elwoodgalt

The early 928's had a plastic film with copper (flex circuit) on the back of the instrument pods. There is no current source for those, so everyone is making do with old ones. I am thinking about creating a set of 3 hard circuit boards that would replace the old flex-style and augmenting them with LED's rather than lamps. .

Please chime in if you think there IS or IS NOT a demand for a flex-circuit replacement.

Thank you,

Randy Reed
.

danglerb

I'd go with a solid maybe, issues being;

Price
Connectors
Any fitment issues.
How it looks. Would the LEDs have a dimming circuit?

BTW I think there are several versions of the circuit board.

tailpipe

i agree price is always the biggest part any new part. connectors and fitment issues are minor the led idea is a great one my biggest pet peeve is the dim dash lights great idea i hope it works well for you sign me up for atleast one if the price is right

tmpusfugit

It is rather hard to predict "market size" for a replacement on these. At the rate the older 928's are being scrapped many of the needs are being met, more or less, from the parted out cars. I needed a flex circuit for an '84 last week, still do for that matter. I was able to do a work around for the time being but it involved combining 2 to make one.... I also have an '81 and an '84 pod and there are very significant differences between the two as danglerb mentions.

Cost is of course a factor, as would be ease of installation, and reliability. I would also be interested in one to resolve my current insecurity around the flaky 3 point connections, as well as the make do repairs already implemented. The hard wired approach seen in a recent thread is also a current consideration, but would be less desireable than your suggested 3 part replacement....

tlsmith1999

How many different films are there? I know 78 is different from 79/80. I believe the 78's are NLA, but you can still buy new 79's for about $100.

danglerb

Quick look at 928Intl and I see
78 nothing available
79/81 $101
82/84 nothing available
85/88 $121

I didn't check for Euro versions or differences.

elwoodgalt

Thanks danglerb for checking out the availability. I assume that the parts from 928 international are used? Is there a place to buy any of the flex circuits new? The reason that I think this might be a worthwhile endeavor is that the used parts are so old that I would really rather not install them only to have to address intermittent problems again in a few years.

I do not know yet what the design/production costs will be, but I am shooting for a cost of about $110 for the standard version which will work with stock lamps and $150 with LED's installed.

Does anyone know how different the different years are from one another? Are we talking a completely different size and shape or just a few different copper runs? This won't make a difference in whether the task can be accomplished, but will make a difference as to the ultimate cost.


DESIGN ELEMENTS
They will be plug-and-play compatible with the stock edge connectors.

I am hoping to improve on the design where rivets are used to make electrical connections and other areas where intermittent problems occur.

It may not be possible to go with the solid circuit board approach, I may have to stick with the flex circuit.

Circuitry for dimming the LED's with the stock dimmer will be incorporated.

I'll start with 82-84 because that is what I have access to, but once the design and process is accomplished, the other years should be straightforward.

tlsmith1999

I bought a new one for my '79 from Roger about 2 months ago.

karl ruiter

The 928 intl ones are new. Your market will depend on whether or not Porsche makes any more once the current stock is gone. My sense it that they may not, and the current stock is not very large.

Optimator

What are you thinking? Having to remove and replace the pod to chase intermittent problems so often that you can do it in 10 minutes flat, blindfolded, is time-honored part of the 928 ownership experience!

I think this is a great product idea. At those prices I'd certainly be interested. Overall, the gauge cluster has some quality problems - unreliable odometers, corroding rivet connections, fragile foil layer contacts, and pitiful connectors on the 84 and older models – it wouldn’t be so bad if this were a Volkswagen, but they really should have come up with something better for a car like the 928.

I don’t think that you could easily use the stock bulb holders with a solid circuit board. However, to me it seems like a good idea to replace all of those little warning and indicator bulbs with LED’s. Even if they are soldered to the board, it shouldn’t be a real problem – it seems to me like LED’s rarely fail, compared to incandescent bulbs.