If you have an IS, and have removed the radio and CB modules, the entire LCD is only used to display the gas gauge. Has anybody ever hacked this, to see if you could display the output from say, a coolant sensor? Or with a push button to change inputs, maybe a voltmeter? and a clock?
Any electrical guys out there interested in this? I used to know folks who did this stuff, a long time ago... While not rocket science, it still takes talent - and enough interest to chase down dead ends a few times in trying to solve the problem.
Something along the order of using a PIC controller to translate the temp sensor/volt meter/clock signals to the LCD pins to display the output.
Something along these lines is how the new Valks have that custom programmable message on start-up. "Hey there good looking, you been working out?"...
