Autotest, take two! (i.e., here we go again.... )

[Roy Kemp]

Hey folks!

Yes, we've got about about 37 minutes of daylight each day up here at the moment, it's piss-cold and miserable, and that's before the kind of floods that make fitting an outboard to the back of the Phaeton a realistic proposition. But hey, there's a local club organising an Autotest on Sunday, and there's nothing like a freezing wet Autotest in a kit car to finally shift a lingering hogmanay hangover.

So, here we go again.

Following on from the last effort where the cooling fan packed in early doors and we had to watch the temperatures, I've removed the fooked Pacet 10" fan and fitted two 8" chinese cheapies from eBay. Let's hope they go the distance.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNIVERSAL-8-STRAIGHT-BLADE-ELECTRIC-COOLI...

I also decided to fit an over-ride switch, as I know that the temp switch is knackered and I've not bought a new one yet. However, as I didn't have a wiring diagram or a multimeter to hand to correctly identify the relay pins I'd need to attach the switch to, I decided just to shove two wires into the fan switch plug and implement the switch this way. But, given that this is a bodge, I decided to do the rest of the job properly. I made up a nice twisted pair from spare wire, loomed them in and fed them through the bulkhead grommet. 10 / 10 for buggeration factor.

So, with the wiring complete, I looked for a place to attach the switch. Not wanting to drill a hole in my nice stainless dash, I looked for a spot on the right side of the tub. In doing so, I spotted a little black plastic rocker switch already attached in this position. One I'd not spotted before. What to do? Yep, give it a flick. Any guesses what happened? Yep. The fans came on.

Bastard.

Anyway, this saved me the last 5% of the job... ha ha! So, got a few more bits to do. I'm refitting the screen for this one, so I've sourced some 11" wipers and will trim them down as required once fitted. And that should do it. The exhaust can remain held in place by the sliced whiskas can for now, although I will get round to fixing this at some point. And the clutch release bearing will just have to complain away until it disintegrates or I bother replacing it. 

Other than that, and the battery needing topped up with electricity, I think it's good to go.

[Steve Kerswell]

I haven't heard the term twisted pairs in years !! Good luck for the weekend :-))

[Steve Kerswell]

lovely morning down here. Just going for a walk around the sea shore

[Roy Kemp]

Just opened the window. There's a good inch of snow this morning. Definitely kit car weather!

[Adrian Southgate]

Gave me a smile as well.

According to the met office its passed him (for now) but there is another one on it's way Saturday. I'd be packing a brolly..

[Roy Kemp]

Paul - it's at Forfar Mart. So a bit more local to me than it is to you!

[James Doulton]

Made me laugh too! Mainly because I've been there too. I liked the "10 / 10", sometimes you just can't believe how difficult the simple things can be. I hear the rain is coming your way now - I hope it doesn't get so wet that you need a modern Dutton Amphibijeep

[Adrian Southgate]

Well done that man, so now you have an inkling on how the rest of us have wired our cars... I hope you filed the edges on that whiskas can.

[Paul Thomas]

where abouts is your auto test Roy