Silverbullets' resto: Interior

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steptoe
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Post by steptoe » Sun Oct 25, 2015 7:05 am

lookin' better all the time Sam. Can you fight MY front coils into the L struts to make a difference to the height ? Really need an engine in and let it settle to see the working height

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Silverbullet
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Post by Silverbullet » Sun Oct 25, 2015 12:18 pm

Thought about it Jonno, but I think the extra height is in the L top mount ball bearing arrangement. Engine weight would be a help...but I can't install the engine in our tight quarters without the car being mobile :( I've got some nice spring compressors on the way so I can play with struts properly.

Anyway, test time! Hooked up a battery to see what would happen. First try had the RH headlight on constantly :( Almost completely freaked out at what it could be but it was simple enough; I'd put the main beam power wire into the wrong spot in the plug at the fuse box...phew! All good now. Everything is working perfectly now happily.

Shaky cam warning :oops:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moLsVNKw5qY
Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

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El_Freddo
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Post by El_Freddo » Wed Oct 28, 2015 9:09 pm

Are 2wd L series sedan front struts lower than their 4wd counterparts? That could be an option if they are.

Otherwise it's good work mate, keep it up!

Cheers

Bennie
"The lounge room is not a workshop..."
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El Freddo's Pics - El_Freddo's youtube

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Silverbullet
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Post by Silverbullet » Sun Jan 10, 2016 7:23 pm

Having worked on the engine bay a bit more and wiring in my new EDIS system has prompted me to do a bit more wiring on the inside too...started attaching the plugs needed for the 6 gauge cluster, hope my self-made pin out diagrams are all accurate! I know I labelled all my wires right, just have to attach them to the corresponding pins in the 2 big round plugs, plus 3 x square plugs up the other end. I need to add a few more important wires, but at least now when I crank the engine for the first time I will be able to see my oil pressure, and tell the security system the car is alive. Annoyingly I couldn't find any crimp terminals like the stock ones to re-pin those round plugs, so I am forced to solder to the aged and brittle wires already in the plugs. Not a good sign when the wire stripper is breaking the copper strands so easily :(

Nice relaxing bit of wiring on a Sunday evening :)
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Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

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Bantum
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Wired ...

Post by Bantum » Sun Jan 10, 2016 11:23 pm

Been there ... ( I should post up some of my earlier stuff ) Seriously good work though ... :mrgreen:

P.S. - While you're there, don't forget to fix the indicator return strike ... ;)


You gonna come over & do mine when your finished ?


Cheers, Bantum ....

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Silverbullet
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Post by Silverbullet » Fri Feb 05, 2016 10:28 pm

Some exciting developments in the 6 gauge cluster have transpired, namely converting it to full LED illumination and warning lights :cool: Using some 12v LED's such as this in blue I have converted my 6 gauge cluster from its original yellow/orange color scheme (blergh) to blue/green. Also ditching the hungry and dim incandescent bulbs in the process. Apologies for the blurry pic, my phone wouldn't focus in the dark but you get the idea.

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I was annoyed to find the yellow filter for the main dials (white numbered areas) is built into the dials and not removable. But in a strange twist of luck, adding super bright blue LED's turned them green, not bad! :p while still having blue needles. They look a bit dim in the photo too, probably because there was only 11.8 volts there. With an alt charging the system at a healthy 12-14 volts they should come up a bit brighter...hopefully!

If you want to do this yourself, the modern LED bulbs plug straight into the original plastic light sockets which you remove by giving them a little twist from the back of the instrument cluster. You will need the "T10 wedge" type LED's to replace the larger incandescents, and "T5 wedge" for the tiny ones like warning lights, get white ones for these. This works with the standard cluster as well. LED's are polarized though so they only work one way, it is a slow process testing each one after installation to make sure it lights.
Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

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El_Freddo
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Post by El_Freddo » Fri Feb 05, 2016 10:32 pm

Haha! Looks tops mate. Would be keen on a better pic to see the green back lighting ;)

Cheers

Bennie
"The lounge room is not a workshop..."
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El Freddo's Pics - El_Freddo's youtube

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Bantum
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Post by Bantum » Fri Feb 05, 2016 11:05 pm

Kewl, beat me to it though ... :p

I'm in the process of doing the same to mine, I had thoughts of scraping the yellow paint off ( or scanning & reprinting them ) after finding the same deal when I pulled the cluster apart ... :(

Haven't got round to installing the globes yet ( got a few different types to experiment with ) so can't say with certainty what works best - will post up some picture on my thread when I get to it ...

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Silverbullet
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Post by Silverbullet » Sat Feb 13, 2016 9:58 pm

Today, another milestone :) I've got every pin and every wire for the 4 plugs in the 6 gauge instrument cluster connected to something. I count this as a huge milestone, since when I got the instrument cluster I had no idea what any of the wires did and the circuit diagram in both my FSM's was completely different to what my cluster had. To celebrate I thought it was time I hooked the battery up again and did another test. (Admittedly) to my surprise, when I connected the earth to the battery post nothing went snap, crackle or pop and no fuses blew! :rolleyes: No electrical fires to speak of. And as a bonus, everything worked!!! :cool: well nearly everything, the digital clock does not work. I might have to take it apart and see if I can repair the circuit, otherwise I'm a bit stuck for a clock.

I just had to make a vid of this momentous occasion, however crappy quality it may be (phones don't really like filming in the dark)

To get the door lights to come on, because my door switches aren't in yet I had to scrabble around the back in the dark to find the wires and just put them on a bolt or some earth point, same with the 4wd lights. Take note of the factory lo range 4wd light too :cool: I'm not entirely happy with the brightness of the LED backlights, it seems putting blue light through a yellow filter just sucks a bit too much light out of the whole thing. Thinking maybe I can hard wire some more LEDs inside the instrument cluster to throw a bit more light around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq3pniE ... e=youtu.be
Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

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TOONGA
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Post by TOONGA » Sun Feb 14, 2016 8:54 am

Well done Sam, that's a great job. The way you are working I see this being a finished car very soon :)

TOONGA
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PJ Gone but not forgotten
JETCAR AKA the sandwedge Rusted in pieces

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El_Freddo
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Post by El_Freddo » Sun Feb 14, 2016 12:52 pm

Always a good feeling when it all works as it should!

Cheers

Bennie
"The lounge room is not a workshop..."
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El Freddo's Pics - El_Freddo's youtube

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Silverbullet
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Post by Silverbullet » Sat Jul 09, 2016 7:20 pm

Some progress on the interior has been made :o Today I trekked over to the north side of town to Subareck and got some really useful bits that I've been chasing for a while. Namely some decent seats, these are out of a Gen 3 outback (I think?) they're not the leather kind but they were the only pair of seats within reach I could find that weren't green from damp :rolleyes: or worn out, and that had a good chance of fitting in the wagon . They've got the two adjuster wheels on the side, drivers seat has a lower back support adjustment. They're in quite good condition but still need a proper wash. Good enough for now that I can fit them.

Looks like I got the right ones, the physical size of them is just right to go between the trans tunnel and sill. The rails/runners don't line up perfectly, I could get one bolt in at the front, the other front was 30mm to one side and the rear ones are way off. I opted to use the rails that were on it instead of retrofitting the MY rails. I was able to un-bolt the outer rail so I could modify (read - cut, weld, grind, fabricate) the mounts then bolt it back to the seat and drop it in. The rear inner mount is going to be a bit more tricky. In the pics below the big threaded hole you can see on the trans tunnel is usually for the seatbelt buckle, but the new seats have the buckle bolted to them so I can use this hole to mount the seat.

Pics below. Yes I scratched the hell out of my floor paint but I don't much care, I'll just touch it up before I put the carpet down. Also these seats are bloody heavy!

Rear inner mount. just a little bit off.
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Rear outer mount, had to move it over 55mm and push it forward 50mm
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Front inner mount lines up!
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Front outer just 30mm off, and no that wiring isn't crushed under the seat - photograph illusion
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Front outer mount modded with 3mm plate
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Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

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Silverbullet
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Post by Silverbullet » Sat Jul 09, 2016 7:25 pm

Rear outer mount modded. CAD helps alot here (cardboard aided design)
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Bolted up
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She's in! Perfect height and positioning too.
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Might I say, these seats are bloody comfortable :) Having sat on Brumby seats for the last 3 years with no side support or lower back support, these Outback seats are out of this world :) Really supportive, can tell it will hold me really well through those tight corners :twisted:

And now I've got something to sit on for the upcoming test drive :twisted:
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Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

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Silverbullet
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Posts: 2858
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Post by Silverbullet » Sun Jul 17, 2016 7:00 pm

And the other seat is in! :) Well, 3 bolts are in like the drivers side at least. Still scratching my head on what to do with that last bolt position. Just realized today the passenger doesn't have all the height adjustment stuff in it (duh) which makes it a) lighter but also b) sits higher overall than the drivers seat. Not alot, it's not uncomfortable at all, just a bit close to the headlining. Too late to do anything about it now though. I'm taller than most and am not up against the roof so for anyone else it should be fine.

Really pleased how these seats have turned out, $50 for both of them was a steal too. Just need a steam clean up and they'll be good as new. Also you might see in the photo below, I've fitted the interior trim panel to the drivers side that goes down beside the seat. I had to cut off most of the part that goes under the stock seat (this was a sacrificial panel, I've got good grey ones in the boot) but other than that fits fine, even fits my 2x stock girth wiring harness :rolleyes:

The flash highlights the brown stain lol :rolleyes:
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Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

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Silverbullet
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Posts: 2858
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Post by Silverbullet » Sat Jul 30, 2016 6:59 pm

Last week I went down to U-pull it and found 4 MY wagons to choose from :) One had a really good condition interior so I nabbed the rear seat from it to replace my original one that was pretty knackered. I will still get this one re-upholstered since it has sun-cracked parts in the top corners and also to match the front seats colour. For now they were good enough to bolt in to get a look at how everything fits with the new front seats too. Pleased to say everything looks good even with the larger Outback seats up front. I can still fold the rear seat down flat and have comfortable leg room in the front. Likewise can have passable leg room for rear passengers and also still good in the front :cool:

The rear seat will stay in there now until I get it re-upholstered to free up some much needed shed space.

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Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

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Silverbullet
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Post by Silverbullet » Sat Oct 01, 2016 9:07 pm

Not much going on with the wagon lately :(

But I spent most of today working on the custom tacho circuit - using a NE555 timer chip. I've made a piece of prototyping PCB that will go in place of the original circuit board, today I mocked up the circuit on a bread board to make sure it was going to work. Amazingly, it worked! :cool: Check out the video below; there are 2 relays (working bloody hard!) being triggered at 60hz by an Arduino to simulate the "points" signal to the circuit. Calibration is just using a trimpot and adjusting the needle to read 3k rpm at 60hz which will make it right for anyone else. In my case because I'm using a twin coil pack that gets fired half as often I have to make it read 6k rpm...when it's all put together in the instrument cluster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZxh6VA ... ture=share
Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

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Silverbullet
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Location: Adelaide

Post by Silverbullet » Sun Oct 02, 2016 8:14 pm

Ta da! :)

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Took 2 attempts to get this to work, which included ripping everything that I'd done off the board once because the circuit I followed didn't work. Then the second iteration didn't work initially, I found I'd put a junction of 2 resistors on the wrong side of a a capacitor. Fixed that and it works pretty nice :) The needle is a little jumpy on the lower positions hopefully I can smooth that out somehow. Have yet to test it in the car. The little blue thing you can see in the second photo is the trimpot for calibration.
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Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

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El_Freddo
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Post by El_Freddo » Sun Oct 02, 2016 10:22 pm

Awesome work SB!

Will you be creating an analogue speedo driven by an electronic device as well?

That'd be sweet!

Keep up the good work!

Cheers

Bennie
"The lounge room is not a workshop..."
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El Freddo's Pics - El_Freddo's youtube

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Proton mouse
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Post by Proton mouse » Mon Oct 03, 2016 12:11 am

Great work Sam!!
Is there anything you cant do??
Cheers John

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Silverbullet
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Post by Silverbullet » Sun Dec 04, 2016 6:28 pm

This isn't interior related but whatevs :rolleyes:

Got new tooters for the wagon, installed them today. They are nice and loud, which is what I wanted. Managed to fit one behind the grille, had to remove some of the flare from the horn and sand some little scallops into the back of the grille to clear everything. The other horn had no chance of going behind the grille on the other side, so I found a perfectly sized nook behind the RH headlight, in front of the battery.

A short demo below, ignore the bomb site that is the front dash/instruments :oops: I've been tidying and tying up the wiring loom, it's nearly ready to be wrapped. Also needed the instrument cluster out for something else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4jieo-7Qsg
Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
Image

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