How To: Install Defi VSD Basis Heads up Display

[Pheonix]

Mods please move this to How to section if approved.

The cheapest price I could find for this was through
500whp.com ~$160
They also offer an incredibly overpriced version but it has
temp and boost pressure and it may change color but we can expect
more market if this becomes more popular.


The Package comes with:
1 Vacuum Florescent HUD Unit with LED Bar
1 Controller Box
1 Wiring Harnesses
4 Wire clips
2 Double Sticky Pads
2 HUD Reflective Strips (int Garbage)

Tools Needed:
Small Blade Screwdriver
Multimeter or 12 Volt Detector (i.e. 12v LED)
Electrical Tape
Interior Cleaner (Simple Green or Armoral Wipes)
Pliers (needle nose or wrench type)

 

[Pheonix]

First off, you should hook up the sensor wires and power for the unit.

Disconnect the negative terminal on your battery for safety, I didn't but it's a good precaution.

Lower your steering wheel all the way, lay a cloth down on top of the steering column to avoid scratching it up.
Then unscrew the 2 top screws that hold the gauge cluster bezel on. Unscrew the 3 screws holding the gauge cluster to the dash frame.
Gently remove the cluster and lay it on your steering column.
You only need to disconnect and remove it if you are running the wire up along the vent.

 

[Pheonix]

Big thanks to Craig (1sty) for his guide to the wiring for the speedo and tach signals.
Using the wire clips,
Speedometer (Green) wire to the (Green/Red) wire
Tachometer (Blue) wire to the (Purple/White) wire. (not the purple/yellow one) at night they look the same.
Wrap them up with Electrical tape to secure them.

Now you need to decide on a power source, you can run it off the gauge cluster but Im not sure which wires they are and I wanted something more solid.
You can run it off the stereo; there is a nice How-To on removing the it. or you can run it off the cigarette lighter as I did.

Dangle the wire down by the pedals.

 

[Pheonix]

Connect up the control box and try it out,
I used double sided sticky tape to pre-mount it and adjust the location. The closer it is to the glass, the lower it will be.
Here in New Hampshire, nothing can be higher than 5" above the
bottom of the glass. So here Im pushing it.

You want to place the HUD on the dash and move it around to find which spot suits you, I prefer the center of the Dash because I feel more comfortable glancing to the right.
You don't want it right in the middle of your view, it will probably drive you nuts.
If you decide to mount on the left side, running the wire should be easy peasy.

I ran the wire between the vents so only a little wire shows.
To Do this, I poked one of the stereo removal tools from behind the gauge cluster up along the vent and ran the wire through the gap I made. It gets very narrow in there, so hopefully you have smaller hands than myself.

 

[Pheonix]

Clean the area where you want to mount the HUD, then apply the double sided sticky foam to the base and align it over the desired spot, I like it kind of slanted so it's squared off on the glass if you catch my drift.
Then press down for a couple seconds, it will almost instantly stick, trust me, then you can adjust it up or down which just affects contrast really.

The Reflective film is not necessary and rather tacky imo, you'll have limited visibility during bright days but nothing major.

Now remove any slack on the wire and conceal it behind the dash.

Dangle it down by the signal wire.

 

[Pheonix]

You can now put the gauge cluster back in. All the screws are the same.

You may want to program now or after you mount the box, depending on how accessable the control box is.

I mounted it right next to the hood release lever, seems logical.
You get more surface area mounting it with the buttons facing to or away from the release lever, so it holds better.


Connect the wires up and you can program it to your preference.
I have it set for Mode 2 which is Speedo with Tach LEDS, and I set the duration to 1K per led.
The Speedo pulse is 72 I believe. but you can set it by driving 40 and it will count the pulses. It's all in the manual.



Hope this wasn't too wordy; I like to try and cover everything.

I will have more pics when I install one on another car.


It's hard to take a pic with the flash off, and with it on you can see a perfect reflection.
but it's not visible from the front of the car, but all angles behind the windshield, you can see it clearly.

 

[Pheonix]

more pics

 

[TheJohnny]

I thought about this once, but only if you could mount it like the Corvettes and all those other rides that have it. Cool little toy though, enjoy!

 

[mazpro]

looks good but you need some better pics though.

 

[Ryoga28]

Defi actually stopped production on this item. http://www.defi-shop.com/product/dp/dp_top.html

 

[Pheonix]

I thought about this once, but only if you could mount it like the Corvettes and all those other rides that have it. Cool little toy though, enjoy!

i considered cutting into the dash to mount it down low but i'm not good with that sort of thing.


i'll get better pics when i'm in a non lit parking lot, my camera hates all lighting except it's own flash.


ah man, i find it so usefull, especially at night on the highway.
only time i look down at my gauges is to see if i'm out of gas or not.