that lens looks heaps better mate, I like it. How will you be able to attach it though?
Good job Dirtbag ! Looks craploads better
Leave the trailer lights......for the trailer i say.
1 votes
Fixing my brothers UC hatch
Started by
_dirtbag_
, Dec 30 2009 01:19 PM
1690 replies to this topic
#451
_LH8VD69_
_LH8VD69_
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Posted 25 March 2010 - 05:42 PM
Good job Dirtbag ! Looks craploads better
Leave the trailer lights......for the trailer i say.
#452
_dirtbag_
_dirtbag_
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Posted 25 March 2010 - 06:02 PM
Thanks dad : )
The beauty of this though, is I get to keep the trailer lights too. They're already a nice sealed unit, and this will just go over the top to hide them.
The beauty of this though, is I get to keep the trailer lights too. They're already a nice sealed unit, and this will just go over the top to hide them.
#454
_mick74lh_
_mick74lh_
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Posted 25 March 2010 - 08:27 PM
I reckon thats a fantastic idea! Should have a really unique look. Look forward to seeing the front spoiler eventually mounted on the car.
#455
_A9XOSS_
_A9XOSS_
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Posted 25 March 2010 - 08:57 PM
100% better, with the trailer light behind
it will still light up orange. match's the
rest of your great work, well done.
it will still light up orange. match's the
rest of your great work, well done.
#456
rodomo
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Posted 25 March 2010 - 11:31 PM
You'll probably find that seeing as though the base car and it's tags say that it is a UC, that the lenses will have to be amber for engineering, RWC and reg.
#457
_dirtbag_
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Posted 26 March 2010 - 01:09 AM
It doesn't matter what colour they are when they're not operating. As long as they light up amber/orange then it'll pass. In Qld it will anyway : )
#458
racean69
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Posted 26 March 2010 - 09:28 AM
comely along nicely dirty.
U should not have changed something just because a few whined about it..it's your car do as you see fit i reckon
(i know it's your brothers car...but you know what i mean).
U should not have changed something just because a few whined about it..it's your car do as you see fit i reckon
(i know it's your brothers car...but you know what i mean).
#459
_dirtbag_
_dirtbag_
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Posted 26 March 2010 - 09:51 AM
Thanks racean69. The indicators were always a compromise, and I had always intended on trying to do something better later on. I'd always had a few comments on them being trailerish, and I knew that, but then my brother started asking about what I was going to do so I figured now was the time to find an alternative.
There's one thing I know for sure and that's you can't please all the people all the time. Who'd want to? Pissing them off is much more entertaining : )
There's one thing I know for sure and that's you can't please all the people all the time. Who'd want to? Pissing them off is much more entertaining : )
#460
_eh-buddy_
_eh-buddy_
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Posted 26 March 2010 - 12:10 PM
tim mate its coming along nice indeed i cant wait till you post pics off your escort if your after some parts for it let me pm me ive got a mate who races escorts in hillclimbs who will be able help you
cheers paul
cheers paul
#461
_nial8r_
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Posted 27 March 2010 - 02:52 PM
your really doing some neat work there mate, i bet you got goose bumps when it first fired over lol and the new idea with the indicators looks the goods now keep up the good work and pic's 
#462
_cruiza_
_cruiza_
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Posted 27 March 2010 - 04:10 PM
comely along nicely dirty.
U should not have changed something just because a few whined about it..it's your car do as you see fit i reckon
(i know it's your brothers car...but you know what i mean).
Ditto that comment, never ever let the whinners put you off doing what you want, unless they are trying to save you from making a mistake like chrome bumpers
#463
_dirtbag_
_dirtbag_
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Posted 27 March 2010 - 04:14 PM
hahahaha cruiza : ) I'll have to have one painted and one painted bumper : )
#464
_LH SLR 3300_
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Posted 28 March 2010 - 09:31 AM
It doesn't matter what colour they are when they're not operating. As long as they light up amber/orange then it'll pass. In Qld it will anyway : )
Nice work
Your brother lives in Canberra doesn't he? Doesn't that mean the car will have to go for rego down there, or are you going to rego it in QLD for him? You're probably aware how strict they are on moded cars in Canberra having lived there yourself, not that i believe they'll have any problems with the quality of your work, but like most government departments they have a habit of deliberately making things harder just to keep themselves in a job 
. I gave up trying to rego my cars in Canberra when i lived there, too many anal rules, i just went over the border to Queanbeyan & regoed them in NSW. Alot easier.
#466
_dirtbag_
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Posted 28 March 2010 - 05:34 PM
Well there really isn't much to take pics of at the moment. I figure you'd all be sick of seeing pics of wiring, and not want to see any more. So here's some more pics of some more wiring I've done : ) hahaha
It's funny that this boring pic brought me so much happiness. These are the reverse lights, working off the T56 gearbox like a proper car should. As you know I'm not a good sparky, so getting things to work that didn't before makes me happy : )
I couldn't find any of the original reverse light wiring in the car so again I had to make it myself. I thought the easiest way would be to find each rear indicator wire in the loom that runs to the back of the car, and tap into that.
The only thing with doing that is you have to be careful not to join the indicators together. If I just ran the reverse light power to both lights, they'd be joined together and would then both turn on when you flicked the indicator on. Not ideal. The simple fix is some diodes, which only allow current one way, and they're dirt cheap too : )
There's 4 diodes to transfer the power from the one reverse light wire to both indicators.
Next job was to get the heater fan working.
Apart from the wiring being bollocks, the switch was knackered. I took the back off and there was nothing inside!!! No wonder it didn't work too well
Luckily Andy (ls2lxhatch) came to the rescue with a replacement switch, and the plug to suit. Thanks again Andy.
After playing with the wiring a bit and fitting the new switch, the heater fan now runs. Yay.
After that I spent a bit more time removing wiring that wasn't needed and tucked the rest away to fit the gauge cluster in. I still have to run the wires to the wiper motor and heater fan, you can see their plugs hanging out of the dash, but at least they work now.
Tomorrows job is to get the handbrake light working, as there's nothing there, and get a horn : ) Filthy minds, the lot of you : )
I haven't found any power in the column for the horn, but the little pin that runs on the steering wheel is still there, so that's good.
I stuck the steering wheel on to see if the little horn pin touches the ring on the steering wheel, but I can't see. I'll assume it does and run a new wire up the column and see what happens.
It never looks like much has been done, but I'm happy with the things that are getting fixed. Can't wait until it's finished though.
It's funny that this boring pic brought me so much happiness. These are the reverse lights, working off the T56 gearbox like a proper car should. As you know I'm not a good sparky, so getting things to work that didn't before makes me happy : )
I couldn't find any of the original reverse light wiring in the car so again I had to make it myself. I thought the easiest way would be to find each rear indicator wire in the loom that runs to the back of the car, and tap into that.
The only thing with doing that is you have to be careful not to join the indicators together. If I just ran the reverse light power to both lights, they'd be joined together and would then both turn on when you flicked the indicator on. Not ideal. The simple fix is some diodes, which only allow current one way, and they're dirt cheap too : )
There's 4 diodes to transfer the power from the one reverse light wire to both indicators.
Next job was to get the heater fan working.
Apart from the wiring being bollocks, the switch was knackered. I took the back off and there was nothing inside!!! No wonder it didn't work too well
Luckily Andy (ls2lxhatch) came to the rescue with a replacement switch, and the plug to suit. Thanks again Andy.
After playing with the wiring a bit and fitting the new switch, the heater fan now runs. Yay.
After that I spent a bit more time removing wiring that wasn't needed and tucked the rest away to fit the gauge cluster in. I still have to run the wires to the wiper motor and heater fan, you can see their plugs hanging out of the dash, but at least they work now.
Tomorrows job is to get the handbrake light working, as there's nothing there, and get a horn : ) Filthy minds, the lot of you : )
I haven't found any power in the column for the horn, but the little pin that runs on the steering wheel is still there, so that's good.
I stuck the steering wheel on to see if the little horn pin touches the ring on the steering wheel, but I can't see. I'll assume it does and run a new wire up the column and see what happens.
It never looks like much has been done, but I'm happy with the things that are getting fixed. Can't wait until it's finished though.
#467
_Yella SLuR_
_Yella SLuR_
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Posted 28 March 2010 - 06:40 PM
Your right mate, just reminiscing the days of old where people would seriously rip into peeps for being original!!! Good to see your ripping into cars and not people.cruiza........ : ) Yella SLuR, by "ripping torana bits to shreds" I assume you mean "fixing them and making them lovely"? : ) haha.
Edited by Yella SLuR, 28 March 2010 - 06:42 PM.
#468
View GaragePosted 28 March 2010 - 07:39 PM
This build would put a horn on a jellyfish...Tomorrows job is to get the handbrake light working, as there's nothing there, and get a horn : ) Filthy minds, the lot of you : )
#470
_evil UC hatch_
_evil UC hatch_
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Posted 28 March 2010 - 08:08 PM
I'd love to see that!!!!!! : )
what ever floats your boat mate...
#471
_UNVSM8_
_UNVSM8_
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Posted 28 March 2010 - 09:27 PM
Hey! nice work! i was just wondering where you got those diodes from and are they a special type? i need something of the sort for a project im working on
Thanks Ben
Thanks Ben
#472
_@milco@_
_@milco@_
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Posted 28 March 2010 - 10:23 PM
jaycar, or any electronic store should have them.
#473
_dirtbag_
_dirtbag_
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Posted 29 March 2010 - 06:26 AM
Yes, @milco@ is right. I bought all the stuff I needed from jaycar. Dick Smith used to be really good for this stuff too but this time round they didn't have anything.
#475
_dirtbag_
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Posted 30 March 2010 - 06:50 PM
Well the car now has a horn : )
There was no wiring at all for the horn so I had to run a wire up the column to the little button thingy, then through a relay then to the horn.
The relay is up under the dash, out of harms way, but still easy to get at if necessary.
I also had to get the handbrake light working. After mucking about with the switch for a while I got it working, and then ran the wire to the dash light. It's nice to have all the little things working now.
I just taped the handbrake light wire to the floor. The carpet will hold it once it goes in.
See the lights in the dash working!!! YAY!!!! : )
I bolted the new engine covers on, refitted the brake booster and accelerator pedal to see if the engine covers needed modifying and to just have a look at how it all sits. I like it. It'll look nice and smooth once it's painted.
This is the only visible bit of the accelerator cable.
Next thing I started was to run wires for the oil pressure sender and light, and water temp sender and light. It's pain in the a$ running wires, so I try to run as many as I can at the same time. Seeing that these 4 wires are going to basically the same place, I ran them together. I even made up a really technical, very scientific, fully adjustable and super dooper wire spool holder and wire feed unit : )hahaha
OK, that was sad : )
The new VDO gauges arrived today. These will be sunken into the dash where the original gauges were.
A butane soldering iron with a cutting attachment is good for hacking holes in plastic.
Speedo fitted.
Here's what the soldering iron does to the plastic. It's not too pretty, but it's effective. This is where the tacho will go.
Hooray. They are a tiny bit small for the opening, but with the new plastic lenses and the rest of the dash in front of them I don't think you'll really notice.
I even got the lights working.
The wiring for the lights on the VDO gauges.
Now with (I think) all the wiring for the gauges finished, it's nice to know there's ignition lights and the 0.0 trip meter on the speedo.
Here's the mess on the back of the gauge cluster. Once I'm certain the speedo is wired correctly, I'll neaten this up. I did just notice in this pic that the plugs for the speedo and tacho aren't plugged in, so don't hassle me about that : )
Look!! The tacho is actually moving like it should. The LS1 has a pulse rate the same as a 4 cylinder, and luckily this tacho came already set up for a 4 cylinder, so works perfectly.
Once all this crap is done I can do something about the look of this bit.
Until next time..............
[url="]
There was no wiring at all for the horn so I had to run a wire up the column to the little button thingy, then through a relay then to the horn.
The relay is up under the dash, out of harms way, but still easy to get at if necessary.
I also had to get the handbrake light working. After mucking about with the switch for a while I got it working, and then ran the wire to the dash light. It's nice to have all the little things working now.
I just taped the handbrake light wire to the floor. The carpet will hold it once it goes in.
See the lights in the dash working!!! YAY!!!! : )
I bolted the new engine covers on, refitted the brake booster and accelerator pedal to see if the engine covers needed modifying and to just have a look at how it all sits. I like it. It'll look nice and smooth once it's painted.
This is the only visible bit of the accelerator cable.
Next thing I started was to run wires for the oil pressure sender and light, and water temp sender and light. It's pain in the a$ running wires, so I try to run as many as I can at the same time. Seeing that these 4 wires are going to basically the same place, I ran them together. I even made up a really technical, very scientific, fully adjustable and super dooper wire spool holder and wire feed unit : )hahaha
OK, that was sad : )
The new VDO gauges arrived today. These will be sunken into the dash where the original gauges were.
A butane soldering iron with a cutting attachment is good for hacking holes in plastic.
Speedo fitted.
Here's what the soldering iron does to the plastic. It's not too pretty, but it's effective. This is where the tacho will go.
Hooray. They are a tiny bit small for the opening, but with the new plastic lenses and the rest of the dash in front of them I don't think you'll really notice.
I even got the lights working.
The wiring for the lights on the VDO gauges.
Now with (I think) all the wiring for the gauges finished, it's nice to know there's ignition lights and the 0.0 trip meter on the speedo.
Here's the mess on the back of the gauge cluster. Once I'm certain the speedo is wired correctly, I'll neaten this up. I did just notice in this pic that the plugs for the speedo and tacho aren't plugged in, so don't hassle me about that : )
Look!! The tacho is actually moving like it should. The LS1 has a pulse rate the same as a 4 cylinder, and luckily this tacho came already set up for a 4 cylinder, so works perfectly.
Once all this crap is done I can do something about the look of this bit.
Until next time..............
[url="]
Edited by dirtbag, 30 March 2010 - 06:51 PM.
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