That helps considerably.

I have an old laptop that I might pirate into a car computer, and start getting some basic readings.

I think I might talk some of this over with my father. He is an electrical engineer who has spent most of his life working on non-destructive testing equipment for the oil and gas industry. A lot of this instrumentation would be second nature to him, and since he is a couple years away from retirement, I might be able to get him interested in this.

But then again, he has taken a big interest in video editing, so I will have to fight for time.