Not Feeling Well, But Work Goes On!

Dateline - 26 January, 2013 - I've been fighting a cold all week and didn't want to work out in the cold garage, so I did some work on the electronics I could do in the house.  Last week I ordered a 14 Amp, 12 volt DC power supply to test out my wiring.  Several weeks ago I bought a breadboard, jumpers, LEDs, ribbon cable and micro switches for the for the dashboard indicator console.  So I decided to wire up the LEDs and switches on the breadboard to see if they would work.  Here is what I come up with:

Since I got that working, I then drew up the wiring schematics.  I have a 12"x12" PCB board that I am going to use etch the wiring diagram onto.  I found a great source for instruction on doing this here (http://electrons.psychogenic.com/modules/arms/art/10/PrintedCircuitBoardPCBHOWTOAnIllustratedGuide.php).  I wasn't able to finish to drawings because I need the male 10 pin plugs that will be soldered to the board, but they are pretty close.  Here are the two drawings.

Center Light Cluster including Gear Selected, Turn Signals, etc.

Circuit board that carries switches mounted in gear selection quadrant.

Finally, I hooked up the power supply to my rack of eight switches to see what the LED's look like when they are lit.  I have a choice of either having the lights on all the time, on when the switch is on or on when the switch is off.  They are very bright, so I may want to put some resistance, or wire two or three in series to reduce the brightness.  Here is what they look light fully lit:

So, once I get the male 10 pin plugs in, I can finish up the wiring diagrams and start the etching process.  I also thought about using my 3D printer to print the diagram on the board if the laser printer option describe above doesn't work.

More Electrical work - Auto Headlights

Dateline - January 19, 2013 - Worked on more electrical wiring this weekend.  The goal, install the automatic headlight system.  I purchased an aftermarket Automatic Headlight with daytime running light system last year.  The kit includes a main CPU, a photosensitive diode, an override switch, a set of relays for Headlights and Sidemarkers, and wiring to connect it all together.  The Unit has a lot of features including:

- Automatic headlight/sidemarker

- Daytime running lights (headlights only during the day)

- Automatic lights on with windshild wiper turn on (required in some states)

- Interconnection with security system

Since I'm not installing a security system, and didn't want the headlights to come on with the wipers, I removed those wires from the wiring harness.

Next, I determined where I wanted to mount the unit.  I'm trying to put all my electrical items in the cavity in the center console, so I found a good place to mount the unit, on the bracket used originally for the Air Flow control levers (left and right).

My next decision was were to put the relays.  Well, this car is going to have a lot of relays!  I already have a relays for the ignition cutoff switch, and one for the transmission torque lock, and now I have two more for the automatic headlights.  As I thought about the new wiring, looked at schematic, and the original wiring, I realized that the original had all the headlight power coming from the battery, into the headlight/sidemarker switches then to the fuse box and to the lights.  This means that the two switches have to carry all the current used by the headlights and sidemakers!  That's a lot of amps!  Even thought the new Aircraft switches could probably take this sort of power, I didn't want to push that kind of current through the switch.  This means two more relays.  I will also want some relays for interior lights and auxillary power.  That makes a total of eight relays.

So, I decided to create a relay frame that I could mount on the transmission tunnel access panel.  This required some more sheet metal fabrication including cutting, bending, filing, welding captive bolts onto the frame and the access panel, and painting.  But now I have a great place to put all eight relays, and can even put two to four more there if I want.

The last trick of the day was doing the wiring, which required some spelunking around the old wiring harness.  I had to find where the hot came into the light switches and then were the headlights and sidemarkers came out.  Turns out the Hot and Headlights are in one plug, while the sidemarkers are in another, both on the left hand side of the car.  Since I don't want to cut the plugs from the original center instrument cluster (would really impact resale value), I'm creating my own wrirng by building pins that will plug into the existing harness plugs.  Once I have all the wires set, then I will build a plug around them using Silicon or RTV.

I still have a little wiring to do.  I have to wire the automatic headlight cutoff switch and the actual headlight and sidemarker switches.

I'm pretty happy with how this worked out.  Next I'm either going to tackle the heater fan wiring or the cruse control system.

Starting Work - One Item at a Time

Dateline - Jan 12-13 2013 - Have started working on the car again.  I've got a lot to do and I noticed that by spring of last year, I was getting very distracted by trying to do too many things at once.  So for a while I want to work on only one thing and get it as done as possible.  So, this weekend I decided to work on the heater control.  Several weeks ago I found a wiring diagram online for the Chevy Astro Van, which is where my heater control and vent door actuator comes from, and spent an evening figuring out the pin configurations.  I even jury rigged some wiring and tested that everything worked.  I also ordered a Mr. Gasket choke cable, that I am using to drive the heater core water flow valve (from a 70's Ford Bronco) via the actuator motor.  The valve needs to be in the engine compartment, while the actuator motor needed to be inside the car.  Looking around I found a good spot on the right hand fender well to put the value and a place under the glove box, behind the new fuse holders for the actuator motor.  Now I needed to manufacture the components.  I'd need a bracket to mount the valve on the firewall, a bracket to mount the actuator, a bracket that mounts to the actuator and holds the cable in place and an arm for the actuator.  All of these were cut, filed and drilled out of sheet metal, fitted and painted black.  I used stainless steel hardware and nyloc nuts to make sure everything stays were it's supposed to be.  I may need to build a small heat shield inside the engine bay depending upon the heat buildup, but I can deal with that as necessary.  Here are pictures of the components and installation, including pictures of the valve in closed and open position, driven by the actuator motor.

Summer Is Gone, Time to get back into the Garage!

Dateline - December 2012 - Well I took a long break from the car to enjoy our spring and summer weather buy biking, some yard work, painting my deck and laying in the hammock. Now it's time to get back to the Jag! It looks like March was my last update and I got quite a bit done before I stopped for the summer. In fact, I think it would be best to just line out what is done, what is in work, and what is left to do.

 Done:
1) All the body filler work is done and 1/2 of the car (passenger side) has been sanded and ready for primer, including doors and door jambs. I still need to do the driver's side.
2) Reconfigured Heating/cooling system
3) Heater core refurbished
4) Headliner and all trim pieces.
5) Dash pad has been upholstered
6) A-Pillar covers upholstered
7) Center Console built and upholstered
8) Passenger side door panel
9) Driver and Passenger side door pockets
10) Upholstery for lower parts of B-pillars
11) Driver side lower dash fascia built and upholstered
12) Steering column cover molded and upholstered
13) Steering column turn signal and cruse control/wiper switch re-work
14) Moved fuse blocks from center of dash to behind lower passenger glove box and replace fuse types from old style glass to modern bayonet type.
15) Wiring to move power window switches to door panels - this was a lot of work!
16) Installation and wiring of a battery cutoff switch
17) Installation and wiring of new oil pressure sensor for new gauge
18) Installation and wiring of new water temperature sensor for new gauge
19) Wired Delphi connectors for headlights and front turn signals and side markers
20) Installation and wiring of transmission torque converter lockup

Started:
1) Carbon fiber center console layup - negative mold has been formed.
2) Carbon fiber window switch bezels
3) Driver's side door panel - was done but needed to rework because the door would not close around the dashboard - As Homer Simpson would say, "Do'h!"
4) Driver's and Passenger door arms - close but need some tweaking to get finished look
5) Passenger side lower dash fascia - Need to finish up the glove box.
6) Wood dash - pieces have been cut but finish work is still required
7) Wiring for Speedo - Need to get adapter for transmission to mate with the sender unit
8) Wiring for Tach
9) Wiring for Instrument lights
10) Wiring of ignition cutout switch
11) Sanding, rust inhibiting and priming passenger side lower rear fender
12) Stripping, cleaning and painting trunk hinges

Not Started:
1) Upper B-Piller upholstery
2) Installation and wiring of cruse control system
3) Installation and wiring of automatic headlight system
4) Installation and wiring of center console switches
5) Installation and wiring of radio
6) Installation and wiring of heater control unit including heat valve control
7) Wiring for NOS system in trunk
8) Wiring AUX power to the trunk
9) Wiring of turn signals
10) Installation and wiring of interior foot well lights
11) Sanding, rust inhibiting and priming driver side lower rear fender
12) Sanding, rust inhibiting and priming front lower fascia (below front bumper)
13) Sanding, repairing and painting interior air circulation tray (unit under back deck)
14) Sending chrome pieces in for re-chroming
15) Fill prime and sand the body
16) Sealing and installation of driver side fuel tank
17) Installation of new passenger side fuel tank
18) Cleaning and installation of evaperative control tubing in truck and C-Pillars
19) Re-installing Brake Peddle, Brake Booster and new Master Cylinder
20) Re-installing Steering Column
21) Re-installing Gear Selection Lever
22) Installation of new Emergency Brake level and cable
23) Installation of sound proofing
24) Final Paint
25) Final re-assembly

The good news is that I believe I have almost all the parts I need. Sitting on my shelf right now are:
1) All new gauges
2) All new switch gear
3) Cruse Control Kit
4) Auto Headlight Kit
5) Components to fabricate hot water control unit for heating system
6) New front and rear window seals
7) New side window rubber seals
8) New side window runner seals
9) New door handle, door lock and trunk lock seals
10) New door seals for all four doors
11) New trunk seal
12) New front turn signal, side maker and rear tail light seals
13) New passenger side fuel tank
14) Fuel tank sealing kit for driver side tank
15) New brake master cylinder
16) Sound proofing
17) Carpet Kit

Need to purchase:
1) Radio
2) Transmission adapter for speedo sender
3) I'm sure some odds and ends I've not thought of yet!

There is still a lot of work to do, but I'm pressing for June 2013 to be done. I think I can do it! Keep watching!

Three Months and Moving Right Along

Dateline - March 18, 2012 - I just realized that it has been three months since I've posted anything! The car is moving along real well. Thus far I've worked on:

- Left and right front door panels. Pretty much done although I still have a little more upholstery work to do.


- Filled the cracks in the plastic dash pad and covered it in wine colored vinyl.





- Maple dash is cut. Not finished yet, but good enough to work on other components. (no pictures)

- Lower fascia on passenger side has been laid up in fiberglass, covered with vinyl and the glove box is being constructed.






- Created brackets to hold up new passenger fascia.


- Lower fascia on driver side has been laid up in fiberglass and covered in vinyl. Still needs a little more work but it is coming along nicely.




- Repaired, cleaned and painted the steering column. I bought a second hand column last year because the bearings in the original were shot. The second hand column had good bearings but it looks like it had been crushed a bit (in an accident), so I swapped everything over to the old column and cleaned it up. (no pictures)

- Rearranged the turn signal switch because once I got the wood dash in place, I realized that it would not fit. Needed to make the cruse control/wiper control arm into a fixed stalk behind and slightly lower then the turn signal indicator. I used the original turn signal arm and grafted it to the GM turn signal switch gear.




- Molded the steering column cover in modeling clay ("plasticine") and laid fiberglass over that, then vinyl






- Ordered and received new bayonet type fuse blocks that will replace the glass fuses currently in the car. The fuses will be moved from behind the center dash to behind the passenger lower glove-box. This will work great because there is a lot of space there and I have fashioned the glove-box to open all the way so that you can reach in to get to the fuses! I also have four more fuses then I had before, so I can get rid of the inline fuses that were being used for other things like the rear window defroster, radio, transmission lockout, etc.



- Ordered and received Delphi type water resistant connectors for things like the outside turn signals, side markers, etc. I installed some.




- Started a small amount of rewiring of the fuses but have not done much until I'm finished with the inside.




- Ordered the right fuel tank (the one that is Swiss cheese). Still waiting for that to come in. (no pictures)


- Ordered a carpet kit from a company called Lakewell in Belgium (http://www.lakewell.com/en/products/jaguar/xj/full-carpet-set-jaguar-xj6-xj12-s1-saloon-68-73). Should be delivered in a couple of weeks. (no pictures)

So, things are moving along nicely. I have a few more weeks of interior work to do, then I can start concentrating on the wiring, which is going to be a significant effort, but is the last work to do before I go back to bodywork.

Great Movement Forward

Dateline - Dec 27 – I got a lot done over the last few weekends.  I finished the headliner and four pieces of trim that go around it including the tops of the front and back windows and the strip that runs over the tops of the doors and down the sides of the back window to the back deck. These pieces were particularly difficult because they consisted of a metal strip that required sanding, rust encapsulation and painting, a pressed wood piece that formed the main structure that needed to be completely recreated, a rubber piece that looks like a pool table rail that is glued to the metal piece and about 20 metal fasteners that needed to be cleaned and rust treated.  The car had both sides of this trim, but neither was complete. With what was remaining I had enough pieces to make a pattern for the wooden parts and was able to fabricate those out of pressed board.  The rubber piece was a little harder.  On one side it was complete, but on the other side, there was about 9 inches missing in the back.  I knew I wouldn't be able to source this easily, so I would have to come up with another solution.  Cleaning the metal clips (20 in all) was going to be a challenge too, but fortunately for me, I have a vibratory part cleaner that made short work of them.  



Once I got all the pieces made, cleaned and painted then started assembly.  This had to be done in a specific order.  First the clips needed to be glued to the rail.  Then the rubber piece needed to be glued to the rail over the backs of the clips.  I then had to replace the nine inches of missing rubber.  I did this by using pink foam epoxied to the rail and sanded to shape. Then I upholstered the wood piece and the assembled metal/rubber/clips piece with headliner upholstery.  Then I assembled the two upholstered pieces, using the clips to hold everything in place.  They really look good and I'm very happy with the results. (Sorry I didn't take any pictures of the assembly process, but here are pictures of the finished pieces including the headliner and upper window frame pieces)






While working on this, I was also working on getting the two back deck pieces and two front window side frame pieces that are upholstered in the "wine" colored vinyl.  This was pretty straight forward, using rubber cement to glue the vinyl.  The front window side pieces required five separate steps to get everything glued down because of the multiple complex curves being covered.  But I'm happy with the results. The big challenge with the back deck was the air flow vent in the center of the deck. This consisted of a metal framework with a metal mesh piece inside, and an upholstered wood cap on top. I had to clean, sand, rust encapsulate and paint all the metal pieces, and upholster the wood top piece. I picked a Rustolum flat enamel paint in a rattle can for the metal pieces. It looks pretty close the color of the vinyl, so that worked out well.





I also worked on reshaping the door handles so that they would be easier to upholster.  I added pink foam and sanded to shape, then fiber glassed over them.  I had some problem with an epoxy mix that did not set, so I had to redo one of the handles, but overall, I'm happy with the results.  These will be much easier to cover and actually, I like the look better.  So win-win!





While I was reshaping the door handles, I also worked on sanding and fitting the foam for the center console fascia. I knew that I was going to need to do some fitting after I got the center console upholstered, plus I changed my plans and decided to go with a single DIN radio on top with a cup holder below, instead of a 2 DIN radio. So I added some foam and sanded down the rest so that it will fit in the center console. Now I need to do the fiberglass/carbon fiber layup.



After getting the door handles shaped, it was time to upholster. I needed to cut and sew the upholstery for both door handles as well as one of the door pockets. I spent the better part of two evenings doing that and then half a day gluing the upholstery to the handles using rubber cement. They came out REALLY good, and I’m very happy with them. I also lined the insides of the pockets with headliner material so that things put into the pockets wouldn’t rattle.




Finally, I worked on getting the door upholstery done. I ended up with a challenge that I didn’t figure on when I created the door panels themselves; the depth and steepness of the door opener handle and the carbon fiber inset. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to stretch the vinyl to fit into the holes, so I was planning on sewing an insert into them. However, this turned out to be much harder than I thought, partly because I’m not the most skilled upholstery person and also the difficulty in working with the fabric. I tried sewing in a piece into the door handle area and it looked horrible. So I came up with a brilliant plan to deal with the carbon fiber inset. I created a flat wood panel that the carbon will be glued to and that will then be screwed into brackets added to the back of the door panel. This way, the panel will stretch the vinyl into the hole enough so that I don’t have to deal with sewing.





The door opener handle will be a little more difficult. I was going to try to create a fiberglass/carbon inset that would fit over the vinyl, but that just was not turning out the way I wanted. So I decided to create a vinyl inset that will be glued to the door panel over which the vinyl for the door will sit. I will need to glue this vinyl to the vinyl inset, but that will look much more clean then trying to sew all the pieces together. I may have to make some more adjustments to get this just right, but I think I’m on the right path.



It's really nice to have so many pieces DONE and ready to go into the car.  Things are moving forward and if I keep up the work through the winter, I may be able to make a running date for the Greenwood Auto Show this year.  That's the plan anyway!

Next:  Finish the upholstery for the doors and lay up the center console fascia. Then I need to start on getting the wiring sorted.  After that, finish the dash including the wood and the lower fasciae that need to be shaped, fiber glassed and upholstered.  After that, it’s a matter of getting the rest of the body work done and painted, then I can start putting things back together.

I do have two major purchases I have to get yet:  Gas tanks and carpets.  I also need to get all my chrome pieces in to be re-plated.  But things are starting to move forward!  Very exiting!