Rover 200 instrument cluster

[Hans Efde]

Anyone with the Rover 200 dashboard in his Midas who wants a spare instrument cluster:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... ink:top:en

[DavidL]

Thank you Hans, bought for £2 (plus about £6 postage...)

[Hans Efde]

You just outbid me, noone seems to bid so I put a low bid in because these guys wanted to rip me off for 18 pounds shipment (later 14 pounds). But I am glad you got it. I am now trying to find a unit with km/h display in Europe or new dial plates. There are people who build LE dials for any panel, so I've asked for a quote. I intend to keep it but want to give it an updated look.
Here is a link to the people building replacement plates: http://www.d-werx.com/
I am not sure what they are charging, 100 euro's for a complete panel, or 100 euro's per dial (in the last case it will be too expensive for me).

[DavidL]

You just outbid me, noone seems to bid so I put a low bid in because these guys wanted to rip me off for 18 pounds shipment (later 14 pounds). But I am glad you got it. I am now trying to find a unit with km/h display in Europe or new dial plates. There are people who build LE dials for any panel, so I've asked for a quote. I intend to keep it but want to give it an updated look.
Here is a link to the people building replacement plates: http://www.d-werx.com/
I am not sure what they are charging, 100 euro's for a complete panel, or 100 euro's per dial (in the last case it will be too expensive for me).

Sorry to have robbed you of it - I just checked and the total I paid was £7.20. Even £14 for postage to Holland sounds expensive; I bet it won't have cost £5 to post it to me, although that's what I was charged. I don't usually check my eBay purchases to see if the postage I was charged was the same as it cost (taking time and packaging costs into account), but I will be this time. His feedback might be affected as a result...

I'm not very keen on the gridline background so I might try and repaint it, but what is an LE dial?

[Stuart]

Standard parcels will be £4.41, when you add on the paypal fees, packing etc a fiver is very fair in my book http://www2.royalmail.com/delivery/busi ... els/prices

[Hans Efde]

You just outbid me, noone seems to bid so I put a low bid in because these guys wanted to rip me off for 18 pounds shipment (later 14 pounds). But I am glad you got it. I am now trying to find a unit with km/h display in Europe or new dial plates. There are people who build LE dials for any panel, so I've asked for a quote. I intend to keep it but want to give it an updated look.
Here is a link to the people building replacement plates: http://www.d-werx.com/
I am not sure what they are charging, 100 euro's for a complete panel, or 100 euro's per dial (in the last case it will be too expensive for me).

Sorry to have robbed you of it - I just checked and the total I paid was £7.20. Even £14 for postage to Holland sounds expensive; I bet it won't have cost £5 to post it to me, although that's what I was charged. I don't usually check my eBay purchases to see if the postage I was charged was the same as it cost (taking time and packaging costs into account), but I will be this time. His feedback might be affected as a result...

I'm not very keen on the gridline background so I might try and repaint it, but what is an LE dial?

No big deal, I just made a small bid because noone seemed to be interested and I didn't want it to let go. Anyway I would prefer a km/h display because these dial reproduction companies need to scan the dials.
LE means "light emitting", also known as plasma. But plasma is nonsense, it doesn't get 5 million degrees or becomes liquid. The dial plates have an extra layer in between that glows when it is put under current. The voltage needed is quite high, so they come with a small power converter. You remove all light bulbs (except of the needle), the dials themself emit light when the power is turned on. For about 50 pounds you can buy a set of these dials for most cars these days. Just check Ebay with "plasma dials" o.e. The nice thing is that with very little money you get a very modern dashboard, like a Mercedes or VW golf. If this isn't possible I stick to the existing illumination, but still will look modern. Anyway the nasty grid is hopefully gone by then.
I just got the message back from D-werx (link above). They can replace the dials for between 80 and 90 euros in total and an extra 50 if it needs to be plasma. Oh yeaah! That would look tremendous in my blue Convertible!

[DavidL]

You just outbid me, noone seems to bid so I put a low bid in because these guys wanted to rip me off for 18 pounds shipment (later 14 pounds). But I am glad you got it. I am now trying to find a unit with km/h display in Europe or new dial plates. There are people who build LE dials for any panel, so I've asked for a quote. I intend to keep it but want to give it an updated look.
Here is a link to the people building replacement plates: http://www.d-werx.com/
I am not sure what they are charging, 100 euro's for a complete panel, or 100 euro's per dial (in the last case it will be too expensive for me).

Sorry to have robbed you of it - I just checked and the total I paid was £7.20. Even £14 for postage to Holland sounds expensive; I bet it won't have cost £5 to post it to me, although that's what I was charged. I don't usually check my eBay purchases to see if the postage I was charged was the same as it cost (taking time and packaging costs into account), but I will be this time. His feedback might be affected as a result...

I'm not very keen on the gridline background so I might try and repaint it, but what is an LE dial?

No big deal, I just made a small bid because noone seemed to be interested and I didn't want it to let go. Anyway I would prefer a km/h display because these dial reproduction companies need to scan the dials.
LE means "light emitting", also known as plasma. But plasma is nonsense, it doesn't get 5 million degrees or becomes liquid. The dial plates have an extra layer in between that glows when it is put under current. The voltage needed is quite high, so they come with a small power converter. You remove all light bulbs (except of the needle), the dials themself emit light when the power is turned on. For about 50 pounds you can buy a set of these dials for most cars these days. Just check Ebay with "plasma dials" o.e. The nice thing is that with very little money you get a very modern dashboard, like a Mercedes or VW golf. If this isn't possible I stick to the existing illumination, but still will look modern. Anyway the nasty grid is hopefully gone by then.
I just got the message back from D-werx (link above). They can replace the dials for between 80 and 90 euros in total and an extra 50 if it needs to be plasma. Oh yeaah! That would look tremendous in my blue Convertible!

Interesting stuff. However, it does make my idea of "repainting the dials" seem a bit naff...

[DavidL]

Standard parcels will be £4.41, when you add on the paypal fees, packing etc a fiver is very fair in my book http://www2.royalmail.com/delivery/busi ... els/prices

Fair enough. I didn't actually think it seemed unreasonable.

[Hans Efde]

Interesting stuff. However, it does make my idea of "repainting the dials" seem a bit naff...

I think DIY would always be visible. But if you are skilled with Coreldraw o.e. you could scan the dials, redraw them and change the design and print them on a sticker of good quality paper. I've seen the white dials a previous Dutch owner had made and they looked very good. He only forgot to install ss screws and since the car was parked outside (and therefore usually a Midas is moist inside) the corroding screws made brown stains on the dials.

[Hans Efde]

Last evening I disassembled my Rover 213 instrument pod. Piece of cake until the gauges themselves had to be taken apart. To be able to scan the dials it is necessary to remove the needles. The fuel and temp gauge are easy, these things are made of perhaps 10 components and clearly visible. But the tacho and speedo and more complicated. I've googled the procedure and many times I came across people who broke the needles or after reassembly got wrong readings. The usual advise is to leave the needles in place and slide the new dials over it. That's fine IF you have new dials for a Rover 213/216. As far as I know they don't exist.
I am going to try to find a cheap/broken unit and use that for disassembly and scanning and have plasma dials made. It seems the best option because just a sticker over the existing dial would block the backlight. Per gauge there is a light in the housing for display of the numbers and stripes. In the top of the pod behind blue plastic, lights illuminate the front for the needle and (I suppose) odometers. Needle kits exist for a LED illuminated needle which looks cool, but I wonder if the instrument itself will loose precision. For front illumination I stick to the original design, perhaps replace the bulbs with leds.