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R-Sport Gauge Cluster Replica PCB Project

mark14148

mark14148

New member
Joined
Feb 9, 2025
Location
PNW
Hey guys! I recently got my hands on an R Sport gauge cluster for my 240 but the PCB was damaged. I looked for a replacement board but there is no one that currently supplies one. I know an electrical engineer (Nick) and have some prior 3d modeling experience myself, so we decided to re-create a replica board and plan on selling it!

If you're interested in purchasing a board once they are complete please send me a DM or send Nick an email at contact@ultraonedesign.com to be added to the contact list once the production boards are ready.

I already modeled and 3D printed the board to make sure all of my measurements lined up with the original and Nick is currently working on designing the PCB layout.
photo_2025-08-24 23.32.40crop.jpegphoto_2025-08-24 22.45.56.jpeg
I just wanted to post here to get some feedback and see if anyone would be interested in a board once they are completed!
Would you guys be more interested in a 1-1 replica board or something that is a custom design with modernized components and PCB layout?
We have some potential ideas like:
- Replace voltage regulator with a modern voltage regulator directly onto the new PCB
- Make a version with integrated LED's instead of bulbs for the warning lights. Thinking of using a warm white to replicate an incandescent bulb
- A 2-layer board with integrated traces to not need external soldered jumper wires
- Any other modifications?

Please let me know what your thoughts are and what you would be more interested in. Thanks!

I'll be updating this thread as the project progresses.
 
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Glad to see all the interest!

rearwheelpeel said:
I would be interested in an exact replica of the stock board. The leds for the warning lights could be nice but I would prefer them to be fairly dim compared to some Ive seen. I have one of Roger Patricios (rip) reproduction boards here if you'd like to see what components he used.
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If you could send over some pictures of his board and components that would be greatly appreciated!
 
I need to re-check the board on the cluster I have for my '78. It may be damaged, so I might have an interest in one of these.

EDIT- I have 2 boards. 1 broken and one un-broken. Whether that one is good or not remains to be seen.
 
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Hey all,

Update on the PCB design. The board layout is done, just needs to be polished a bit and i'll be ordering prototypes for testing soon.
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I took some of the feedback you guys mentioned and decided to do a mix of doing an exact replica and minimally modernizing slightly where needed.

The trace layout is pretty much exactly the same as the legacy board with all the traces being routed the same way.
1758685610708.png1758685801461.png

Here are some of the modifications made:
- I replaced the large axial diodes with 4 SMD equivalents. This way they don't need to be manually hand soldered.
- The original board (left image below) used 2 hand soldered jumper wires to be able to jump across a few of the traces. This was required because they decided to only make the original board a single sided PCB. On this replica board, I'm using a standard 2 sided PCB so i'm able to jump layers to be able to serve the same purpose (right image below).
1758685696846.png1758685131281.png
- For the voltage regulator, i kept the spade tabs to be able to use the original large regulator. But i also added a few pads on the backside of the board to be able to install a modern regulator since these older ones are hard to source. The new regulator has the same specs but also has a few performance improvements like a smaller dropout voltage which keep the gauges accurate even when the system voltage sags below 12V. The new SMD regulator also heatsinks directly onto the board with a full copper ground pour on the rear board layer which will keep the thing cool even at the full rated current draw.

The new pads are placed on the back of the board so they are minimally intrusive and the board keeps its retro look when looking from the front.

This image shows the parts populated, but by default i will probably leave them unpopulated and you guys can install your own. Unless there is enough demand to order a batch with them preinstalled. To use the component pads on the back of the board, you just remove the old regulator from the spade connections on the front, and then just populate the 3 components on the back.
1758685922388.png. 1758685370006.png


For the previous idea about potentially switching to LED's, I decided to skip this mod for now but is something we can still look at in the future. To address the concern about the LED's not having the original incandescent bulb look; I would probably make sure to make the design perfectly emulates the original bulbs. I would probably specifically choose soft white LED diodes and tune the design to make them only as bright as the original bulbs. I personally don't like the look of harsh white led's that are too bright either, so if we ever design this in I would make sure it perfectly emulates the old look.

One open concern i have is the thickness of the board since the bulb holders clip through the board and might be affected by it. The old Volvo board is a non-standard 1.4mm while the standard modern board thickness is 1.6mm and i can jump down to 1.2mm. But almost nobody easily manufacturers a 1.4mm board anymore without going to a more expensive manufacturer with a custom board stackup. @rearwheelpeel can you measure the thickness of Rogers board? You'll need to measure with calipers, a standard ruler wont work because eye balling it won't provide enough accuracy. I'm curious if he used a standard 1.6mm board too.

We ran a quick test by 3d printing 3 different board thicknesses and the bulb holder was easily able to also clip onto a slightly thicker 1.6mm board. I just want to double check to make sure it'll work 100%. But we'll also test when ordering a prototype board.



Let me know what you guys think and if you guys are interested in locking in an allocation. I'm planning on getting them fabricated soon so would need to know how many units to order. Please DM me or send me an email at contact@ultraonedesign.com to be added to the list. I'll be emailing everybody when i'm ready to place an order.

For the first revision i'll probably just order a couple boards and verify the design and electrical operation. After that i'll be placing a larger production batch order.

thanks
 
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nickdesign said:
@rearwheelpeel can you measure the thickness of Rogers board? You'll need to measure with calipers, a standard ruler wont work because eye balling it won't provide enough accuracy.
Click to expand...

Hey - sorry I've been busy - I measured Rogers board with a digital caliper, it is 1.8mm thick. Let me know if you need more measurements. I will most likely be interested in buying some of your boards. Thanks!

*** I measured an oem board with the same calipers and im getting 1.6mm thick on the original oem board....

So maybe my calipers are off? The thicker board Roger used is much better than oem. The way they screw down onto the backside of the bracket can kind of twist them, so really the thicker the better. Not sure you'd want to go any thicker than what Roger went with because of the way the warning bulb housings clip in. If the leds are soldered directly to the board instead of using the plastic clip on bulb housings then the board could be thicker.

20250924_151134_copy_4032x3024.jpg

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rearwheelpeel said:
I measured Rogers board with a digital caliper, it is 1.8mm thick. Let me know if you need more measurements. I will most likely be interested in buying some of your boards. Thanks!

*** I measured an oem board with the same calipers and im getting 1.6mm thick on the original oem board....
Click to expand...
Thanks @rearwheelpeel. If you're measuring 1.6mm on oem and 1.8mm on rogers, then i'm thinking Rogers is probably 1.6mm to since i measured 1.4mm on my oem board. Might be a slight error offset there on your measurement but at least it aligns with a 0.2mm thickness difference between the two. Thats good news though, I can use a standard board thickness since sounds like it also worked for you with the bulb holders. It will be slightly thicker than the oem board and will be a lot sturdier. Modern fiberglass PCB's are also a lot more durable than this older board that seem to shatter when it impacts something.

I'm currently wrapping up the layout and creating a fabrication package to send off to my manufacturer. Should hopefully have prototypes by mid October.
 
First batch of prototype boards is in!

I have a few tweaks to improve manufacturability and fix a minor assembly issue, so I’ll spin one more revision before shipping. In the meantime, I’ll be assembling a full board from this run and start preliminary testing soon.

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Random thought for future versions - my only gripe with the cluster is the single turn signal indicator. How hard would it be to add a pair of spade connectors to connect individual left and right bulbs? Considering drilling out mine to add a small bulb on each side.
 
Bricktothefuture said:
Random thought for future versions - my only gripe with the cluster is the single turn signal indicator. How hard would it be to add a pair of spade connectors to connect individual left and right bulbs? Considering drilling out mine to add a small bulb on each side.
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No!

You can’t remember which way you’re indicating ?
 
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I'm interested in one. I recently received an Rsport cluster and it has two traces that are damaged. My skills aren't what they were with a soldering iron nowadays so having a replacement modernized board would be great. Thanks!
 
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