MadaboutKitcars

looking good, all you need is a hatch in the floor then you can "flintstone" when you need to go backwards

Looks good. Who needs reverse anyway! Onwards!!

center console

center console lookiing great..what material did you do the sides with?looks nicely curved.

It's made of 9mm ply then covered with leathercloth. I just radiused the sides using a course grade abrasive paper using a "sesaw" action. It soon shapes up - you just have to be careful to get the same shape along the whole edge.

Robin

console

thanks robin, have just made one, and covering it this weekend-hope it looks as neat as yours.

I spent the Christmas (humbug) hols making the closure plates for the "boot". I pinched Jason's idea and used 3mm ali - although the way I made the opening bit is a bit different. Quite tricky to do - especially the side panels. It would probably have been easier making these out of something like Hardura - but like all tricky jobs its satisfying now its (almost) done.

Some pictures....







Just need to cover them in leather cloth now on the outside and stick on plenty of sound insulation on the inside. With a bit of luck I won't even be able to hear my noisy diff...

Robin

PS - Has anyone fitted speakers in the side panels - or have any good suggestions for some small ones that would fit? (That don't cost a fortune...)

Looks good Robin - It looks as if you've cut your door larger than the aperture, right? Good idea. Would have saved me some grief I'd thought of that.

Did you use 3 mil everywhere? If so, I guess it'd be quite easy to mount speakers onto it, you'd have no flexing.

There's a fair amount of room behind the panel, so I reckon you'd be able get pretty much what ever you wanted in there. Check the dimensions of the speakers you like on the manufacturers web site.

Yes - I thought it would be easier - i didn't have to be so accurate when cutting the hole plus no hassle with making door shuts. Of course it's always easier when someone else has done it first ;-).



3mm for the back but 1.5mm for the sides. I think the 1.5mm will be OK for the speakers as I plan to cover it in sound proofing to dampen any rattles or resonance.



I'll get the tape measure out then....

Cheers

Robin

Very nice it's a job I still need to do!

Hi Robin,
those Ali closure panels look good.
I fitted some speakers salvaged from the rear parcel shelf of my donor. I think they were Kenwood or something like that? They looked quite nicely made but in practise they are not very good.
The space behind your panels is very dependent on the position of the speakers due to the wheeel arch and my car is not symmetrical. Finding the best position is a bit of a three dimensional puzzle and in the end was a bit of a PITA. From memory, you need to mount them as high up and as far back to find the best rear clearance.
With hindsight, I would have fitted smaller diameter speakers, giving more leeway on the exact speaker postion or try to find some speakers with low profile magnets.

Something I didn't do but might work, is to drill some pilot holes and with the panel in place, measure the rear clearance with a small rod.

Actually, with real hindsight, I wouldn't bother at all.

Hope that helps..........
...peter


P.s. You just need one of these...

Thaks for the advice Peter. Like yours - my rear clossure panels are not symetrical. In fact there sems to be quite a significant difference in the shape of the rear tub between the left and right sides (not noticable normally).

I am going to fit some small 4" speakers - there should be room enough for those.

I guess your hindsight is due to the fact that you can't actually hear the radio if you are travelling at any speed! In fact my main reason for fitting a radio is to get traffic reports if I am ever unlucky enough to get stuck in a traffic queue.

Cheers

Robin

CD Player help

I am looking for some help. I just purchased a new (old stock) Blaupunkt from ebay. I plan is to butcher it to give me a remote mounted head unit with the main unit probably hidden away in the boot.

Of course it doesn't come with cables or connectors. Are all CD players pretty much standard - or am I gonna need some Blaupunkt specifc connectors?

On the back there are two main connectors with 8 tabs arranged in 4 vertical of 2 (if that makes sense) plus a further smaller connector with 3 horizontal rows of somewhat smaller tabs.

The manual says that the two main connectors are for all the usual stuff (speakers, power etc.) wheras the smaller connector is for extras like line in and remote.

Any idea's?

Cheers

Robin

Headunits normally have their own propitiatory connector on the back. They come with a loom that goes from that do an industry standard ISO connector.

Some units have these iso connector on the back, if your lucky that may be the case, otherwise you'll need to source a new loom.

ISO connectors look like this:



The black one (left) is for power, remote on, dimming, earth etc and the brown one (right) is for speaker connections. Very often these are all in one plug like the left plug on this:



EDIT: You can get an iso connector in halford if it fits then just chop it up

Thanks Patrick

It has an ISO connector - I took your advice and got one from Halfrauds.

The Blaupukt CD player is rather good even though is is an old model. It plays MP3's, has an Aux connection and the option of a remote. The dinky winky 4" speakers soon struggle though.

Next step is to see if I can split the head unit off without destroying the whole thing. If it looks not do-able I will see if I can get a remote instead.

Kind regards

Robin

Sometimes the old stuff is the best I'm using Alpina CDA-7969 which a pretty old headunit but it's very good

Radio

Well taking the radio to bits to locate the front panel remotely from the rest of it proved easier than I expected. Fortunately the connector that joined the two together had 16 ways spaced handily like a IDC connector (Electronic buffs will know what I mean) "All" I had to was to solder a 16 way ribbon cable between them and bob's your uncle...

Ok - so it helps if you are handy with a soldering iron but it really was quite simple to do.





Robin

Nice work Robin - I assume that you'll put some strain relief on the cable at some point? After all that fine soldering, you wouldn't want inadvertently rip the cable from the board, or bugger up the traces.

Where are you going to mount the remote panel? And what are you going to do for an ariel?

I superglued the cable to the little daughter board at the display end. At the "box" end it is clamped nicely between the cover and PCB with a strip of foam rubber. You couldn't swing on it but it is reasonably secure



The display and controls are going on the handbrake console. The main unit - either in the boot or behind the driver seat. It's out of sight in the boot but perhaps a bit vunerable to careless dragging out of luggage. Also the CD is not very accesible then. So perhaps behind the seat with a cover over it.

To answer your other question - yes I changed my mind about the colour (again). This time though I will stick with it as a just bought a length of matching (Jaguar) carpet for the transmission tunnel and footwell sides.

Robin

nice work

Robin

How does your Blaupunkt hook up to an MP3 player?
Does it have a cable/socket in to the back of it?

Was this a one off purchase on ebay?, or are there more available - it seems to suit fitting remotely, with relative ease?, and definitely worth considering.
What speakers are you planning to fit, and where will you mount them?

Mike

There is an aux input at the rear. I won't be using an MP3 player myself but I guess you could connect one here.

Yes - it was an new old stock purchase from ebay. The seller was "wilcodirect". I don't know if he has any more but it was a bit of a bargain at £35 - even if it is an old design. I also managed to buy an infra red remote for it for a tenner - which I probably don't need now.

It was pretty easy to remove the front panel and mount it remotely as long as you are handy with a soldering iron.

I am using some very small (4") speakers mounted in the rear quarter panels. They are a budget type from one of the better speaker makers (name escapes me atm. EDIT Vibe). They sound OK but you have to crank the volume up as they are not very efficient.

While we are on the subject of radios - has anyone tried one of those cheapy amplified aerials that sticks to the windscreen? I though it would be equally at home on the inside of the rear tub....

Robin


Robin

Yes, I tried one of those stuck under the scuttle.
It works but probably a proper aerial would be better. It may be better in the rear tub away from all the engine electronics and loom, etc.
...peter

Centre Console

I completed the centre console today. Just need to mount the radio body now and that's another milestone. I have also almost completed all the trim (other than the carpets which I will do after painting)



Hmm - next time I photo something I must remove the mucky fingerprints first....

Next job - polishing the bonnets. I have bought £50 of polishing mops and gunge. It looks like it's gonna be a bit messy though.....

Robin

Hi Robin,
nice radio fitting.
Keep us posted on progress of your bonnet polishing.

This guy managed it.......

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47180813@N02/4334707270/sizes/l/

...peter

Awesome picture. Not a finger print in site.... I wonder if he wears gloves when driving it LOL!

I wasn't expecting to get a finish anywhere near as good as that but it's something to aim for. Unfortunately I have a couple of very deep scratches and if I polish the bonnets to too high a sheen I think they will stick out like a sore thumb. So the current plan is to go for a more matt finish. Apparently you can adjust the finish by using different grades of polishing paste.

Anyway - its a job I am looking forward to as it is another step towards getting it painted!

Stoneliegh will be interesting this year if we all manage to get there with finished finished cars!

Robin