Project Leopard - Old School HKS Electronics

When I first got into Japanese cars/ Import tuning, I was mezmorized by the high end Japanese cars that had all these electronics on display. 

Easily HKS “Alphabet soup” or “Tower of Power” were probably the most notable ones to me and left an impression.  The years before stand alone ECUs, these piggybacks were what made a lot of Japanese cars strong. 

I always kept that idea of getting these in the back of my mind, but I never had anything “worthy” of putting them in. So I never really went after them. 

Then Project Leopard came along.  I was going to build a tribute show car and I wanted 80s/90s and early 2000s to have a reflection on this build.

Even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to use these with modern tech, I really wanted to have them on display to give that nostalgic feel (to those of us that grew up with these parts). 

The original 3 I got were the ones I wanted to use. The Turbo Timer, Boost Controller,and Scramble Boost with Trig button. 

At least those can (at least the former 2) be functional. The rest, I don’t mind just having for looks. 

I do love how these looked lit up at night and so I decided to get more if they ever came my way.

I picked up a Graphic Control Computer (GCC) and Vein Pressure Converter (VPC). 

I know, I know.. it’s not funcitonal. But you have to admit how cool it is to have them stacked up. 



There are a few more of these pieces, but they are pretty good sized, so I don’t know if I should get all of them. 

I do have 2 more that want to have. 

One I recently got was the Injection Pulse Monitor. In all honesty, I hope I can use it in some fashion.. just looks cool. 

Random picture from online.

The other is the Additiona Injector Controller. My buddy Chris said I could have the he has as he isn’t using it (I should have grabbed it at the time). 

But seeing how cramped my glove box is with these, it is the least of the ones I want to display.

The M30 center dash isn’t as spacious as other cars. So I decided to go with the traditional route of putting these in the glove box. Unfortunately, HKS never made anything for the F31, let a lone a glove box insert. 

What I also found out is that the M30’s glove box doesn’t drop down as much as other cars or the glove box opening isn’t as wide and angled more upward.