{"id":43186,"date":"2019-08-12T20:26:38","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T11:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/?p=43186"},"modified":"2026-09-24T13:45:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T04:45:15","slug":"z1r-takegawa-digital-fuel-gauge-installation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/20190812\/everyday-events\/z1r-takegawa-digital-fuel-gauge-installation","title":{"rendered":"Z1R Takegawa Digital Fuel Gauge Installation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/em>

I’m afraid of building an image of “installing little parts here and there = doing it for you.” Basically, we don’t accept that kind of work.
Custom = custom shop,
fabrication = fabrication shop, right? It’s a different story if you’re ordering a vehicle inspection. That’s the kind of capricious sole proprietor I am.
The fuel gauge just completely died right after I fixed it, so we’re moving into the 21st century with digitalization. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Takegawa = monkey image. Everyone sure does love their patrols.
The shape is like a digital tachometer. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Back in the day, I’d usually just slap a tester on it and call it good.
But as I’ve gotten older, the checklist of “safety, verify, safety, verify” has grown, and now I’m at the point where I won’t do it without a wiring diagram\u2014which is my way of saying I turn down jobs I don’t want to do.

It’s pretty simple: power, ground, and signal (variable resistor). Easy peasy. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I agonized over plans A, B, and C.
\u2022 Cheap! Ugly! Double-sided tape mounting \u2192 \u2717
\u2022 Sloppy board double-sided mounting = fixed \u2192 \u2717
\u2022 Spot welding patch strategy \u2192 removable
Meter position adjustment becomes difficult \u2192 \u2717

Suddenly hit a dead end, and I just stood there staring at the fairing with my mouth hanging open. (This part actually takes a long time.)
Why do I basically hate making things?
\u2022 Lots of materials needed
\u2022 Machine tools required
\u2022 Design, functionality, and durability all matter

* In the end, there are problems both before and after making something.
\u2022 If it breaks, I’m responsible (industry standard is a year, but people expect more)
\u2022 I can’t let people down no matter how they look at it (sorry if I have)
\u2022 Thinking time and making time are long
\u2022 Sometimes I mess up = have to redo it

That’s the deal. I hope some of this reluctance comes through. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I noticed the fuel gauge shape was round and went “aha!” so I went with a low-profile bolt tack-weld strategy. This way it can move up and down, I thought.
* By the way, the first attempt had the bolt sticking forward and it hit the fairing, so that was a bust… this kind of thing happens a lot. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I made several templates to figure out the meter position. Got it done.
For mounting, 3M Dual Lock (the thin stuff) works great. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The connector had to be waterproof. We were out of the 110-series, so this is kind of a quiet upgrade.
It doesn’t really matter much, but I have my own rule: “with three or more pins, don’t put power and ground next to each other.”
If they get crushed and go pop, it’s the same either way, but it’s maybe 0.1% safer this way… hopefully. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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It’s completely adjustable up, down, left, right, and at any angle.
After that, I painstakingly drained all the fuel and checked the remaining amount bit by bit. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Aftermarket parts always have that “don’t need the maker’s name” thing, so a 6mm Tepra label in black fit perfectly.
Hmm, it’s kind of plain. Maybe I should go digital on the voltmeter too?

That wraps up this job. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pochipp_cv_data":"","swell_btn_cv_data":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1924],"tags":[162,115],"class_list":["post-43186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everyday-events","tag-electric","tag-z-aircooled"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}