Speedo Woes & Looking Back

The speedo - yes.

The car has an electronic speedo, it was driven by four magnets on the propshaft, not very satisfactorily, so I bought a sender to blt to the old speedo cable output from the gearbox, that worked far more reliably, but not so accurately, showing just less that 50% of the car's speed when the speedo was adjusted to the max.

So I bought a "Speedo DRD" from America, & fitted that, now the speedo doesn't work at all. I need to contact the makers to see if anything can be done.

Another focus of my attention has been the high level mirror. It's only needed on the continent because luggage on the rack stops me seeing behind well enough to pull out onto dual carriage ways, so I cobbled together a bullet mirror to fit onto the screen arch through the soft top mounting holes.

Then I changed the way the soft top attaches & there were no holes.

So I have fitted a GoPro quick release to the centre top of the screen & designed the thing in the picture slide into that. It should allow me to see over the luggage & roll bar to check for cunning Frenchies sneaking up in the blind spot.

And one more thing to report:-

IT'S TAXED FROM TOMORROW!!!!!!

Sockets Finished

Home from work early & straight out to the garage. I made up a small wiring loom for the back of the new socket panel, tested it, & fitted it. It's not an easy thing to photograph, but that's a good thing - it's not supposed to stand out, it's supposed to do it's job well, but quietly.

Here's how it looks - bearing in mind that the flash has lit the matt surface, you cant see it that easily in real life. The two USB sockets will run the GoPro cameras, the new 12v socket will run a "battery eliminator" on a two-way radio ready for the "Rogue Runners" tour of the UK later this year. The plan is that the radio will spring into life when the ignition is switched on.

I've also been looking at the antenna for the radio, I've separated it from the radio with a lead, but how to mount the antenna when I'll need to put the soft top on from time to time? I think the solution is pretty cunning, I've glued a bracket onto the side of the forward looking GoPro which sits above the roll bar, so when I fold down the camera, the antenna goes with it. Genius.

Rear Power Sockets

I'm still tiddivating ready for spring.

My focus at the moment is the rear power sockets, up 'til now I've had a clamped on cigarette lighter socket ty-raped to the diagonal of the roll hoop with a USB adaptor pushed into it. It works, but it's a bit ..... temporary.

With the arrival of the new two way radio I needed (ok, needed is a bit too strong) another 12v socket in addition to the two USBs for the GoPros - I HATE having wires trailing round the car.

So, searching eBay I found a pair of sockets, one twin USB, the other 12v, made to marine standards & mounted to a plinth for a good price & this evening I've disposed of the plinth & made up a bracket to fix the sockets in more or less the same place - the small triangle formed by the roll bar upright, horizontal & diagonal. I've made it from black anodised aluminium alloy & I now need to wire it up & fit it in the car.

I've also ordered a speedo calibrator from America, I had asked a friend who's good at electronics to invent me one, but my timing was lousy, since I asked,  he's moved house & become a father, so his time is at something of a premium. Anyway, it should be here just after the weekend, so I can fix another long-standing niggle.

A Little More Action

I'm laid up with manful at the moment, so time to update the blog.

I've realised I've not shown a photo of the 3d printed cap fitted, so here it is:-




In other news I got a two way radio for Christmas, several of the club have them for chatting on the move, so I've been considering the best way of fitting it in the car. I've got a "battery eliminator" (a battery case that plugs into a lighter socket) & an earpiece with Press-To-Talk button, so with a little re-configuring, the radio will mount to the car on a quick release mount, come on with ignition & be hands-free. Unfortunately, all the other bits I need to fit it are still in the post, so I'm a bit stuck.

On a more positive note, I'm signed up for three tours this year, so looking forward to those now the car's running a little better.