digital dashboard

I found this great looking Carina SG Coupe AA60 on Cardomain:

Carina SG Coupe AA60
According to its owner the car was produced in 1988 and imported to Malaysia in 1991. Being produced in 1988 means it has been catted with a sedan VIN since the coupe was discontinued in june 1985 or it was imported and put on papers with a different build date... Either way it is still looking great for its age! ;)

Carina SG Coupe AA60
What I really love are those deep rims! They make the car look a lot more aggresive!

Carina SG Coupe AA60
I didn't know the AA60 came with a digidash as well, but apparently it could have been ordered as an option. It must be original since its redline is set at 6000rpm.

Also a very nice feature according to the owner: when the car reach 105+km/h, the dash board will ring the warning "ding dong" continues until u slow down... -_-. Definitely want one now! :D

Carina SG Coupe AA60
And what is under its bonnet nowadays? Its 1.5 liter 3A-U has been swapped for a 4AGE in june 2009! :)

Can't wait for more updates on this car!

As being an admin of AEU86 I've seen a lot of questions, facts and fun stuff about the Toyota AE86 (hachi roku). I also see a lot of questions returning even though we documented it on the FAQ already.

This week we feature the digital dashboard of the AE86!

If you are unfamiliar with it, this is what it looks like and how it operates:

If you want one you can get them either from a first generation (zenki) AE86 3 door with the GT Apex trim or find them through auctions.yahoo.co.jp in Japan. This version of the AE86 got the digital dashboard installed, unless you really didn't want one and ordered one without it. That also means that Bunta Fujiwara ordered his Sprinter Trueno without digidash back in the 80s. ;)

The 2 door zenki and both 2 and 3 door kouki GT Apex trim didn't get the digital dashboard default: you had to order it as a special option. It was also a Japan-only feature: it wasn't even available as an option in the US like it was on the Celica and Celica-Supra! That was a weird decision taking into account that 1984/1985 (launch of the AE86 in the US) was the peak of the popularity of Knight Rider!

Digital Cluster in a Japanese zenki Sprinter Trueno catalogue

The digital dashboard was, like it implicates, a digital variant of the normal, analogue, gauge cluster. It displayed almost everything digitally:
everything except the mileage was digital. This also meant some signals feeding the cluster had to be digital: the fuel sender should give the signal digitally while the oil pressure became nothing more than a "warining" light for too high pressure.

In case you want to convert your analogue cluster to a digital cluster you arein need of two parts:
- digital oil pressure switch (one of a EP71,82,91/SW20/AE92/ST16x will do.)
- digital fuel sender (part# 83320-19725)
Especially the digital fuel sender is hard to get by!

Even though the digital dashboard has the same connectors as the analogue cluster you need to convert them to the digital cluster. You can find the wiring schema here:
Wiring conversion schema for the AE86 digital cluster

Is the cluster worth it? Personally I wouldn't care more or less if the digital dashboard had featured in my Trueno. In some ways it would even be a set back since you would lose the oil pressure gauge!
On the other hand it does have a certain coolness factor!

I found this great 80s period time piece on Auctions.yahoo.co.jp but unfortunately the auction has already ended...

80s Carina GT-R AA63 digital dashboard quartz clock

What is it? Well it is the digital dashboard of the Carina GT-R AA63 (and GT-TR TA63) but then with a quartz clock in it to hang on your wall! ;)

The thing is, of course, horrendous and so ugly I would not dare to put in anywhere on my wall. But it intrigues me why anyone would create such a thing in the first place and, of course, it should be preserved for future generations! :P

Zoom in on the 80s Carina GT-R AA63 digital dashboard quartz clock

The only thing that strikes me is why they put the quartz clock at the place of the speedo and not on the place of the quartz clock... It looks a bit double now... But who knows, perhaps it would have looked less like a clock then. ;)

I did some research into the digital cluster on the AE86 since my blogposting about the Impulse AE86 rebuild. Lucky enough I have both catalogues for the Zenki AE86s: both the Sprinter Trueno and Corolla Levin (which are for sale actually!). ;)

If you're not familiar with the digital gauge cluster of the AE86, this is what I'm referring to:

The digital gauge cluster of the Zenki AE86 Sprinter Trueno

I looked into the options and standard features of both the Levin and Trueno:

The 3 door Zenki AE86 Sprinter Trueno GT Apex had a digital cluster as default option

The 3 door Zenki AE86 Corolla Levin GT Apex also had a digital cluster as default option

As you can see: both 3 door GT Apex AE86s have the digital gauge cluster as a standard feature. For 2 door GT Apex cars the digital dashboard was only available as an option. And for all other trims and variants it wasn't even available!

Both catalogues are from S58 (1983) so that still doesn't say anything about which years it did feature on the cars...

The Japanese cartuner Impulse is specialized in tuning and restoring Hachi Rokus (Toyota Corolla AE86). They are currently doing a terrific job on this 1983 Sprinter Trueno:

1983 Sprinter Trueno rebuild

Zenki GT Apex wiring loom
When running Google Translate on the page I got this translation under the wiring loom:
APEX based on vehicle type 1 for the first half of digital meters installed by default.
If I read this information correct the first batch of Zenki (type 1) GT Apex trim of the AE86 featured the digital dash by default. That would mean almost all 1983 and early 1984 hachis featuring a GT Apex trim should feature the digital dash unless the owner actually ordered the car with analogue dash. I tried to double check that with Carland86 and Goo-net and so far I could only verify that most early zenki (should that be zenki-zenki?) JDM Sprinter Trueno AE86s feature the digidash. Most of the Corolla Levins were all featuring the analogue cluster, so would it be a Sprinter Trueno only default? And would this also implicate Bunta Fujiwara did order a Trueno without digidash or that it is a late 1984 or early 1985 model??

To get back to the rebuild, look at how immaculate this rear bench is:

An immaculate rear AE86 bench
Never seen anything like it!

Eventhough this Sprinter Trueno probably used to be red/black once (due to the brown interior) it looks stunning in white:

Stunning panda AE86 painting