of late with honey-does, helping move my sister-in-law from Louisiana to Houston, and.... mainly getting the GT ready to make the trip to Illinois for Fierorama.
I still owe everyone a video of the Riviera IC in full operation in the GT.
I made a new addition to the "Fiero Body Control Module".. I had already left a serial port on the design with the intent of connecting the ECM to the BCM. You know what a hassle it is to find and borrow an OBDI reader. The protocol of bits and bytes was readily available on line. So on the bench, I connected them together and was able to capture the data stream (1987 2M4, so it operates at 8192bps). I wrote the code to divvy up the data into separate variables, and confirmed that the data goes into the right places. I have not yet connected it to my own car.. only Cajun has wired up the project into his car. And the next step was to connect a modern code reader to the BCM.. but it got sticky quick. The OBDII code reader is typically a variable pulse width protocol.. not an easy thing to jiffy together. A standard UART will not do. And then it dawned on me, one would have to make a custom profile to operate with the right code reader software so that it understands that you are showing it a Fiero.. And I decided that it was just too complex to do. I might punt, and back up to just outputing data to WinALDL or something like that. But that leads to a question. If you could wave a wand, and add any modern electronic features to your Fiero BCM, what would you wish for?
If we are talking no limits -- ABS would be kind of cool. Not sure if that would be the BCM or the ECU. Maybe TPMS? I know those sensors can go bad and can be a pain, but I once wrecked a wheel because when it went flat, it didn't do the usual "body roll" thing, so I didn't realize it was flat (low speed driving), until someone waved me down. :/
ABS.. now that is interesting. Can ABS be applied by electronics at each wheel, or do the signals have to be managed centrally as well? So to do ABS, one would have to switch to a hub with the sensor.. or (gulp) modify a hub with the sensor. TPMS.. I hate it so much on my SUV that I can't imagine.. plus when I looked into it, I could not find the tech details.. I don't think that they want us to know much about it.
So I thought it over.. an ABS system is pretty complex, having hub sensors as well as a control valve. The biggest issue here is, let's say it all gets figured out.. and 10 of us are using it. And something goes wrong. There are recall issues, and also liability. I hate to be a kill joy, but it would be very risky to deploy an ABS system. But keep the ideas coming! I am curious to see what amazing wishes show up!
I use an aftermarket TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitor System) in my truck when I tow vehicles. The pressure sensors are the valve stem caps. That works fine for me in order to ensure a tire is not flat on the towed vehicle.
So Cajun and I have the project working right, our last issue is the dash lamp dimming. Is there anyone out there that also wanted to pursue this project? I will make another PC board and program it.. Cajun is in charge of all of the mechanical dimensions for cutting and fabricating. I did make a wiring diagram as well.. and I will check with Cajun that it did not change. Let me know if you want to do the project..
So Cajun and I have the project working right, our last issue is the dash lamp dimming. Is there anyone out there that also wanted to pursue this project? I will make another PC board and program it.. Cajun is in charge of all of the mechanical dimensions for cutting and fabricating. I did make a wiring diagram as well.. and I will check with Cajun that it did not change. Let me know if you want to do the project..
I definitely would! How much would you charge for one? My family just bought an 88-GT. And the first two things were doing with it are adding a keyless entry/push to start system and finding some digital gauges.
But definitely, if you can made another BCM I'd definitely buy it off of you.
If I can't get the cluster I have to work, I'd be interested in this setup.
On the other question of "dream tech in Fieros" -- I thought of two today: 1. Adaptive cruise control. You know, where you set the 'max', and then it speeds up or slows down based on the activity of the car in front of you (not to exceed the set max) 2. Lane drift warning
If I can't get the cluster I have to work, I'd be interested in this setup.
On the other question of "dream tech in Fieros" -- I thought of two today: 1. Adaptive cruise control. You know, where you set the 'max', and then it speeds up or slows down based on the activity of the car in front of you (not to exceed the set max) 2. Lane drift warning
Ooof.. you set your sights up high. I did ask the question.. Which prompts my question, I wonder how they do that anyhow?
On the offer to make more of them, I will order 5 boards from China with as many of the parts on them as possible and add on the ones that I cannot get there. That is the least expensive way to do it. And the hard part right now is getting all of the parts, some are on 52 week lead time. I will start the process. When done, I will just charge what I paid, with the $8 for USPS.
Ooof.. you set your sights up high. I did ask the question.. Which prompts my question, I wonder how they do that anyhow?
On the offer to make more of them, I will order 5 boards from China with as many of the parts on them as possible and add on the ones that I cannot get there. That is the least expensive way to do it. And the hard part right now is getting all of the parts, some are on 52 week lead time. I will start the process. When done, I will just charge what I paid, with the $8 for USPS.
I'm sorry, I can't accept that. I'll have to pay a little more for your working on them. Also, a full year?!? That's insane, do they really take a year to send some simple hardware?!
This was a well thought out good install of a Riviera Digital dash. The job was nothing short of excellent. However, would changing from simple gauges to fully electronic ones decrease reliability?
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
