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Thread: dodint's Automotive Evolution

  1. #561
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
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    Z3 owners do something similar.

    There is 1 to 2" between my seatback and the bulkhead that I might investigate. My seat rails look really clean so I don't think they're binding with rust, but it is a common issue that the seats don't travel all the way back because the carpet gets caught in the rail. Shimming the rail with quarters is the cheap solution. I'll look into it as I'm not precisely sure how far the seat should move back.
    The only issue there is that my head exists inside that cutout in the door ceiling. Moving backwards just moves my head back more and the helmet is already resting against the edge of that cutout and the seatback. Much like the foam procedure it's possible it might give me more knee room but I may have to stoop differently to get in. It's weird.

    Russ is welcome to come track it whenever he wants.

  2. #562
    Bad Taste novicius's Avatar
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    Sounds like you're sitting in the sweet-spot right now.

  3. #563
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
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    Since I'll be moving slowly, probably slower than the Mustang, I need to make sure I can turn my head and see around me. Will probably have to do the convex mirror upgrade as well since the car does have a pretty big blind spot due to the rear fender flaring being wider than the front.

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  5. #565
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
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    Amazing. I've never seen that particular one.

    The light from the cars/trucks behind me in traffic is already bad enough, can't imagine adding that.

  6. #566
    Bad Taste novicius's Avatar
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    Common in taxis south of the border, in my experience.

    In all seriousness I'd imagine you'd only use it when you're tracking the car, not just driving around on public roads.

  7. #567
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
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    It costs nearly twice as much ($34!) but I prefer this style:


  8. #568
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
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    Also, when I tint the windows I'm going to apply a very light tint to the rear window. It will dull some of those blinding lights. The side windows are getting the same dark tint the MINI has, though.

  9. #569
    Administrator dodint's Avatar
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    Given the weather the car hasn't left the garage since I washed it. Have started to tool around and do some small things. I took off the front license plate bracket which was a bit of an eyesore really, and unnecessary in my jurisdiction. When I pulled it off it was housing a large puddle of water which had begun to rust the fasteners that were holding it on. This particular bracket used the existing fasteners for the rock shield, so no holes were drilled into the fascia to mount it. I also removed the dead pedal from the footwell. Not even sure why it's there, the car is a manual so it had four 'pedals' down there. It was a bit of a danger because on the highway I would slip my left foot behind it to stretch out and it would be obstructing my ability to cover the clutch and/or brake if I had a panic situation. Now it's all clear.

    I'm putting a project together to address the broken speedo. After a little investigation I'm fairly certain it's simply a broken angle drive. There is a plastic disc in the hub that spins a rod, and the force of the spinning rod turns the angle drive that then spins the mechanical speedometer cable. That lower speedometer cable runs from the hub to a box under the dash that counts mileage to activate an idiot light in the dash, it lights every 30,000 miles to remind you to change spark plugs and 02 sensors. A second cable runs from the box up to the back of the speedometer in the instrument cluster. In a way it's kind of nice because if the angle drive seizes and tears up the cable in the process, you only have replace the bottom cable which is easy to access. You can see the yellow lambda counter here, and the upper and lower cables coming from it, they both actually look very new:



    That yellow lambda box is simply a coupler that mates the two cables and a single electrical wire that runs up and out to the idiot light. It has a reset lever on it so you can reach under there and roll it back when you've changed out the parts. Then 30k miles later the light will come on again.

    The aftermarket has supplied a one piece cable so you can delete the lambda counter. This has the benefit of deleting the annoying idiot light occurrence. Also it delivers smoother operation of your speedometer needle as the mechanical force is routing through fewer joints to get from the hub to the speedometer. As an overall design there are also fewer moving parts to have fail, and there is a theory that over tightening the cable at the lambda box is the reason that angle drives bind in the first place. And, deleting that box and its bracket is one less thing for my giant feet to come in contact with or possibly break. I like the idea of keeping things simple if possible. I have to order the cable from DeloreanGo in Europe but I have plenty of time since I won't be driving it regularly for a few more months.

    Further, DMC-H makes a tripometer reset shaft. The one on my stock speedometer is broken as they're a bit fragile so I'll probably upgrade that while I'm in there.

    Here is where it becomes a project. 'While I'm in there' I'm going to revert back to the stock 85mph speedometer. And since I have the dash apart for that I'm going to continue converting all of the cars lights to LEDs. It reduces the draw on the electrical system, particularly when you're parked with the doors open at car shows, and they provide a nice sharp light that should outlast the life of the car. The pics are not great but here is the comparison between incandescent bulbs and well selected LEDs:





    Including the dome light I need to fix I should need to purchase about 17 LEDs which isn't too bad, they'll be a direct fit into the stock board and housings. My door lights are already converted over.

    I have some questions I have to run by the DMC community before I do this but this is the first substantial thing I plan to do with the car. Supposedly taking the binnacle off is a real pain in the ass. Someone suggested swapping the under dash nuts with wingnuts to make it easier to get back in there in the future which is a pretty good idea.

    It's supposed to be in the 50s and rain the next two days straight. If it clears up Sunday or Monday I'll probably take it out for a spin to get all the moving parts some exercise. I'm still waiting on the title so for now it's still running the Mustang's plate.
    Last edited by dodint; January 10th, 2018 at 08:56 AM.

  10. #570
    Bad Taste novicius's Avatar
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    The dashlights mod looks like a must-have.

    What's wrong with the steering wheel that you want to replace it? Looks 90-95% good...

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