Cruise Control

[DavidBrough]

I would like to look at the possibility of fitting cruise control to my car due to the increasing proliferation of speed cameras and wonder if anyone has done this or knows of a system that would suit our cars.

Thanks

[JimVillers]

David .... I have had the Autovox unit in my 230SL for many years. If your car has a manual transmission, it can utilize the distributor to monitor speed.  I put the control unit wire under the rug and the unit loose next to the shift.  A very flexible unit.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ItemBrowse?storeId=10101&Pr=p_CATENTRY_ID%3A100000217663&productId=100000217663&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&rlid=group_listing 

[awolff280sl]

David, I've had the Audiovox unit that Jim references in my 280sl (manual) for about a year and I'm very happy with it. Especially avoids the leg cramp on the long interstate stretches.

[scoot]

Do the above posts mean that it will not work on cars with automatic transmission?

[JimVillers]

Scoot ..... If you have an automatic transmission, you need to install a magnet on the drive shaft and a pick-up sensor to determine speed.  The magnets, sensor and all necessary instructions come with the unit.

[DavidBrough]

Thanks Guys that looks a great system and reasonably priced too. Does anyone have any photos of the throttle linkage servo positioning and setup?

[JimVillers]

David ... Installation is easy.  The servo operates the throttle via a flexible cable.  My serve sits next to the radiator reservoir; the cable runs around the front of the engine, the bracket is attached to the throttle idle damper with the bead-chain attached to the throttle crank on the throttle link ball (this link goes to the throttle valve on the manifold).   Hard to explain but easy to install.

[awolff280sl]

Here are some pix. The black, cylindrical servo unit is mounted to the firewall between the wiper motor and the heater core output hose (my A/C dryer used to mount in that area but I moved it to near the voltage regulator when I re-did my A/C). The servo takes vacuum off of the brake booster vacuum hose nearby. The control line out of the servo courses a gentle 180 degree turn over the valve cover and around the front of the engine in order to loop back to the throttle damper. The mounting bracket for the control line shares the mounting for the damper. The control line then pulls the throttle via the chain that attaches to the nearby linkage (the one that is connected to the linkage coming up from under the manifild). Once you get going on it, it's pretty straight forward.
I've got my control box attached to the carpet near the stick. There's even a connection for wiring into the dash lights hot wire so that the box lights at night. The whole system is pretty slick and you'll love it.

[DavidBrough]

Thanks Andy & Jim that's very helpful, it looks like I may have to move my A/C drier as well.

[awolff280sl]

If you decide to move your A/C drier by the voltage regulator, there are a few things that I found out. In order to mount the drier vertically, I needed a shorter (6") than the standard (8 1/2") drier to be able to close the hood. This shorter height also accomodates the high-low cut-off switch. While there are driers that are designed to mount horizontally, I've heard that they may not be as effective.

[psmith]

Us auto shift guys have an idle speed solenoid that would make a good place to install a cruise control device.