Club 80-90 Forums

I got fed up of trying to fix the crappy dash pcb. Over the years the thin copper connections on the pcb had worn away and was giving me all sorts of grief. I couldn't really face hardwiring it as I'd seen others do so thought I'd just wire up the connectors.
Firstly cut the pcb on the fold at the end then just simply clean & solder wires onto the copper trace wire. I then cut out a piece of plastic to the right size and mounted the whole thing using a hot glue gun. Then attach the plastic mounting board to the protruding bit of plastic on the dash where the end of the pcb used to fold over. Finally I bought a plug connector from Halfords, wired it all up - bob's your uncle.

Nice simple solution

Although having gone to that trouble, you might just as well hard-wire the lot as many of us have done.

Not really CovKid.
Your method of hardwiring took 6 hrs and by your own admission you suggest 'it's not a beginners project'. My method took a couple of hrs & cost a tenner.
I just wanted to show an alternative to hardwiring which I think is a lot easier and can be done by anyone who lacks confidence in the electronics dept.

That looks more in my skill range tbh, although dependant on there being no faults in my internal area of the pcb I guess.

It was a good fix for me & everything working perfectly now.
The vast majority of problems are caused by the rubbish connection block which wears away the exposed copper over time. Sort that out & it should be fine.

Great post captain!
A lot of people are scared of electrics, especialy under the dash pod.
You've given a simple solution to what is sometimes a nightmare problem.

Thanks,
I'm the one usually rummaging on the forums searching for help or advice so It's good to make a useful contribution for once.

You'll still need to be very careful with the rest of the PCB as most are incredibly brittle now. Plastics (at least those used in the 80s) don't have a finite life.

Should be fine if you're careful when removing it. Mine's an early so pretty old and has been removed umpteen times. No problems.

Seen way too many that have started seperating or split. We'll have to agree to disagree on this. Good membranes are becoming increasingly rare. The heat on the dash probably doesn't help.

I repaired my knackered PCB. It's a good fix. It didn't take long. It was cheap. You don't need to be an expert to do. It's a simple solution to a common problem. Love & peace man...

Long as you're happy with it, thats all that matters. The true test is time.

Extremely happy thanks CovKid - just saved myself £220 on a new hardwire kit. It was either that or spend a day doing a complicated hardwire myself, which to be honest I neither had the skills, time nor inclination.

I think the dash often prompts people to try fitting other ones from other vehicles. I never came across one I liked and there was so much faff involved setting up sensors etc it seemed like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. That kit is a bit OTT in my view.