Author Topic: And So It Begins....  (Read 185809 times)

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Offline peteracs

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #860 on: July 30, 2026, 09:26:18 PM »
Hi Guy

Maybe a silly question, but how are you determining the lengths of any given wire/loom?

Watching Retropower, they use a sort of climbing rope with labels to lay in the car to establish routing and lengths which seems a reasonable option.

Peter
Beta Spyder S2 pre F/L 1600
Beta HPE S2 pre F/L 1600

Offline SanRemo78

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #861 on: July 31, 2026, 12:21:39 PM »
Exactly that method Peter. Ran a rope from the ECU down the left side into the boot and across with extra lengths taped to it for branches off that run. I’m going to get alternative colours for cables to the front left and right, cables to the stalks and instruments and ignition etc for clarity on the board.

In other news…. I put the dash back in yesterday. The bracket at the bottom to the brake linkage box was standing off it. The left side vent pipe behind the glovebox was resting on an aircon pipe. That’ll need rerouting somewhere. Bugger.
Hawk HF3000 - Square Arch Stratos Replica - owned since 1988.
Skoda Superb Scout 2021. Believed 1of 1 in the UK!
Fiat Panda 100HP and now -
A Lancia Beta Coupe 1981 2 Litre

Offline HFStuart

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #862 on: July 31, 2026, 01:07:53 PM »
We don't have the luxury of a 3d modelling suite so these things happen. Overcoming them makes the end result even more satisfying.

Offline SanRemo78

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #863 on: August 01, 2026, 08:51:40 PM »
Well that's the loom from the brain to the back lights completed! Doing this on the board was 100% the right move. I can stand infront of it, test each wire as I connect the end terminal and the integrity of any spliced branches. The front left loom is started now with all the lighting circuits and horn completed. I need to add another branch to the rear loom for the fuel pump, gauge and warning lights plus the heated rear screen and rear bulkhead courtesy light. I'll also run speaker cables to the rear. I think that's it.

Tomorrow I hope to start running the cables for the right side front lighting and the column stalks and ignition switch and down the right side inner wing for the lights. I haven't found a home for the coil and ignition pack yet either but I'll be forced to soon. Can anyone think of a reason the Bosch pack shouldn't live on the left inner wing? Right side is occupied by the aircon compressor and chassis plate.

Guy
Hawk HF3000 - Square Arch Stratos Replica - owned since 1988.
Skoda Superb Scout 2021. Believed 1of 1 in the UK!
Fiat Panda 100HP and now -
A Lancia Beta Coupe 1981 2 Litre

Offline HFStuart

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #864 on: August 02, 2026, 09:38:56 AM »
Are you keeping the distributor? If not there's a very neat mounting bracket available to mount a Ford coil pack where the dizzy usually lives.

Offline SanRemo78

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #865 on: August 02, 2026, 12:59:30 PM »
That sounds interesting Stuart! I was planning on keeping the distributor and coil as standard but the brain isn't an ECU for ignition and coil pack triggering so I'd need to know more about how that lot works including the rev counter signal feed!

Can you elaborate?

Please!
Hawk HF3000 - Square Arch Stratos Replica - owned since 1988.
Skoda Superb Scout 2021. Believed 1of 1 in the UK!
Fiat Panda 100HP and now -
A Lancia Beta Coupe 1981 2 Litre

Offline HFStuart

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #866 on: August 04, 2026, 12:54:31 PM »
Ah  - you'd need something to trigger the ignition it'd need at least an rpm signal but ideally TPS or MAP as well.

I'm using Emerald so all that's handled in the ECU. Something like a megajolt would do the ignition as stand-alone though. They all have the option of a Tacho driver for an extra £20 or so.

I'll dig through my old history and see if I can find where the mount came from. I've a feeling it might be from a guy in the US.

Offline SanRemo78

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #867 on: August 04, 2026, 01:16:51 PM »
Thanks Stuart, no rush yet, still plodding through circuitry and struggling with some! I'll look into the Magajolt one though!
Hawk HF3000 - Square Arch Stratos Replica - owned since 1988.
Skoda Superb Scout 2021. Believed 1of 1 in the UK!
Fiat Panda 100HP and now -
A Lancia Beta Coupe 1981 2 Litre

Offline SanRemo78

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #868 on: August 04, 2026, 10:22:57 PM »
Sorted out the cables that need to go to the wiper system and most of the cables to feed the instrument panel. Amazing how many of the bulb holders have failed, hopefully just poor internal contacts as the bulbs are alright. Mostly!
The wiring at the column stalks for the wipers is proving problematical though. There are so many cables going to that side of the stalks and I haven't worked out what does what yet. I'll have look at Peter's post on wiring, I'm sure there is a clue in there. I do suspect that the stalks I got from a LHD car are damaged though so I'm going to have to check the original RHD set that came with the car. However connections look completely different on the back of them.
The Ignition switch is also sorted out but I can't test anything, other than wire continuity from the connector plugs, until it's plugged into the brain. Frustratingly the tails aren't as long as they should be. I could swear I'd asked for 5m ones (overkill) but many are only 2m. And the cables for the fuel level and low warning lights are completely missing. I'm sure it'll all turn up when requested.
Unfortunately a really tidy looking rear view camera won't work with the Panasonic head unit I'm fitting so I'll be on the hunt for something else that'll work.

Oh, reversing sensors also sorted, enough for the front end too! Photos later this week when they're fitted!
Hawk HF3000 - Square Arch Stratos Replica - owned since 1988.
Skoda Superb Scout 2021. Believed 1of 1 in the UK!
Fiat Panda 100HP and now -
A Lancia Beta Coupe 1981 2 Litre

Offline SanRemo78

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #869 on: August 05, 2026, 11:48:21 AM »
Continuing on from yesterday with warning light bulbs... Most of these are circular ones but on my cluster there was one rectangular one for the alternator warning light. This cluster has white needles, the other two that I have are orange needles and the alternator light is the small circular type, the rectangular one uses the same larger type of bulb as the cluster illumination ones. That requires rocking vertically to remove it. With all the bulbs out it was obvious that some were blown but most were good so any that weren't illuminating had to be down to poor contacts somewhere. So, out with the needle files and a glassfibre pencil. Internal bulb holder contacts were polished with a flat needle file to remove 45 years of corrosion followed by the fiberglass pencil for the external track contacts on the holder which were then carefully bent to restore any lost pressure contact with the freshly polished tracks on the circuit board. Next the bulb terminals were also cleaned with the pencil and inserted into the holders and tested, then inserted into the cluster and tested again. Repeat a further 18 times and it should be good for a while yet! I need to clean the 22 contact paths where the connectors clip in but before I do that I'm prepopulating the plugs and terminating them with three Deutsch connectors so the panel can be removed without disturbing potentially fragile connections in the future. Pictures of the rectangular alternator warning light and bulb/holder plus polished and dirty contact paths for reference/interest!

I did consider replacing the illumination bulbs with LED's but decided against it for now as I'm not sure that LED's are dimmable....

Guy
Hawk HF3000 - Square Arch Stratos Replica - owned since 1988.
Skoda Superb Scout 2021. Believed 1of 1 in the UK!
Fiat Panda 100HP and now -
A Lancia Beta Coupe 1981 2 Litre

Offline peteracs

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #870 on: August 05, 2026, 03:48:48 PM »
Hi Guy

The LED ones I used are dimmable, but ideally you need to change the pot.

Peter
Beta Spyder S2 pre F/L 1600
Beta HPE S2 pre F/L 1600

Offline SanRemo78

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #871 on: August 09, 2026, 11:14:09 AM »
Well the electronics man has gone on holiday for a week or two so the wiring is going to come to a halt for a while when I reach a hurdle I can't cross.... And it's MOT time for the Panda this week too.

In the meantime, reversing sensors fitted. I like the unobtrusive look.

Guy
Hawk HF3000 - Square Arch Stratos Replica - owned since 1988.
Skoda Superb Scout 2021. Believed 1of 1 in the UK!
Fiat Panda 100HP and now -
A Lancia Beta Coupe 1981 2 Litre

Offline lancialulu

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #872 on: August 09, 2026, 11:49:39 AM »
Well the electronics man has gone on holiday for a week or two so the wiring is going to come to a halt for a while when I reach a hurdle I can't cross.... And it's MOT time for the Panda this week too.

In the meantime, reversing sensors fitted. I like the unobtrusive look.

Guy

That's quackers!

Offline WestonE

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #873 on: August 09, 2026, 12:49:54 PM »
A top quality approach that made me laugh. Can't beat the Rubber Chicken approach!

Offline SanRemo78

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #874 on: August 09, 2026, 01:24:30 PM »
And if you look carefully you’ll see I’ve gone for the non cheap versions. The heads are directional!!
Hawk HF3000 - Square Arch Stratos Replica - owned since 1988.
Skoda Superb Scout 2021. Believed 1of 1 in the UK!
Fiat Panda 100HP and now -
A Lancia Beta Coupe 1981 2 Litre

Offline peteracs

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #875 on: August 09, 2026, 02:03:47 PM »
Nice one!

Integrated reversing camera(s)?

I assume the warning will be increasing pitch ‘cluck’?

Peter
Beta Spyder S2 pre F/L 1600
Beta HPE S2 pre F/L 1600

Offline SanRemo78

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #876 on: August 09, 2026, 02:14:58 PM »
They’re shortsighted chickens Peter… just expected one squawk as I get to the last 3cm… or maybe a chorus of squawks..
Hawk HF3000 - Square Arch Stratos Replica - owned since 1988.
Skoda Superb Scout 2021. Believed 1of 1 in the UK!
Fiat Panda 100HP and now -
A Lancia Beta Coupe 1981 2 Litre

Offline peteracs

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #877 on: August 09, 2026, 02:40:29 PM »
I suppose one has to question why you have them in the first place?

Peter
Beta Spyder S2 pre F/L 1600
Beta HPE S2 pre F/L 1600

Offline SanRemo78

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #878 on: August 09, 2026, 02:57:02 PM »
They are rescue reversing sensor chickens, Andrea recovered them (and more) from the beach and it seemed sensible to give them something to do.... I'm also a very slow, cautious reverser and a member of the RSPB..
Hawk HF3000 - Square Arch Stratos Replica - owned since 1988.
Skoda Superb Scout 2021. Believed 1of 1 in the UK!
Fiat Panda 100HP and now -
A Lancia Beta Coupe 1981 2 Litre

Offline WestonE

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Re: And So It Begins....
« Reply #879 on: August 09, 2026, 04:33:01 PM »
Is the heat getting to you??