The big experiment - amateur 3B shenanigans

[Nj]

cheers Paul, that's all good reading. looks like I need to get my multimeter out.

[Nj]

Bit more tinkering today. everything is taking an eternity. Looks like someone has cut 3 out of 5 seatbelts so I have to replace each one. aghh!

couple of questions about electrics.
1) what is the single spade connector for on the power side of the head unit wiring loom? I see an additional plug on the part with the speaker wires and assume that was for the original stereo. spade connector looks a bit odd though.


2) I have a bit of loom with a label on it reading "L7 - 895.971.733 B MKR 15.02.90". The red connector is there but the black one has been cut off. What are these connectors for please?


Should be like this (old loom cut off but this bit wasn't labeled. doh!)


3) I connected this chap to the corresponding place on the brake pedal and whe
n I braked the left side repeater lit up. Only noticed because I was putting the car into the garage and it reflected off the wall. What the hell does that mean? I haven't been able to check the other lights. I'll need an assistant for that.


cheers lads

[Nj]

Also - anybody good with bonnet catches? Stuck the new bonnet on and it seems to close ok but the left catch is.. well.. catching. when the cable is released the passenger side unlocks ok but the driver's side doesn't. I had to poke the tubular bar back and out of the way to release it. (the thin bar under tension that sits in the slot and locks the catch until the cable pulls it out to the side)
would the bonnet being slightly off to one side cause this? can't quite get my head round it.

[Nj]

A reasonable afternoon yesterday at the car despite leaving with frozen feet after standing in a puddle at some point.
New rear seatbelts in, shelf edges in, back seats and bolsters etc, parcel shelf, spare wheel etc. Looks kinda like a normal coupe from the back now.
I sorted out the boot not closing issue by taking the seal off and redoing it, pushing it on with as much force as possible. Seems to have done the trick and now locks.

Managed to wrestle the ECU into place too. I was having a really hard time until I found that I still had a metal sleeve on the old one and a plastic one exists in the car in place . must be different for the 'with A/C" cars. so I felt a bit of a dumbass but at least it's in now. trims replaced here and there so the passenger side is all looking good apart from the missing glovebox. My dash came out of a car without A/C and has a bigger glovebox. I sent it to James (Terrybullwon) but he can't get it to fit his dash that had the smaller glovebox. So I now need a small glovebox and brackets or if that doesn't work i'll need the whole sodding dash.. or a non A/C blower unit (like the one I sent to James) again..

Further to my strange sidelight coming on while braking issue when I started it yesterday there's no life in the speedo, fuel gauge etc. the backlights come on but the dials don't work. I haven't looked but it might be a fuse (I hope). one more time..

The bonnet continues to confuse me. Is there an art to getting it lined up right? When I close it it doesn't quite go down all the way on the driver's side and it locks tight so that I have to get in with a screwdriver to release it on that side. maybe the catch is coming out to one side of the tubular bit it locks into. anyway.. that's to be investigated too.

All these small things are really adding up. I'm particularly looking forward to replacing the driver's seatbelt, which involves bringing through the whole Procon Ten cable from under the cabin and feeding the new one through to replace it. The 3Bs seem to have one solid cable all the way but the pdf manual that Paul N sent me suggests that later models have a join in the cale that lets you replace the seatbelt and part of the cable (join is located under the plastic door trim).

right - i'm off to consider whether the s2 rebuild has contributed to the reappearance of my ulcers.

[Nj]

This must be what blogging's like. rambling away to myself and sending it out into the ether.
I've finally done it. I've bored them all to death.....

[Azman]

Keep going matey you sound like you are getting on very well at the mo. Keep plugging!!!

[Nj]

whahey! Good old Az. Thanks for the support mate. I'll be honest - I sat on the spare wheel in the garage on Sunday morning, looking out at the s2 sat in the rain and thought to myself that you had the right idea breaking the car. Almost started hacking it apart again right there and then. But I gave myself a mental slapping, reminded myself it only has 103k on the engine and got stuck in again. come on self! I need the Rocky music belting out at me while I do the rest

[Azman]

good old boy keep it going...... I'm starting again!!!

[Nj]

starting a major project again? oooh! thought you were getting sensible with the slipper wagon?

[ciaranthemurph]

Just throw away the normal seatbelts and put in some harnesses. They are so easy to get into and no hassle at all! Good in a crash too!

[Nj]

Just throw away the normal seatbelts and put in some harnesses. They are so easy to get into and no hassle at all! Good in a crash too!

haha. aye you should know mate.

As attractive as the harness option is I can't see it being a hit with everyone in the future should I sell it on. Or my missus going to work.

[Nj]

windows and sunroof working

avus 16s off and for sale. Oz 17s on.

bonnet is going down and opening now. needs a bit of tweaking. still doesn't want to go fully down on one side though. can you adjust the height of the sprung bit that attaches to the bonnet? the thing (there's 2 of them) that points down and fits into the catch.

looking almost like a proper car. must get the rubber strips on

[Acidburn]

Getting there, and yeah you can adjust them you just need a big pair of grips and adjust the collers that are on them.

[s2_bo]

Looking good.

IIRC the bit you have to adjust is the stoppers that sit on the crossbrace. (i could be wrong though but mine did a similar thing once.)

See here:

IMG_2696.jpg

[Nj]

aha! cool. i'll have a tweak and see.