Series 2 Confessions of a skin flint.

Ah, right. He's the one that's driving the price up.

Another batch of uninterrupted drudgery at work has had me neglecting my series duties but a few days off on the horizon should get me back on track.
The switch panel has been finished but to be honest I'm not happy with it. I suppose thats the problem with letting someone else try and do you a favor. It will have to do for the moment but the lettering is too big and the spacing has been cocked up so some of the switch labels are off center.
The good news is whilst biting the bullet and deciding to spend a few quid on swivel ball kits I stumbled across a bargain. The britpart swivel kits (including ball) from a famous on line supplier where advertised at something of a discounted price. In other words they dropped a blolok and put them up at less than a tenner per kit, which seemed strange as the ball on its own was eighty. I ordered two and to my surprise they arrived and are sat in the shed awaiting fitting. Saved myself over two hundred quid. Unfortunately they went back to full price the day after so you missed out. I know, I know, I should have ordered a dozen but I didnt think for one moment they would arrive.

Giving me some nice ideas for mine, thanks!

Ripped out the dash today to begin its rebuild but before that begins I will have to wire in the fused relays to the switch panel (that I hate).

Managed to finish the swivel balls today. Hell of a faff but necessary. Also wired up the switches to the electrics via a few fused relays. So I have working;
TIM........... wired to the clock so I can change the time.
LED.......... wired to the 4 LEDs over the passenger seat so I can switch them off when Blackpool illuminations dont need the competition.
INT.............Wired to the central cab light and eventually the rear internal light when fitted.
AUX........... A spare for future brainwaves.
WORK....... Wired to the rear spot lights.
HEAD......... Head lights now routed through this.
SIDE........... As above but the head lights wont come on unless the side light switch is pressed.
SPOT......... I suppose I will have a nice nine inch vintage spot light on the front one day.
WASH........ This is a momentary switch version that now squirts H2o at the glass.
WIPE.......... I dont know enough about wiper motors to tackle this yet. Not sure how to make this work as there are lots of wires out of the original wiper switch with park and such like so will have to research. May need a five blade relay or some other witchcraftery. Luckily its only a one speed unit.

Once thats done I can wire in the back light to come on with the dash lights and hey presto onto the main dash. The bulkhead will be yoga matted next so its out with the glue again.

Well, after the dash came out I've had several problems with wipers and glow plugs etc etc.
Its looking like they are sorted now so back to customization till the next chunk falls off or fails. I have been playing with the heat distribution and decided to concentrate on demisting. When I sell my only child on ebay I may very well try a webasto heater under the passenger seat for cab heat. Always fancied leaning out of my bedroom window in the morning and remotely firing up the heater.
Ill get some pics of the dash up soon but its more like pics of no dash at the moment.

Oh and another part arrived this weekend. Two potentiometers to calibrate my new fuel gauge. One in the feed from the sender and one somewhere from the sender (I think to earth). Turning the pots adjusts top and bottom end on the needle. Handy if you are tight like me and buy a cheap marine fuel gauge that does not match the sender.

Nice! Sounds like its going well.

Well as promised a few pics of the dash or lack of. Managed to spread yoga mat all over it and rout the demisters. Once the new fuel gauge and other odds n sods are completed I can begin fabricating the new fascia. Not sure what or how its going to look yet but Im sure itll be orible.

dig the fancy pipework for the demister, is that just day to day plastic pipe you can get in b&q?

honolulujoe said:

dig the fancy pipework for the demister, is that just day to day plastic pipe you can get in b&q?

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How very dare you. Day to ruddy day................ PLASTIC






Yep.

well I like the idea, I am guessing once the dash is on the pipe is covered anyway

If it works, it's good ...

I'd hazard a guess that it fits better, is stronger, and less obtrusive than the original stuff.

Gives a fair blast to the glass now.
The funny thing was before I fitted the final elbows and fans it sounded like the wind blowing up your bath waste while your sat on the loo.
No noise at all now everything is fitted. Wasn't sure about the passenger side but the extra bends put a little more onto the drivers window.

Loving this thread. its looking great!!

Passed my test in a 2a, so have some fond memories of them..

ATB

Looking good! Giving me many ideas for mine!

What is it you are using that your calling yoga mat? It doesn't look very yoga Matty?

It's camping mat. The ones you roll up. 10mm foil backed. I got a box of 10 from China for about £40. Having said that I wouldn't like to sleep on one as there only five and a half feet long. I prefer Qi Gong mat as a young executive type forward thinking modern man but I fear my naked exercise to Chineese thumb chimes each dawn may put some off. I know the passengers on my bus don't like it.

Does the matting make much difference to the road noise?

Can't you buy similar stuff for the job with adhesive already applied? Never priced it tho.

Saltlick said:

Does the matting make much difference to the road noise?

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Yes, makes a difference to all the noises, as it stops them being amplified by the springy alloy body panels.

Alibro said:

Can't you buy similar stuff for the job with adhesive already applied? Never priced it tho.

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You cna buy purpose made sounproofing mat, like the camping mat, but much heavier. It has a thick foil on one side, and a powerful adhesive on the other side.
It isnt cheap, though, IIRC to do the bonnet and rear loadspace floor of my Ninety was about a hundred quid. I didnt do the trans tunnel and bulkhead, just stayed with the hardura stuff on those.