since putting the 700r4 i've always wondered what gear i have selected.
the 72's don't actually have a gear position indicator under the lens, so i have been thinking of way to overcome this.

this is what i've come up with so far.
nice of them to leave a gap in between 'P' and 'R', enough to fit a 0.560" smd led display.
went with a yellow display to match the vette, or could have used red.

came up with a simple poor mans logic circuit to activate a 7 segment display when switched by selector.



1st test, well one that displayed correctly, had a couple crossed connections.


keeping the display thin allowed it to still mount under the ashtray door slider, which works fine.
i have placed a piece of thin transparent black plastic under the original clear plastic label.
when switched off, you cannot even see the display.



as for activating the switches, i tried to think of all sorts of ways, rods with micro switches, magnetic reed switch.....
from simple to extreme, but in the end settled on the Dakota Digital GSS2000 unit.
it has a rotary encoder that sends a signal to a programmable control unit that then outputs either a '+' or '-' signal depending on the resistance.
it mounts onto the side of the trans and connects to the linkage.
if i use the '-' output, then it will earth my circuit displaying the appropriate gear.


just waiting on the GSS2000 to be delivered, then will have a go at setting it all up permanent.

Dakota Digital do a range of lights or numerical displays that connect to their control unit.
unfortunately their display is too large for where i wanted to mount it, so i came up with my own idea.

 

Nice:-)

 

i mounted the encoder onto the shift bracket it's self.


i ended up removing the factory selector switch and used the Dakota control box to activate the reverse lights, and park/neutral safety.
gave me a bit more room under the console to fit everything back in.

here's a shot showing the display in operation.