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I flippin’ hate modern mowers. Over-priced, under-built tat (unless you have a really expensive professional one), now with all kinds of interlocks that stop things happening. My concern with the reverse polarity incident is that you may well have fried the PMC module, so effectively your interlock circuit is broken and locking everything else out. I should emphasise that this is a guess based on this being the only thing likely to contain semiconductors sensitive to polarity. I suppose it’s possible alternator diodes beefier be damaged too (though these are beefier devices). Good luck…. The pmc module was my first thought too but from the diagram it should crank without it, I'd suggest getting it cranking first and then see what happens. |
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 740 
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Got a bit more done on the woodwork today. I glued the veneer on the instrument surround yesterday, so was able to trim it today.  Most of the edges tidied up. Still the switch holes to open up.  Also trimmed and started to sand the passenger side of the dash.  Didn’t take a pic, though I should have, because it is a milestone of sorts. Because I finished the colour sanding slash compounding slash polishing! That should have been in caps. At last the terror is over. I hate that part of a paint job, satisfying as the finished product is. No matter how much paint you think you’ve put on, there is that terrible fear of rubbing through. But it’s all finally been deemed ‘good enough’. By no means perfect. That continues to elude me. But it’s pretty good. You would have to look pretty closely to pick the faults. It’ll get a pass from most lookers. So I put my besplattered overalls in the wash and got a fresh pair. I’ve been wearing them for weeks, determined not to splatter more than one pair. And since I’ve discovered 1500 grit Trizact pads for the DA sander there’s been more splatter than usual! And in mower news, all is good. Thanks for the advice men. As I said the blown fuse was replaced, but I didn’t have a 20 amp. And apparently 10 amp will not do. I was about to order a new switch/ module and I thought to take another look at the fuse. Blown. So I went and got a 20 amp and away it went. Then I had to get the grass under control, so that explains why I didn’t get as much car stuff done as I would have liked. But the yard looks better for it. Thanks. |
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Yay, a good win on the mower, excellent.
Always a milestone to finish the paint.
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,348
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Eagerly awaiting shiny paint pictures.
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact
Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300
EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus - Mercedes W212 E250
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 740
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Thanks for the nice words, Phil. I missed your post on the change of page. Yep, Mark, it’s nice to fix something in not much time and the cost of a fuse. And yes to the milestone, but I’m afraid I might jinx it if I get too cocky! Just for you Davey! The last piece ( I hope ).  Put the rear windscreen back together. This is a beautifully made piece of over complicated design. Two lovely aluminium castings and 33 screws (!) to hold them together. And two pieces of glass. It alone must have just about sent Triumph broke. It appears they didn’t use Phillips head screws, so putting this together takes over half an hour of very careful work. You don’t want the screwdriver to slip and mark the paint. Ran a 2BA tap into the threads to clean out any paint. I used stainless screws ( with grease to stop corrosion, Glen ) simply because they look better and they were the only ones I could find. There’s almost $50 Aus worth of screws! Blimmen heck!  Glass in place with new rubber.  And assembled.  You might remember I was have trouble with the quality of the last things I printed out of flexible filament. Well I put the roll in the oven to dry it. Just over 4 hours at about 50C. And the result.  That’s the old on the right obvs. I also tweaked the design a bit to make them easier to install and less likely to chip the paint! Thanks. |
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Last Edit: May 9, 2024 8:06:40 GMT by gazzam
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,348
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Suitably shiny. Now the big jigsaw time!
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact
Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300
EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus - Mercedes W212 E250
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 740
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Two day update, was too slack to report yesterday. Made some captive nuts for the 'dicky' seats. The bolts go through the boot floor right above the fuel tank, making it difficult to get at the nuts. So I found some reo bar and turned it down, drilled and tapped a 1/4 BSF thread into it. I turn the chuck by hand, in case you’re wondering…  Cut it into 'nuts' about 8mm thick. Then welded them to pieces of flat.  Plated so they won’t rust.  Then drilled suitable holes in the underside of the ply, and screwed them in place.  The seats go in like this.  Not bolted in yet, because I made a blue with the countersunk bolts I ordered. I thought they were measured from the underside of the head, but no. From the top. Maybe it’s raised countersunk I was thinking of… Upshot is the ones I got were too short. Also redid the carpet on the back of those seats as you can see. Seeing I had all the gubbins out to plate the captive nut thingos, also did this little lot.  That allowed me to fix these in place, among other things.  Cleaned up an remounted the rear windscreen hinges (and the door furniture). Made a pair of rubber gaskets for the rear windscreen, so next time my helper is in the workshop, we’ll get it in place. A bit too risky by myself.  Woodwork is well underway. Gave most of it, bar the main part of the dash, a coat of sanding sealer.  And that’s now up to date. Thanks. |
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 740
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Progress has been inexplicably slow lately. Didn’t get much done yesterday, not enough to post. The woodwork is pretty much ready to topcoat, I put a second coat of sanding sealer on the newly veneered bits. The other pieces only needed one coat. I’ll sand that second coat tomorrow and maybe get some clear on it. I have some 2k clear left over from a ute that I painted for the son of a good mate, a few years back. I think it’s still ok. And the roof is on. I sat it on a ladder strapped to the forklift. Well, my wife and I did. It’s a bit unmanageable by yourself. It needed to be positioned over the boot so I could get at the wooden strip that attaches it to the body. And today I screwed and glued that wooden strip to the body.  The assist struts were a real pain to get back in. I already had them bolted in, but of course they had to come back out, to clear the roof mechanism. Then I struggled for ages to get them back in. Still don’t know exactly why they were so difficult, but they’re in now. All that remains is to staple the lower sides to the wood, yellow arrow. And reattach the hidem strip, red arrow. And the attachment points above the windscreen have to go on. And, and, and… Plenty to be going on with! Thanks. |
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 740
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Excellent day all round. The weather has been lovely lately, early twenties and mostly sunny with high single digit nights. Also had what felt like a more productive day. Painted this lot.  Mostly the wiper motor and handbrake stuff. Crushed glass blasted, then a brush on coat of DTM, chassis stuff. Give it a couple of hours, then spray a gloss black chassis topcoat. Finished attaching the roof. Stapled the hood material on first.  Then the hidem strip, but didn’t take a pic. Very scary shooting a staple gun that close to shiny paint! Now that the hood mechanism is in place, I could make the trim panels for the B pillar. First a cardboard template. The previous trim was a piece of that awful carpet held on with velcro.  It goes here.  Cut the panels out of composite sign board and fettled the bejeezus out of it. When I was happy with the fit, screwed it into place, just to be sure. Then cut and glued the trim to it. In place.  Got both sides done and called it a day. Thanks. |
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teaboy
Posted a lot
Make tea, not war.
Posts: 2,125
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It’s looking good, Gazza.
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 740
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Thanks Tea. Much appreciated. Didn’t get to the shed till after lunch today, had other stuff to do around the house. Mostly fiddling with a coffee machine. Anyway I got to the workshop and after a quick sand of the bits that got the second coat of sealer, mixed up some 2k clear and went for it!    If it doesn’t fall off in sheets, I think it will be fine. The two glovebox lids are only done on the front. I was too scared of runs to hang them up! So I’ll mix up some more tomorrow and do the back of them. And then clean the gun. Again. Time for a beer. Thanks. |
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,348
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A great transformation. Great work.
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact
Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300
EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus - Mercedes W212 E250
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 740
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Thanks Davey, Mark. Very nice of you to say. Had an unexpected day away yesterday. My wife had to go to the dentist at Port Macquarie. ( She’s having an implant, and it can’t be done in nearby Tamworth ) That’s a trip of about 250km each way. Anyway, when I got up for a pee at about 2.30 the morning she was due to leave ( at 5.30 ) I learned she hadn’t been asleep yet. ( Neither of us are good sleepers ) So I couldn’t let her drive by herself, with only a couple of hours sleep. Sorry about the dissertation, but this is a sort of diary for me. So we got home mid afternoon and I had some work to do on our power system. It’s a stand alone system i cobbled together 6 or more years ago and we’ve had some problems with part of the lead acid bank. But I did get a look at my dash. Two steps forward, one back. Even though I’d used two coats of a premium sanding filler and laid a metric s$&t tonne of 2k clear on it, it wasn’t like French polish. It had sunk into the grain. And then there’s this.  Not happy about that at all. I just whacked the veneer on that lid, without considering the alignment of the grain. Eeejit. While I was discovering that I had stuffed up the grain, I found that the lid didn’t fit very well. It barely covered the hole. Remember it was not an original. I hadn’t made the lid any smaller or the hole any larger. So I thought I’d make a fresh one. Had a look through my stash of timber for some red cedar and the only stuff I could find was too thin. No problem, I’ll just glue two pieces together. Cut them out after taking a cardboard template of the hole.  So I then went to put them through the thicknesser. ( Actually that previous photo shows them after they were thicknessed ) Machine won’t go, on / off switch feels dodgy. So I waste an hour pulling the switch apart and putting it back together, just to find that the circuit breaker has tripped. Eeejit again. Got the pieces to the correct thickness. and epoxied them together.  But I did actually get the doors finished. Those bits of wood are done and in place! Both sides.  Thanks. |
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May 17, 2024 10:07:50 GMT
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Thanks for the updates - great work as ever!
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,353
Club RR Member Number: 64
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May 17, 2024 20:50:17 GMT
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So glad I’m not the only eejit out there. 👍
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 740
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Cheers Phil. Glen, you never need to worry on that score! Been fiddling with the front guards. They certainly aren’t fitting the same as they did. It’s been a bit of a struggle to get some of the bolts into place. The whole thing has changed shape to some degree. Welding the chassis, packing the body on the mounts, that will be enough to make a difference. And doing a dry build was pretty much out of the question, simply because of the amount of support needed to lift the body off the chassis. But it is going together and so far it seems to be ok.  I imagine that the fit of the bonnet will be the acid test. We’ll cross that bridge… Also getting bits ready for the rear part of the under bonnet area. Just a reminder:  And the wiper motor:  So I needed to plate the bits for the wiper motor and the clips that hold the various tools in place. Voila!  Wiper motor has been scrubbed and painted. And the 76 year old grease cleaned out.  Regreased and ready to assemble.  The underdash vinyl covered millboard was pretty sad. This is the back side. All wobbly and distorted, just like most 76 year olds, but I think saveable. I’d already given it a gentle scrub in this pic.  So I gave it a good soaking, then sprayed it with diluted pva glue and put it into bondage:  You’ll have to use your imagination, but it’s under all those bits of wood and weights, hopefully regaining it’s youthful shape. Thanks. |
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May 18, 2024 10:00:15 GMT
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So a 76 year old, given a good soaking and then put into bondage - to hopefully regain it's youthful shape...now I know why we enjoy following your threads!
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 740
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I don’t know what to say, Phil. Thanks? Needed a pair of rubber washers for the wiper motor mount. Drew it on the computer.  Tried to take a picture of the printed part, but it was too black and shiny. Here they are in position, along with the old manky ones.  It really is neat, I’m loving this CAD/printer setup. I worked it out and they only cost about $40 each! Good value, eh? Seriously though, the fun factor must be worth something, right? And here’s the wiper motor in position.  I was able to convince my good wife to give me a hand to rivet all the bits onto the firewall box. These are the clips that hold the tools, the battery holding brackets and the badges. She did a marvellous job of holding the dolly on the heads of the rivets, while I gave them a whack on the other side with the air hammer.  You can’t see the battery doodads in that pic, but all the clips and badges are there. Plus the wiper spindles, because they are now installed as well. Also gave the main dash parts another coat of 2k clear, though I didn’t take any pics. Rubbed it all back with 320 and then 400 grit. I hope it looks the same when it dries this time, because it looked marvellous when it was wet! Only painted the backs of the glovebox lids. This is a test of how the colour of the new one compares to the rest of the wood. Initial impressions are that it’s too dark, but it may lighten as it dries. If not, I’ll veneer it. Thanks. |
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 740
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Very pleased when I went to my shed this morning. The dash that I recoated yesterday is just how I hoped.   Feels like it’s been dipped in plastic. But as I expected the new glovebox lid was way too dark. So I stuck on the last piece of veneer I had left. Another two goes at cleaning the spray gun… The countersunk BSF screws arrived, so I was able to screw the fuel tank cover into place.  Once that was done, I could glue the carpet down, where necessary and get the rear seats bolted in. With the help of Mrs G, I got the rear screen in place. Will have to wait for some rubber seal to arrive before it’s positioned.  Then I bolted on the handbrake and steering column supports.  After that, I checked all the chassis stuff that was easier to get at with the floors out. Made a couple of clips for the brake line and put some split pins in various castellated nuts. Time to screw the floors down. About a zillion countersunk machine screws and cup washers.  Now I can get onto the carpet and, and, and… Thanks. |
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