And So It Begins....

[peteracs]

Hi Guy

Thanks.

Just checked what I have and for the facelift it appears there are two 8 pin and one 6 pin connector. These are what I have presumably from the IE. The pre facelift just has 3 x 6 pin connectors.

Peter

Peter, is there any demand for these plugs ? .......Is this a 3d printer project for someone ?

As Eric says the plastic surrounds for the terminals are normally in excellent condition and it is the availability of the metal terminals which is the issue. On the up side the terminals are actually pretty robust so can be carefully reused. Not ideal, but no obvious modern alternative so far found it is a solution.

Peter

[SanRemo78]

Thanks for the plugs & terminals Peter, I'll have some fun trying to open them up tomorrow!
Guy

[peteracs]

Just something to do whilst you watch YouTube etc!

[SanRemo78]

Thanks Peter, the fun has begun! I've managed to remove one terminal from the plug, used a small screwdriver to open the crimp over the outer cable and then pull the inner cable out of the main crimp. Then a small nail through the crimp has opened it up nicely. I haven't tried recrimping yet but I see no reason why it won't be reusable even if I'm using thin wall cable. I'll get back to the rest of them once the Grand Prix is over. I also need to look at wiring colours and order a few meters of suitable wiring to replace what's coming out and also think about the routing and where the wires en up on the engine etc.

Cheers
Guy

[SanRemo78]

Done. 21 terminals removed from the housing and 19 opened up okay. 2 broke at the weak point between the crimped end and the body. I think drilling holes in the remainder of the tag and soldering the new cables will suffice but if I change my mind later I’ll find another few to sort out.

Right, the strip method was as follows.
First use a jewellers screwdriver to open the end crimp from the plastic cable cover and bend the tabs flap.
Second, gripping the middle crimp in your hand pull the wire out or until it breaks off flush with the bottom of the crimp.
Third put a steel plate in the vice and close it with the terminals flattened tabs trapped up to the still crimped section with this resting on top of the vice.
Fourth step, get a thin nail and a ball pein hammer and start at a slight angle against the terminal to make sure it pushes against the plate in the vice to ensure the terminal doesn’t bend and keep tapping until the nail bottoms out.
Finally, remove from the vice and check all the old wire is out. The flattened end will need to be bent back before it’ll crimp again. I suspect I’ll strip more wire than needed and solder them in place to be sure it’s good.
I’m also planning on using a single multiplug to avoid disturbing these connectors again when the gauge cluster has to come out in future.

[peteracs]

Dash out today to fit the last of the sound deadening and bulkhead grommets.... And therein lies the problem. I think these two belong in there, one above the pedal box and the other to the left of the brake servo mount. Not that I can persuade either to go in yet. So the questions to those who know the answers (I can't see them in the Beta manuals or my disassembly pictures..) are

1. Have I got the right locations for these two?
2. Do the tails protrude into the cabin or the engine bay?

Cheers
Guy

Hi

Finally remembered to take a photo of that grommet position you mentioned which does not belong on your car. Here it is installed in the HPE.

Peter

[SanRemo78]

Many thanks for that Peter! Do you need a couple of spares?

Yesterday saw the heater box installed for the final time I think. Just need to run the hoses into the engine bay and connect up the aircon piping. I think I've finalised routing for them. Today's task is to reinstall the scrap dash and fabricate the replacement panel to the left of the gauges that will carry a 2DIN head unit plus various switches. Then it's onto mounting a battery cut off relay. I hope I can find a couple of M8 bobbins in the garage... I may be starting the wiring at the weekend. Then a trip to Gerrys' for a week will bring it all to a stop again. Hey ho.

[peteracs]

Hi Guy

Not needed as I have spares as well

Thanks

Peter

[SanRemo78]

It's not much but a hugely symbolic step was taken today. Not without a fight though. The simplest circuit on the car, a new battery earth strap was bolted onto the car and to the new battery, a cable run to the positive terminal on the engine bay light and..... nothing. Okay, it's the bulb. No, that was fine. Dirty contacts? Nope. No earth on the bracket so a quick scrape with a screwdriver and a dab of copper grease, an extra tighten up after polishing the contacting surfaces on the lamp body and bulb contacts and - we have light. This is the FIRST time the car has had power running through it in probably 30 years. And a valuable lesson - I need to check every earthing point on the car, the electrophoretic paint process after dipping mean every square mm is coated with paint which might prevent grounding.

[SanRemo78]

Next project is the radio and switch panel, I've had some ally panels laser cut but it's too thick to fold so welding it has to be. And it has to be fitted before the wiring can be finished so I can check clearances for the 2 DIN head unit. It's tight. I've managed to cut the flat plates (3mm ally) into shape to fit the aperture on the bench scrap dash board and tape it together to trial fit into the dash in the car. And things move or the two dash panels I have are very slightly different..... Luckily it's a very very tight fit so I have room to adjust it once it's welded together, hopefully some time this week. It looks horrible in bare ally but once it's rough edges are rounded off and it's covered in vinyl and populated with switches and radio it ought to look good.

[SanRemo78]

Radio panel couldn't be welded this week and I'm away next week too so not much to report for.a while. So, last few days it's been wiring preparation and so far I've finished wiring the rear light clusters (brake/side/indicator/fog and reverse) up to the Deutsch multiplug. I've also done the two side indicators and the headlights up to the multiplugs with the plugs (or sockets) nailed onto either the light cluster or chassis. I've never used the Deutsch DT system before and I've managed to wreck a few terminals by fitting them into the wrong half of the housing and also using the wrong locking plate in the plugs... You soon learn and there are ways to dismantle them. Now I've put a note in the garage on the workbench to tell me that the male plug takes the female pins and the orange cap and the female socket takes the male pins and green locking tab. I'm sure it'll become second nature soon enough!

So, forgot to take pictures of the rear lights going together but here's the fronts - the light units are the Australian Bangin Headlights with Halo rings and Bi-Leds. They've been built into the Lancia housings for a while but haven't been tested until the wiring was done. Each headlight has 5 wires, earth, dip, main, DRL and changeover to indicator. I've chosen not to use the indicator function in the headlight but retain it in the bumper. The headlights come with a "plug and play" multiplug for the headlight socket. Except they're not the 6.3mm ones I was expecting so the multiplug just got snipped off. From the Simtek wiring diagrams I identified the various cables needed to match the loom, snipped some off the loom (supplied extra lengths) and spliced them into the headlight cable, soldered the joints and double shrink wrapped each joint.

[SanRemo78]

And then continued the wiring into the outer headlight, this one needed an extra wire for dipped beam plus the wires coming from the inner headlight had to be routed back out of the pod for the outer one before being terminated in the Deutsch connector. The caps were then replaced and the lights bench tested to ensure they were working as intended and then put back into the chassis. Next task for exterior wiring will be the number plate lights and front bumper lights. Nothing complex there but it'll have to wait a week or so.

[SanRemo78]

And I've realised that there is a minor issue with how I've wired them... Should a bulb fail It'll be a bigger job to change them over than if I'd wired them separately. But hopefully, as they're Bi-LED they'll last longer than a normal bulb, replacement will require a new unit though. I may order a spare pair just in case.

Each headlight can be wired as dip or dip/main. I've chosen to keep to usual Lancia layout with one dipped beam light and four main beam lights. The bench test was blindingly bright, the dipped beam have a great cut off line which will be an easy MOT pass. It'll be a while before I can fully test them in the car as that requires the loom installing, routing and terminating plus reading the wiring diagrams to identify the various resistors needed at the column switches. There may be some head scratching!

[SanRemo78]

Back from Gerry's and time to make some more progress. I've made a bracket to carry a battery cut off relay and a Maxi Fuse to sit infront of the battery, that needs welding and powder coating before I can move the electrical installation much further forward. So, back to the aircon installation today and it was a case of check, recheck and check again so that the right fittings get used with the right size hoses and make a start on plumbing it all. I've started with locating the fixed parts so months ago the condensing radiator and the compressor were put into position. Today was the turn of the dryer and that needs to go on the inner chassis member. Luckily Lancia had prepunched the holes for the support bracket that comes with the Lancia kit I got from Nigel. So, a couple of RivNuts and the dryer was in place, it just clears the gearbox shock absorber mount at it's base and the underside of the strut between the suspension turret and slam panel.

[SanRemo78]

Then it was time to think about plumbing it. I've started with the pipe from the compressor to the condensing radiator (at the front of the car) which was pretty straight forward once I'd 100% finalized its routing. Hose assembly was pretty easy too, the elbows have barbs on them to stop the hose coming off but they don't use Jubilee Clips. Instead there's a cage that fits into a groove on the elbow, just below the locking nut and extends over the hose. This locates a pair of Clic R type clamps which really hold on well and grip the hose at the barbs. There was a slight issue though... My Clic R pliers, from my Alfa Romeo days, didn't work, the jaws couldn't close enough to snap the clip into place. Well, 5 minutes with an angle grinder in the jaws taking away material soon sorted that issue out! Next was the pipe from the condensing radiator to the dryer. I've decided to take that over the top of the radiator pack, actually between them and that's going to require a few holes drilling for some P Clips to hold the pipe exactly where I want it so it isn't chafed. Needless to say I didn't have any P clips so a trip to the local Motor Factors was needed for £15 worth of a variety of sizes was bought! Close of play today has seen one fitted so that both the pipes from the radiator can enter the engine bay without risk of chafing. Tomorrow will hoepfully see the welding done to a couple of parts and one off for powder coating and then the completion of the aircon plumbing!
Guy

[SanRemo78]

Once all the pipes are done and checked I suspect I could get the system charged... Need to think about that one but it makes sense to do that before the interior is buttoned up in case there's an issue anywhere. It also means I'm done with the radiator pack installation, fans and electrics so there is no reason I can't reattach the lower valance and the radiator grille to the car? That'll feel like real progress! The light surrounds may have to wait a little while longer though in case they need modifications.

[WestonE]

When you have it charged make sure they put the right compressor oil in at the right volume. It is specific to these electric compressors and the spec will be given with the compressor Tech Data Sheet. Ebay sellers have it. Also have a UV torch and UV eye protection to hand. If you have any leaks they will show vividly with a UV torch 

[SanRemo78]

Slow careful day today, all the aircon pipes are now installed except the two connections to the evaporator valve inside the car. Everything in the engine bay is tied down out of the way and it's not rubbing on anything it shouldn't, all the clips and clamps went on and all I need to do now is one round of checking the unions are all bolted up tight. I'll need to remove the dash again to get the routing inside the cabin sorted and the hoses nailed down where they won't chafe or block anything else. The only potential issue is the ignition module, the wiring will want to live where I put one hose. Not insurmountable, it may just need a careful bend of the mounting plate. I should get the front end back on this week!

[SanRemo78]

Frustrated.... The "simple" connections to the evaporator turned out not to be so easy... There's a -10 hose that needs to make a ninety degree sharp turn and it kinks right where there's a sharp edge that'd chew through it in an hour or so's running... That means I've got to wait for a delivery of another couple of unions to make the turn and final connections. They should be here tomorrow.

So today's little task was the column stalks, I'm converting to a set from a LHD car to keep the stalks in the same place across the fleet. Indicators & lights on the left and wipers on the right. The mountings don't align as Nigel has pointed out before so it was a case of making up two little extenders so bolt it up. That's done now but the stalks aren't square to the column, there's something fouling them and creating a slight angle plus one terminal on the back that's for the horn that's too close to the existing bracket. That'll need minor surgery tomorrow whilst I await delivery from T7 Design of the aircon fittings.

Yesterday saw the dash centre welded up but that's not playing as it should yet. I need to put that on the bench in a scrap dash to fettle it, probably over the weekend or early next week. I also had a modification to the battery tray done, a panel to sit at the front to carry the cut off relay and 100amp fuse that may or may not be permanent. Having had it welded I had a 30 minute drive to the powder coaters and arrived just as the guy was finished a batch of satin black stuff! Added mine to it and I hung around for an hour so that's back and fitted. It'll need one more hole drilling in it.... Forgot to fit a battery tie down strap. Oops. Unfortunately the original one in the tray doesn't fit the battery, the base is too thick for it to clamp over so I'll have a simple strap over the top to hold it in place. Photos in a few days probably!

[Nigel]

Guy,
I recall having to grind a small notch out of the column flange near the top bracket to gain
the required position of the stalk unit.
Edit to add, in the first photo you'll see the little brackets are designed to
keep everything level, and attached from behind.
Also, the LHD column cowls didn't fit over a large connector
on the left side. I had to relieve the bottom part of some plastic. Hopefully
you'll figure it out better than me!

Nigel