[DeTomaso] Electronic Speedometer Conversion Details- And Large Format Schematics

[Chris Difani]

Guys:

Sometime ago I converted from my original speedometer and tachometer to Autometer electronic instruments. I did this for a couple of reasons, one of which was the white face, and the other was the electronic instrument technology. One part of the speedo conversion is the pulse generator that replaces the speedo cable angle drive unit in the ZF. I obtained my pulse generator from Speedometer Services in Milwaukee, WI, courtesy of SOBills' database. 

So now you're really wondering why the heck I'm talking about this... 

Glad you asked. 

In my never ending quest for every technical toy that can be stuffed into a Pantera (that's what Mike Drew says I'm doing), I'm installing an electronic cruise control. And now we're getting to my point. 

An electronic cruise control requires a pulse generator that operates within a specific frequency range, or "pulses per mile" range. For those of you who have changed to the electronic Autometer speedometer, the ZF pulse adapter generates approximately 25,600 pulses per mile. For instance, the Dakota Digital electronic cruise control works with any pulse generator that pulses between 2,000 and 40,000 per mile. 

Okay, that's my first gem of information. 


Now for a totally unrelated piece of information. 

I'm in the depths of wiring my '73 L. To help me I've gathered up every piece of information on wiring our cars that I could find. Some of this information came from POCA, and consists of a PDF file that has the complete schematics and diagrams in it. 

For all of you who have this same information, I'm sure you have noticed that the lines representing the wires, are very, very close together. So close that it's darn hard to trace them. So hard that after a short time you can get a nasty headache... and also end up stuffing the wrong wire into the wrong place. 

Having had this happen to me, I decided that one solution was to enlarge the schematic. I mean big. 3 feet by 4 feet big. I found that my local Staples Business Center was able to print me out the schematics for less than ten dollars in 3 feet by 4 feet. In fact I got so excited by this that I also had mine laminated. They laminate at the cost of two dollars per square foot. The big schematic is 12 sq ft, and ended up costing me $28 total. $4 for the original print, then $24 for the lamination. And now I can draw on it with magic markers, and actually SEE what I'm looking at.

One word of caution, Staples requires these large format files to be in the JPG format. What I did is make the conversion on my home PC, copy the JPG file to a "thumb drive" or flash memory drive, and take that with me to Staples. It took them about 20 minutes to print out all my paper copies, and smaller laminations (most Staples can only laminate up to 2 ft by 3 ft, the larger sizes have to be sent to their regional "hubs" for the service).

If anyone has any questions, etc., don't hesitate to ask,

Chris

Chris Difani
'73 L #5829 "LITNNG"
Sacramento, CA
Email: cdifani at pacbell.net