Wires. Switches. One at a time. Measure, cut, strip, fit the end, solder, connect, etc. etc. Little wires.
Ed, this is going to be one beautiful, special, and hopefully valuable car when you're finished. After all of the artistry that you've put in I wish that you could keep it (and give me a ride in it), but I understand the need to sell. I hope I get to see it before it moves on. Truly beautiful!
Accusump wired in and works with the switch. Fuel pump comes on with the key. Cut, strip, crimp, solder, heat-shrink....
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I've spend the last two days under a confined dash of a Berrien ( Meyers clone) dune buggy. It's hell to get into,... you roll over the side panel, then with the palms of your hands on the floor, tuck your knees against your gut and figure out how to roll a 180 onto your back....Only to discover the wire crimpers are still over on the bench... getting out from underneath there is a physical contortion event that tests your agility.
edsnova posted:...Cut, strip, crimp, solder, heat-shrink....
Satisfying work, though.
Nothing else in life has a more predictably positive outcome. (From reading this thread, apparently nothing else in the building of a Spyder does, either.)
First there are nine more connections to do, then five, then done.
I love the smell of rosin-core solder in the morning.
Love this part. Like Mitch says, it's steady, logical work with (usually) satisfying outcomes. It's looking good, Ed.
"Nothing else in life has a more predictably positive outcome. " then there is the negative connections to do :")
Ray, your fears are groundless.
Sacto Mitch posted:
Ray, your fears are groundless.
That's going low...
Ed, I know it's too late to say this now.
Wiring the dash is sooo much easier to do if you build a dash harness and make the connections on a terminal block installed in front of the drivers door. You get rid of 50' of useless 16 gauge wire serving instrument and warning lights. A 3 watt bulb does not require 16 gauge wire. The harness will be about the size of your index finger. I put it all in shrink wrap.
Horns work. I put the switches in for fitment check. The wiper switch wouldn't reach the top right hole so I disconnected the + wire and put it on my other switch (seat heaters, I think). I like the way it's looking. But.
I think I've got to pull the steering column and rebuild it shorter. Here's a real one. Looks like the wheel is about 2-2.5 inches closer to the gauges than mine.
Weird. I measured all this like a year and a half ago, sat int he car with the wheel in my hand. Thought I had it pretty right.
But with the signal switch on it, the thing looks like it's farther out. I'm not sure how this has come to be.
Maybe it's an optical illusion. Anyone want to share with me their measurement from the back of the steering wheel to the binnacle eyebrow?
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From the back of my wheel to the eyebrow is 3.75".
I have a Nardi wheel that's 15.25" across, if that matters. Your wheel looks bigger.
I’m sure measurements would be more helpful, but here are some pics I snapped a month ago.
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Ed, I don't know Spyders, but making the wheels in the two photos the same size and comparing may make things a little clearer:
- The two photos are taken from different angles and with different lenses - the older car was shot with a longer (more telephoto) lens, so the perspective is compressed. Near things seem closer to more distant things than in the other photo.
- That said, it looks like the steering column in the original may emerge from the dash a little lower (or maybe farther from the tach) than in your car.
- It looks like the steering column in the original may be at a different angle from the horizontal, maybe angled a little higher, so if the two hubs were in exactly the same place, the top of the wheel in the original would end up closer to the dash
- The top of the eyebrow in the original may extend out from the dash a little farther than in your car.
- The 'collar' on the steering column in front of the wheel (whatever that's called) seems to be wider on your car than in the original.
- It's very possible, though, that I'm delusional. The older I get, the less I seem to understand about how many things work in this world.
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Ape man here: put it closer to the dash. It’s nice that it fits you, but it’s gotta fit a wider range of buyers than a subset of men under 5’6” who weigh less than 150 lbs.
Thanks, guys. My wheel is 5 inches from the top of the eyebrow. I could maybe tuck it in an inch if I pull the shaft and cut it and re-slot it for the coupler, then pull the column, cut off the mount and weld it back on an inch further up. Doing that would push the signal switch in an inch too, to about an inch and three quarters from the dash.
I was all set to get on with it just now when I reached down and pulled the light switch.
If I push that signal switch housing in an inch it'll be very tight to the light switch.
I do think when I tighten up the light switch it should straighten out and clear OK though.
That should leave the wheel about 4 inches off the dash, pretty close to where Carlos G's is.
I also figured out how this happened.
When I popped the wheel on a month or two ago and discovered the steering was a bit sloppy, I also noticed that the steering box was cocked forward a few degrees. The shaft from the box was not lining up perfectly to the steering shaft.
So I turned the box just a little on the beam so the shafts lined up, then tightened everything down. That probably pushed the steering wheel into the cockpit about an inch.
@Kevin - Bay Area I really like that A car. Had not seen that one before.
@Stan Galat I'm 5'7" and 155 don't make me come over there.
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Update:
3.75 inches, give or take a quarter inch, depending on how deep I drive in the coupler thing before clamping it down. Tomorrow I'll repaint the column and reassemble.
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Good job, Ed. I don’t think you would want it any closer than that.
That is a lot better both visually and for the driver. Nice work.
We'll get there yet.
Today I finished soldering/heat-shrinking the rear subharness.