PV Adding instruments under dash

[adarvasi]

Originally Posted by arcturus

My PV had gauges fitted under the dash on the entry side,left of steering wheel. Kept banging my knee on them so I removed them. As an after thought, PVs may not have a high value now but as the years roll on they seem to be coming more sought after. An original one can fetch more money so keep all the original parts so that you can renew them if necessary. Try not to cut any holes in the dash.One similar to mine in reasonable nick here in Portugal will fetch about €15.000 Original like mine with papers
will fetch €17,000.

Thank you for the info Arcturus, my car is all original and whatever I am doing to improve its present shape (some body work, changing all of the underframe bushings, steering bars and terminals, etc.) will be done with original parts

[Army]

What follows is nothing much more than second guessing - only time will tell if my guesses are correct.

I think the value of common / ordinary fossil fuelled classic cars is probably about as high as they will get. I think the thing that is going to scupper the classic car market (for a while) is the availability of fossil fuels. I don't think "we" are likely to run out of oil as has been predicted for the last 40+ years before legislation will stop its use.

The Dutch government has just been taken to court for not making sufficient improvements in reduction of country wide CO2 output. I reckon other governments / countries will also be forced to make CO2 / pollution busting moves.

The Dutch government have already made it clear that by 2030 they want all new vehicles to be electric (whether the technology is ready for it or not). They are planning to encourage the use of electric vehicles via taxation. They have done this before for diesel engined vehicles - I expect they will do the same for petrol soon. They will undoubtedly do their best to price fossil fuelled cars off the road (making a sly buck on the side I expect).

I expect many classic cars will be converted to electric - several options are already out there - but they're not cheap (yet). I suspect / predict classic cars that are not converted to electric will be worth a lot less in the long term future.

At present I think batteries are too heavy and bulky for a small car like a PV - still at least there is more space than a MG (!) The only way forward I fear is to comply and adapt - just a question of when...

...a serious modification could very well be in many classic vehicles futures

[simonvolvo]

Originally Posted by adarvasi

I feel much more confident in having mechanical gauges for battery charge...

A gauge for “battery charge” would be completely pointless - unless you like the bling.

If the AMP light comes on when you turn on the ignition, you will know that the battery has voltage. But that is not the same as “battery charge”.

If you then try to start the engine and the battery is obviously flat (you don’t need a gauge to tell you that), you will know that there is insufficient “charge” in the battery. But by then it is too late anyway.

No “under the dash” gauge is going to give you any better indication. It certainly isn’t going to forewarn you. So why have one?

[canis]

Originally Posted by simonvolvo

So why have one?

I also feel more confident with a ammeter, even though all my cars have been alternater charged and neg earth. It does come in useful. The rate of charge can be seen, which gives a clue to the health of the battery. It's come in handy in other ways, for example when charging the battery of another car through jump leads - I could tell when my freind had connected the leads correctly because I saw it on the gauge. Also, once started, the rate at which the needle drops back to zero gives an indication of how much effort it took to start the engine. Though I will accept you can live without all this, but a P4 surely has a dynamo rather than an alternator (correct me if wrong) and for that an ammeter is vital.

I'd also put one in for split-charge too, so I can see how much is being passed into the trailer battery, but perhaps only because I've already got one. I've never actually done this yet, but it's an idea in the back of my mind.

Oil pressure is vital too, I think, and I'll be fitting one very soon to the new T4.

There aren't enough gauges in cars, and it annoys me.

And that's before we consider the bling. :-)

[adarvasi]

simonvolvo,

Perhaps I express myself wrong, what I need is an amp meter that will tell me if the generator is charging or not, you are right, when the battery is dead I do not need a gauge, however, when the generator is not charging, I can save myself some trouble by knowing ahead of time and avoiding to have a dead battery.

[adarvasi]

Canis

Originally Posted by canis

I also feel more confident with a ammeter,...

100% with you in everything you said. I am a pilot (private) and used to gauges, lights don't say much.

Andres

[Ron Kwas]

Andres;

I also much prefer an Ampmeter to a Voltmeter...the Ampmeter giving much better and more usable info compared to the Voltmeter...long explanation here: http://www.sw-em.com/elecramb.htm

Cheers

[adarvasi]

Thank you Ron, excellent paper
Andres