Curiosity's '98 Trans Am mods page

Click on pictures for a larger view.

The easy work for the LCD (Dremel, ABS, Bondo, Sand, Paint, Sand, Paint, Sand, Paint, Sand, Paint...)

First fab design (Dec 03)	Rustolium black texture, airbrush mixed over it.	Place Lilliput in bezel	3rd rev. Feb 07

The ZPC stuffed into the dash before mounting	IWill ZPCgx P4 2.4/533, 1GB PC2100, 80GB HD	Touchpad ashtray (Smokers will be violated)	Backing (used a CD case)

Front shot	Passenger shot	Old Colors	The case and power supply
Dash cam		Rear cam	Nose cam

Other devices:

PC Remote	DLink DWA-160	USGlobalSat BU-353	Cheap ELM327	Logitech QuckCam For Notebooks Pro	Gyration

The Valetine1 with GPS K/X tracking of course!

EssentialSDC   Full featured Startup/Shutdown Controller Only 1.5" x 3.0" Unavailable.  Way too expensive!

Features include: USB 2.0 interface for settings, heartbeat, shutting down from standby, monitoring volts, amps, watts, and many other controls. *Bluetooth for remote startup, shutdown, adjusting settings, monitoring volts, amps, watts, plus control other I/O from home PC, laptop, phone, or PDA. PC power button output. Used for startup, shutdown and resume VGA monitor switching during startup, shutdown, and standby.  Solder to power button plus optional status line. Amp remote output Button + LED for keyless startup, valet mode and status Negative input for alarm remote (start, shutdown, valet) 4 additional AUX inputs or outputs ACC input with alternator-check (volts increase)

The speakers and subs...
   High/Mid 4ch Amp: HF Eagle (fits Delco 8ch space!)
   Front: Infinity Kappa 605cs + Kappa 10.5T Tweeters
   Rear:  Infinity Kappa 4x6 plates
   Subs: RFP4406  Amp: USX2100 (sits on the spare tire)


 

http://www.autolumination.com (the best LEDs)   Although http://www.superbrightleds.com is getting much better now.

Location	LED
HVAC	White #74 3-LED x 2
Shift panel	Red #74 3-LED  (Extremely bright)
Doors	Red plain #74
Side markers	194 9 LED SMT Tower II  (2 amber, 2 red) [Lower right in picture]
Glove box	194 5-LED Matrix (1 white) or SMT Tower
License plate	194 Inverted (1 white) or maybe SMT Tower (it's very cramped)
DRL/Front signals	3157 30 LED SMT Tower (Amber x 2) [Left in picture] (BETTER: new 48 LED replaces all 30 LED)
Brake/Signal/Tail	3157 30 LED SMT Tower (Red x 4) [Left in picture]
Reverse	3156 30 LED SMT Tower (SuperWhite x 2) [Left in picture]
Outer tail	194 25 LED SMT Tower II or 921 18 LED (Red x 2) [Top right in piture]
3rd brake light	194 25 LED SMT Tower II (Red x 2) [Top right] + 50ohm 10W resistor in parallel
Instrument cluster	194 9 LED SMT Tower II 5xRed 2xGreen(Turn) 1xWhite(Speedo)

Reason for using red behind a red lens:  Although white may be brighter, around 70% of the spectrum is filtered by the red lens while the full light of a red LED will pass through easily giving you 3x the brightness over white.

DRL: 4.0A   now: 270mA
Night: 7.75A   now: 585mA
Brake+DRL: 13.6A  now: 896mA
Brake@night: 17.3A  now: 1070mA

The resistor on the 3rd brake light is required to keep cruise control operating and to keep it from glowing from the low power running through it all the time.

DRLs: To fix the big super-flux LEDs that short over to the parking lights, lift the wedge base leads, cut them shorter and bend back down. Just make sure they don't cross over to the other side.

UPDATE: The brake lights can have the same problem!  Hit the brakes and all the parking lights and interior lights will go on!

The SMT type are harder. As you can see in the diagram, there's just a resistor between the 2 circuits. Poor design? Bend all the leads straight and crack the wedge base glue loose and slide it off the leads.  Desolder the diode from the negative side and replace with wire (a lead from diode or resistor works nicely) so that it's the original length, then clip the end of the resistor on the low positive side and solder the diode to it in series and reuse the clipped lead to extend the diode free end back out. Bend it up so it will fit back together. This keeps the high side from allowing power to go back out the reduced side (parking lights).  This also helps to reduce the low brightness so you can see the difference between brakes/blinkers and parking lights.

A silent adjustable rate flasher

The OEM bimetallic thermal flasher is designed for a high load so it won't work anymore.  An electronic/capacitive discharge flasher (EL12 from AutoZone) eliminates the load requirements (load resistors) but flashing will be a bit slow (~15 per minute).  After a year, my modded EL12 melted so I looked around and had all the parts in the schematic below.  I gutted the EL12 and stuck this little perfboard in it and ran a small ground wire out the top.  Any P-Channel MOSFET should work fine.  Just test the connectors on the car to make sure 12V is going to your source side.  20K pots give you a decent range.  Centered is a little faster than normal, and I prefer a slightly faster off duty.  The top is off time, and bottom is on time.

Yet another flasher.  PICFlasher.asm  PICFlasher.hex Up to 16 different effects. Blinking, strobing, etc. The internal LED is only used for testing.  A cheaper 5V reg. can be used, and the MOSFET just needs to be one that can handle your amps.  Each button press changes the pattern. Optional: Connect 3-wire cable to pins 2,7,8 and use remote button w/LED. Note: 12V (On with IGN!) is from the flasher input. Pin 2 on the FET is the other flasher pin.  Ground is wired to the chassis.

Getting around the BCM unlock disable and turning on courtesy lights like the factory alarm at the same time.		Hookup for window roll up/down control
	How to trigger the alarm when battery is disconnected. Must be used with tank or backup battery and needs a negative output when alarm is armed, otherwise just ground will work.

  

CuriousTech Super smooth locks		Polished stainless steel from EmblemPros.
		Wolo AirSplitter + 23 PSI pump on the stock horn mount.  The pump should be facing the opposite direction.  Water can get in the motor if the black end is up.
	Increase your visibility x2!

The ashtray spring.  LOL  People have trouble putting this back on.