- Fuel Level sender: Both of the fuel level senders in the car are bad and are basically "unobtainium" so I had to figure out how to replace them. Of course, these senders are like nothing you would find in an aftermarket replacement, so I knew I was going to need to be creative. My new AutoMeter gauge uses a 240 - 33 ohm signal (240 = empty, 33 = full) so I looked for generalized aftermarket senders in that range. I found a AutoMeter universal mount (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/atm-3262/overview/) designed to fit tanks with the sender fitted on the top of the tank. The sender has an adjustable shaft so that you can position the potentiometer in the middle of the tank. I figured this would work because if the sender would work as a whole, at least I could graft the new potentiometer to the old shaft.
The sender came in and of course, it would not work. The base plate was too small to fit in my tank and the arms could not be adjusted to move to the angle necessary. The potentiometer on the Jag unit is tack welded to a rod that is welded to the base. I was able to break the unit off and remove it and the electrical connector from the base. The new unit's electrical connection is held in with a nut and bolt, so it was a pretty easy job to fit it on the old base plate. All I had to do after that was weld the new potentiometer base to the old rod. After putting everything together, I tested it out with my trusty 12 volt power supply and found that the potentiometer was upside down. After flipping it around, everything works great! Now I need to buy another one and do the other side time. Here are pictures:
- Information Center. Last weekend I etched the circuit board for the information center. On Thursday evening I drilled the holes and mounted the connectors and LEDs. It's been a long time since I've done this kind of percision soldering (since I was in the USAF) and I realized my skills are really rusty! Also, using a $10 soldering iron instead of a $150 Weller Soldering station (standard fair for the AF) made a difference too. But a master never blames his tools! But I did get the soldering done, cables made up and test and everything worked.
But I still had the circuit board that holds the switches for the gear selector to etch and finish. So I etched that this weekend, drilled and installed all the hardware, created the cables and tested them out. Now all I have to do is mount the switch board on the shifter housing and I'm golden. Here are pictures:
- Center Console Lay-up: I need to get the center console done so that I can finish off the last of the wiring and radio mounting. Last week I reported that the Carbon Fiber vinyl was not going to work, so I decided to do the center console layup the traditional way. I had created the mold in plaster, waxed it and coated it in PVA. So, next was the three hour job of laying up the two layers of carbon fiber and one layer of 10 lb fiberglass. The hard part was keeping the the carbon fiber in all the deep contours while the epoxy set. I really wish I had a vacuum bag system! That would have saved a lot of time.
On Sunday I de-molded the console, and the results were less then stellar! I did quite a bit of damage to the mold where the epoxy stuck (repairable though) and unfortunately there were a lot of areas were the fiber pulled away from the mold, leaving gaps and inconsistencies. I spent about three hours wet sanding the surface but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to salvage it. I still need to do some more sanding and then I plan to fill some of the holes with clear lacquer (probably nail polish since it is pretty thick) sand it smooth then repeat as necessary. I really don't want to try to lay this up again, so I'm going to see if I can salvage it. The good news is that, with what I have, I can at least finish the last of the wiring in the car, mount the radio, etc. Here are some pictures of the console in the mold:
I don't have pictures of mold before I stared or the current state of the console. Of course, I'll update as I move forward.
Another bit of good news: I was polishing chrome and pulled out one of the door handles. I found out that the entire door handle internal mechanism is held together by two screws! So I can remove the screws and send the pieces to the chrome shop. This should cut down on some of the dissemble cost and cut down on the price for re-chroming!
