Aftera big favour guys/gals

[Anonymous]

I'm presently working on a spare dash that Adam kindly supplied  (dont have the car yet)

My plan was initially to put the head unit in place of the two central air vents (JVC KD-AVX2)

but as far as I remember from my roadster days, and having looked at a few pictures of cars with the dash out the large tubular cross member passes directly behind there   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  

What I'm after is if anyone could drop their glove box down and take a piccy of where the metal bracket from the dash fits to the bar?

I've run a broom handle between the two points where I think its fixed and yes its in the way, but if the cross member has a bracket protruding to the dash fixing bracket then it may just fit if the cross member is slightly lower than the fixing point  (if that makes sense?).

so to summarise, I need a piccy of where the metal dash bracket (in and up inside the glove box) fixes to the cross member.

Ideally i would also need one of where the dash fixes tyo the member behind the gauge cluster to get the exact run of the member but unless someone happens to be working on their gauges theres not much chance of that   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  

I've cut the vent area out and have an mdf board in its place now, but need to know if I'm whistling in the wind before I start fibreglassing

any assistance of course very much appreciated gang

cheers

p

[GSB]

 m http://gsb.bulldoghome.com/pages/gsb_bu ... cf4441.jpg m

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the piccy bud, but as you can see the tubular brace is further up and back so it cant be seen from the piccy.   I remember cable tying the wires for my profec E-01 control box to it 'back in the day'

I think its going to fit ok to be honest, I may have to bring the head unit out a bit, but we'll have to see once I get the car unless anyone takes a pic up into the void left by the glove box.  (showing the bracket)

My intention is to have a navpod on top through which I'll be running the HKS CAMP system, JVC KD-AVX1/2 in place of the vents, and a further 7" wide screen just below that if I can the move the heater control unit successfully.

But that will be once i have the car and start on the centre console.

Plan was to do all this sort of stuff before I get the car to allow plenty of room in the the garage, as we have 3 cars on the drive already, but its proving more difficult than I thought not having the car to play with.   s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

[markiii]

so where are teh vents and hvac going Perry?

[Anonymous]

The vents are going to be blocked off and out of use, with just the long screen vent and two side vents operational.  Did this in my GT Four and unless your particuarly keen on blowing air/heat onto your face their not overly needed.

I found that you got the same volume of air but through the other vents, so your screen and windows demisted even better.

The HVAC if move'able will be going about 6" lower in a custom centre console, again i did this in the 'four' moving it about 3 feet, but that said the celica one was purely electronic (64 cut/solders).  I will have to take a look at whats involved with moving the unit because of the manual knobs once I have the car?  cant remember if they were 'fly by wire' or not?

[Anonymous]

While your talking mods Perry, what are your plans for the rear lights? The afterburner style that has been talked about before? If so are you going to make a mould so you could make more?   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Anonymous]

Perry,

I removed and fitted a new dashboard to my car this afternoon, if i had seen this post earlier there are loads of pictures I could have taken for you. Too late now im afraid...

Anyway, the hvac controls could be moved very easily provided you keep them in the centre of the car. Wiring harnesses might need a little extending, but the mechanical cables which control the hvac should be moveable  with no major issues. One tip i would give is to disconnect the one which controls the where the air comes out of (ie windows, feet, vents etc) at the actual mechanical control bit and not at the hvac controller (if that makes any sense??)

If theres anything else which i might be able to help you with, just ask.

Richie.

[kanujunkie]

i've been looking at the manuals and parts catalogues Perry and whilst i cant say conclusively, it looks like there is some space behind there. The vent pack would appear to be around 3-4" long and there must be a pipe attaching behind that all though i cant find it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks lads   s:) s:)  

As kanujunkie said, the vent pack itself is about 3.5" long, this then joins onto another twin pipe which goes downward at an angle to miss the strut bar.  I dont have this section of pipe so no idea how wide it is.



Looking at piccs of cars with the dash out it appears that there may be room albeit very tight, it will also depend where the AV cables plug in , in comparrison with the strut bar as obviously they stick out a fair way.

mr-s_turbo,  yes mate, my plan is for afterburner style, well infact a combination of afterburner and skyline to be exact.  I've made plenty of these before but at present i only have one rear light so wont be starting on those until I have a pair.

Next thing on the lighting side will be the head lights as I pick those up from mark on the 16th, never done these before, so might come out good, might not, we'll have to see   s:? :? s:?  

In regards to moulds, I'm afraid I wouldnt have the first idea how to make one to be honest.  Any fibreglassing I've done in the past has been self taught and I'm learning as I go   s:? :? s:?  

(in place of 'self taught' insert, loads of cock ups, many embarrising   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  )

[kanujunkie]

In regards to moulds, I'm afraid I wouldnt have the first idea how to make one to be honest.  Any fibreglassing I've done in the past has been self taught and I'm learning as I go   s:? :? s:?  

if i were you Perry i'd be makeing the moulds in the same way as they make raceing seats for F1 cars, its a very high tech way of doing things, you get a bin bag, some 2 part foam, mix the foam up, pour it in the bag and then push your light into the outside of the bag. The expanding foam inside the bag will form the shape you want, its then a case of makeing a positive(in fibreglass) and another stronger fibreglass negative, that should then give you the ability to make anything you want

[Anonymous]

interesting bud, makes sence when you think about it . I'm not looking to sell anything tho i just like experimenting to see what I can make (or not   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  )

[Anonymous]

Perry,

I removed and fitted a new dashboard to my car this afternoon, if i had seen this post earlier there are loads of pictures I could have taken for you. Too late now I'm afraid...

Anyway, the hvac controls could be moved very easily provided you keep them in the centre of the car. Wiring harnesses might need a little extending, but the mechanical cables which control the hvac should be moveable  with no major issues. One tip i would give is to disconnect the one which controls the where the air comes out of (ie windows, feet, vents etc) at the actual mechanical control bit and not at the hvac controller (if that makes any sense??)

If theres anything else which i might be able to help you with, just ask.

Richie.

Confirm what youre saying there matey, you can move the unit down about 6-8" but could do with a tad more play, as it'll be bugger to try and fit it in the new centre console with such tight cables.

Anyone know if you can extend existing cables?  ie steel cables such as throttle/h-brake type ones?

I know when I fitted a solenoid to a friends car so that they could pop the boot from inside, the kit came with some small two screw clamps so that you could clamp to the exisisting steel wire cable.  wondered if this would be feasable for clamping another 6" of cable into the existing one (cut -insert new section)?

Anyone have any thoughts or access to suitable clamps/parts by chance?

cheers ma dears

[markiii]

don't know where you'd get them perry but I should imagine it's feasible,

could always braze them as an option?

[Anonymous]

These things ? Top of page

 m http://www.toolstation.com/index.html?code=35416 m

[spit]

Being a tight-fisted git, I've used electrician's terminal blocks (after hacking off the plastic outer) to good effect in extending cables. Compact and neat, particularly if you replace the screws with grub screws.

Model shops (and probably B&Q and the like) will stock different gauges of piano wire that you can use as an extension piece.

[Anonymous]

you could possibly use some thing like that, but the ones i had were more like electrical connectors in ceiling rose type thing.

I think thats the connectors sorted, but can anyone think of a reason why it wouldnt work?  The principle is the same as a throttle cable, the outer sleeve is clamped with the inner wire being moved back and forth to operate something at the other end.

If you cut the existing cable (sleeve and wire) then stripped back say 40mm of sleeving off each end and clamped in another 6", clamping/overlapping it by 20mm thus leaving 20mm movement each end before it snaggs on the sleeve?

sounds ok in principle but thought I would air my thoughts first before cutting any cables   s:? :? s:?    s:oops: :oops: s:oops:    s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  

I dont know if the fact that both ends of the existing sleeve with be still clamped but not connected in the middle would cock it all up?

[Anonymous]

Being a tight-fisted git, I've used electrician's terminal blocks (after hacking off the plastic outer) to good effect in extending cables. Compact and neat, particularly if you replace the screws with grub screws.

Model shops (and probably B&Q and the like) will stock different gauges of piano wire that you can use as an extension piece.

sorry bud, only just read your reply after posting

so you've done this sort of thing before and it was ok?  (sleeved cable)

[spit]

The only constraint is that you need to make sure that the lateral movement in the extension piece is limited. Less crucial if its a short and straight run, and/or not pushing/pulling against too much resistance (if that makes sense).

I had the extension piano wire sleeved but the wire was free at the terminal block connections. However, the old and new outer sleeves were bracketed to hold them in line and minimise the sideways movement. And I used quite a stiff piano wire too.

Soz ... crap explanation and sounds like I've been drinking!

*edit - BTW, the MrT wired controls use quite a stiff wire, so sleeving for a short extension might not be necessary, and some sideways flex might in fact be useful as the knob travel is slightly greater than the actuator travel at the other end.* Apologies again for explaining this like a loon....!

[markiii]

sounds like it should work to me then

[Anonymous]

cheers bud

I think it makes sense, I'll read it again in the morning  LOL

[Anonymous]

Perry,

from what i recall, the outer sheath of the cables is held by a metal clamp and can be moved back or forth to allow you to change the tension on the cables therefore your solution should be easily achievable.

I´ve also used ste´s suggestion of using terminal blocks to join the cables before without any major issues.

Richie.

[Anonymous]

cheers bud

I've managed to break the unit down into three seperate knobs/units, so i can now put them where ever I want within reason

thanks for your help guys

[Tem]

perry, I NEED to see pics of what you're doing!  s:D s:D  

(better post here than the sales area  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  )

[Anonymous]

will do matey, tied up with thecentre console at present, but once I get back to the HVAC I'll start posting pics.

you can have the [1] three knobs, [2]clock, and [3]aircon/window heater switches as seperate units.  I decided to do away with the slider knob to change where the air is coming from (inside/outside) as I've never changed this on any car I've owned.

will post pics of the stripped units shortly

[philster_d]

I thought of moving these controls and putting dials in the 3 circles