Hello, my name is Julian Edgar and I'm the author of the book Modifying the
Electronics and Modern Classic Cars. Cars in the 1990s and the 2000s. Now why is
the book relevant to you? What's in it? Why is it interesting in its content? Well
firstly, if you own a car of that era you're really lucky because there is so
much that electronically you can change to that car.
You can fit programmable engine management, you can tweak the standard
engine management by adding interceptors, you can change the lighting, you can
change the sound system, and of course in more modern cars – current cars – doing all
of those things can be really, really difficult. Change the engine management
the dashboard stops working, put in a new sound system and something – another
convenience item – no longer works, but in the cars we're talking about they're
simpler electronically, and that opens up some fantastic opportunities for you to
make changes, for you to modify what it is you want the car to do. Let's start
off by talking about interceptors. Interceptors are things that change
input signals or change output signals to the engine management system, allowing
you to change fuelling, allowing you to change ignition timing, allowing you to
change turbo boost, and so on. And in the book, I start with some very simple
interceptors, ones that cost less than a can of drink. What I do? I use
potentiometers, and by using a potentiometer (or a tiny electric
component with an adjustable knob) you can shift voltages of signals – very,
very cheap, very, very effective. But I also talk about commercial interceptors,
mappable interceptors that you can connect to your laptop and you can tune
your car's engine. I also talk about programmable engine management:
installing a completely new engine management system that you can program
to achieve whatever outcomes you want, in terms of power, in terms of economy, in
terms of response. Programmable engine management, absolutely fantastic fun to
fit and to tune. I also cover other car systems, systems that also can be
modified but not many people choose to do it. Perhaps they don't realise that can be
modified: stability control, traction control, systems like that that you can
also make changes to. Also in the book, a whole chapter on modifying sound systems
and a real focus on installing speaker systems that work well
because that's where you can make the biggest improvement to a factory sound
system from the era that we're talking about, and of course also talk about
upgrading the head unit, navigation and so on. The chapter on lighting, how do
you upgrade the lighting? Your forward lighting, your brake lights, your tail
lights, your interior lighting, some really good approaches that can be
followed to give a massive upgrade in lighting. And then I talk about
dashboards. How do you upgrade instruments? What about fitting a whole
new programmable digital dash? Now what about making that digital dash talk to the
programmable engine management system that you've installed as well? Then you
can have a massive upgrade in the information that's available to the
driver. I also talk about little projects that you can do, simple projects:
a lights on buzzer so you don't leave your headlights on when you leave the
car, little electronic modules you can add to your car to improve convenience,
to improve security. Now, I've done everything that's in the book. All the
examples are things that I've actually done on my cars and I know that work. I've
installed programmable engine management, I've installed a digital dash, I've used
those little potentiometer based interceptors to shift signals, and I've
done that for a long, long time. I've done it from everything from changing the
torque split on an R32 Skyline GTR, to changing the fueling on a tiny
660 CC Daihatsu, right through to changing the power steering rate on one
of my V8 Lexuses; so it's all stuff that's based on real world experiences,
proven approaches, so it's not just written from a theoretical construct,
it's actually written from a practical application from someone who's actually
done it. There's plenty in the book if you're starting, though, without a
background electronics of any sort I suggest you read the companion volume to
it Car Electrical and Electronic Systems (also published by Veloce and written
by me), and that will give you sufficient background to immediately be able to
adopt the techniques that are described in this book. If you're already familiar
with how to use a multimeter, if you're already familiar with car wiring, you
probably don't need that background, you can just jump straight in. A lot of the
projects are really very simple one or two components, but those are components
can achieve fantastic outcomes in terms of making changes to the car. So look,
if you've got a budget which is only the equivalent of one can of drink, right
through to a budget which might be half the cost of your car then there's stuff
in the book that you can apply. The book is called Modifying the Electronics of
Modern Classic Cars. It's a book, I think, unlike anything on the market – I've
never seen a book aimed at such a practical level for people making
electronic modifications to their cars and I hope that you enjoy it. Thank you.
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