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Post by myothercarsa2cv on Aug 7, 2016 22:37:08 GMT
This weekend I've been up to my elbows in first child arrival preparation. We have gone massively overboard, naturally, and she now has a nicer bedroom than we do. I might move in. Just needs some finishing touches and splashes of colour and it's good to go.  The garage is now full of crap that needs to be taken to the tip, and not my car. Looks like I'll have to take a day off to do that, there's so much and my weekends are looking a bit hectic in the lead up to the grand entrance... But in between coats of white paint I did manage to lay down some primer on my vented headlight cover, which I bought over a year ago. I'm not one to rush things! But once painted it means I won't mind putting it on the car. Phew. |
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Post by V6 on Aug 9, 2016 10:50:30 GMT
Great work from a soon proud to be Dad!
Just don't sell the 5! When we had out little girl we bought a large car. Then discovered you really don't need to get so much stuff. For example, get a tiny folding push chair and not a freaking huge buggy!
I can't wait to take my little girl out in my 5, when it is done.
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Post by myothercarsa2cv on Aug 9, 2016 11:17:36 GMT
Great work from a soon proud to be Dad! Just don't sell the 5! When we had out little girl we bought a large car. Then discovered you really don't need to get so much stuff. For example, get a tiny folding push chair and not a freaking huge buggy! I can't wait to take my little girl out in my 5, when it is done. Thanks Kinki! Can't take all the credit, I got a lot of help  Absolutely no plans to sell the 5 or the 2cv. One of the things my wife is quite adamant about is that I still have my hobbies and take time to enjoy them. I've got frustrated with my cars and threatened to sell them before, she always talks me down the irony is she hates them! I definitely have me a keeper. Likewise, I can't wait to pass on my love of cars to our daughter as soon as I can! And on buggies, oh my god. Freakin' huge! What's that all about? Where do people keep them?! |
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Post by V6 on Aug 9, 2016 11:23:05 GMT
I went right off the rails and bought some barges when my girl was a baby. Mental new Dad kicked in! I soon got past that stage luckily. My missus actually used a mk2 MX5 icon for a while with a tiny folded three wheeler buggy in the boot!
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Post by myothercarsa2cv on Aug 15, 2016 12:38:33 GMT
So... Nearly all the parts have now arrived for me to tackle my head unit delete project (just waiting on a toggle switch and some wiring shizzle). The speakers aren't yet here but I have the amp, cables and level control which is enough to get cracking.  First thing to do will be to sort out the wiring. Unfortunately, a previous owner did this:  Why do people do this, when an adaptor harness costs under a tenner?! I have no idea. If you're thinking of butchering your loom to fit a head unit, stop and buy this: www.mx5parts.co.uk/radio-adaptor-harness-mk1-p-617.htmlI've bought an 8 pin connector from Car Builder Solutions and some proper crimpers for the 'F-type' crimps (the ones that pinch the insulation as well as the copper). I've worked out that I'll only need 7 of these: power, switched power, ground and four speaker cables. I'm not rewiring the speaker cables - they will be fine for now. I just need to figure out where to site it all under the dash... P.S. A quick note on Car Builder Solutions... These guys are amazing. Dispatch is almost immediate. Parcels arrive the next day. Products are quality. If you're local, it's like an Aladdin's cave of fun things.  |
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Post by cybot on Aug 15, 2016 21:23:11 GMT
That looks fun  CBS were excellent when I had the 7. |
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Post by atlex on Aug 15, 2016 22:13:39 GMT
+1 hold on to all the male space you can possibly maintain. did you manage to pull any decent images from the night of the meteor run ? |
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Post by atlex on Aug 15, 2016 22:18:14 GMT
So... Nearly all the parts have now arrived for me to tackle my head unit delete project (just waiting on a toggle switch and some wiring shizzle). The speakers aren't yet here but I have the amp, cables and level control which is enough to get cracking. First thing to do will be to sort out the wiring. Unfortunately, a previous owner did this: Why do people do this, when an adaptor harness costs under a tenner?! I have no idea. If you're thinking of butchering your loom to fit a head unit, stop and buy this: www.mx5parts.co.uk/radio-adaptor-harness-mk1-p-617.htmlI've bought an 8 pin connector from Car Builder Solutions and some proper crimpers for the 'F-type' crimps (the ones that pinch the insulation as well as the copper). I've worked out that I'll only need 7 of these: power, switched power, ground and four speaker cables. I'm not rewiring the speaker cables - they will be fine for now. I just need to figure out where to site it all under the dash... P.S. A quick note on Car Builder Solutions... These guys are amazing. Dispatch is almost immediate. Parcels arrive the next day. Products are quality. If you're local, it's like an Aladdin's cave of fun things. Nothing makes me feel sad quite like looking at car head unit wiring. it's always a dusty rat nest. of decades of badly done cablings. always. |
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Post by myothercarsa2cv on Aug 16, 2016 0:32:44 GMT
That looks fun CBS were excellent when I had the 7. I like a challenge did you manage to pull any decent images from the night of the meteor run ? Not actually looked yet... Will do when I get a few moments! |
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Post by myothercarsa2cv on Aug 21, 2016 8:45:05 GMT
Little update... In between preparing for our big party yesterday (baby blessing - bit like a baby shower but a little ceremony followed by a massive curry and a booze up ) I managed to sneakily squeeze in a little bit of work on the car. First up I managed to lay a little colour on the headlight cover having primed the hell out of it. Primed:  First coat:  Do you like my spray booth? Hopefully after another coat then a quick sand and polish it will look good enough! Second, I also made a start on the amp side of the audio wiring:  The other side is going to be a bloody nightmare I know it... |
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Post by myothercarsa2cv on Aug 22, 2016 1:01:09 GMT
So this evening I had an hour to myself so thought I'd take a look at 'the other side'. I'd received some goodies from Jass Performance in the post on Saturday:  Very nice too. So the first job which took all of 2 minutes was the gear lever extension:  I wanted to give this a go as I wanted to get the gear knob closer to the steering wheel. First step is to try the extension, as this is cheap. If I find the throw too long, I'll get an eBay short shifter. And if that's crap, I'll go back to stock and save up for a Miata Roadster shifter. Anyway, I digress. The main objective tonight was to get in to my tombstone. The centre console was soon in the boot, and after a struggle to pop the AFR gauge out of one of the vent holes, the tombstone soon followed along with the radio and associated wiring:  Removing the oil temp gauge wiring and what I assume is some sort of alarm, along with some other random wires I'll plug back in somewhere, I was soon left with this:  Piecing together what I could figure out from the old setup, I was able to work out what some of the wires were but not all. Interestingly, my wire colours didn't seem to match what I found on the Internet. Also, the previous owner who had done such a terrible job of wiring the radio up, I believe they have run a dedicated power line direct from the battery. No idea if it's fused or not, I'll have to check this in the light. There's also an extra ground wired in. Not sure why again! Oh and let's not forget the ignition switched feed taken direct from the ignition switch by simply poking a wire in the plug! Oh and the speaker wires were just twisted together and taped. It goes on... Coming back inside feeling a little daunted by this mess, and wondering where it will all end, I googled in earnest to try to make sense of the wiring. I came across a fantastic PDF with it all matching exactly what I have (http://clubroadster.net/resources/pdfs/93sys.pdf): Blue/red - permanent 12v+ connect to red Blue/black - ignition 12v+ connect to blue Red/black - illumination connect to orange Light green/yellow - electric aerial Black (foam) - gnd connect to black Blue/yellow - door speaker right + Blue - door speaker right - Red/green - door speaker left + Red/white - door speaker left - Blue white - rear speaker right + Blue/orange - rear speaker right - Red/yellow - rear speaker left + Red/blue - rear speaker left - Result! It's back on |
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Post by myothercarsa2cv on Aug 23, 2016 9:51:47 GMT
A little less productive last night, but a couple of bits done nonetheless. Alexey (a neighbour also into Mx5s) popped over to lend a hand and while I cracked on with the wiring, he popped out the old washer jets and swapped in some Ford fan type jets. Pump isn't working so couldn't test but I bet they're amazing! There's definitely a knack to getting the old ones out as there's not a lot of room so here's how Alexey did it: 1) pop off the washer hose from the washer jet. So far, so easy. 2) grab needle nose pliers and squeeze the retaining tabs together. 3) discover that, although the tabs are now clear of the hole, the pliers are now preventing egress. 4) swear and struggle some more. About half an hour of struggle should do it. 5) break tabs and triumphantly hold old jet aloft! 6) for the second one, consult John. John suggests using a small screwdriver instead. 7) use small screwdriver and push in one tab at a time. 8) old jet pops out with ease. 9) feel embarrassed. Much amusement! Back to the wiring... After a lot of cursing, back ache and general awkwardness, I had a connector block on the radio wiring loom:  For the rear speakers, I put connectors and rubber covers on them and tied them back out of the way. Moment of truth... Connect the amp and iPhone and reconnect the battery and turn the key... Nothing. Goddammit. Ok, think. It's getting no power. Let's try the wire a previous owner ran direct from the battery to the old head unit... Lights! Sound! Loud sounds. Turn it down... Relief. The extra RCA lead and gain control was causing feedback (well it was £3, what did I expect...) so I ditched that and have decide to go with just an iPhone. I can control the volume on that. Disconnected the battery again and worked up a way of getting the dedicated battery wire in to the connector block (why do they only supply just the right number of crimp connectors?!). Duly done, loom taped up, and finished. Happy. Call it a night. Couldn't sleep for wondering why the 12v live didn't work. It's a wire. Unless a mouse has chewed just the one wire of a complete loom... No chance. Off to Google. Read about the room fuse. Apparently that controls the radio permanent live, the interior lights and the electric aerial. Interesting, I think, as none of those bloody things work on my car!!! So tonight it's back to the car, check the room fuse, and if that works, unwrap the loom tape and refit the original perm live back in to the connector. Jesus wept... I'm just worried that it was bypassed for a reason, having read about these fuses continually blowing, but hopefully given the state of the wiring it's just because the person who fitted the stereo was just not clued up. Fingers crossed... Test fitted the Jass panel too... It's slightly too wide so it bows in the middle. Never mind, I shall take a file to the tombstone and make it wider! |
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Post by myothercarsa2cv on Aug 23, 2016 20:54:05 GMT
After last nights little brainstorm, I got home from work and dived in to the footwell. Yep, the fuse was blown.  It was a 15A instead of a 10A which suggests to me that either the person who replaced it didn't have a 10A to hand, or it kept blowing and so a 15A was tried. Either way, it's now a case of see what happens - if it keeps blowing, there must be a short somewhere. If it doesn't, then the radio fitter was even less competent than previously thought! Onwards we go... |
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Post by atlex on Aug 23, 2016 21:25:18 GMT
wiring from a cthulu nightmare  |
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Post by myothercarsa2cv on Aug 23, 2016 21:33:12 GMT
Indeed Bought myself a cheapo short shift, brass collar, and 120 fuses to cheer myself up |
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