**UPDATED** 1991 Rev 1 (Beastly V6 1MZ-FE VVTI) **UPDATED**

[KarlBristol]

I had a few parts delivered the other day to trial on my fan courtesy of BLZ-8027 (thanks again ) this was a way of fault finding.

I can safely say that the engine fan is now working again!
The car is fully functional with no faults

The old ecu looked ok upon inspection but I presume that it must have got fried when the car had it's electrical short. Having switched the ecu out its great again.

Took the car for a few drives today and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I can now get back on with improving rather than fixing...

More parts on order, watch this space.....

[riot68]

[KarlBristol]

Micro update for today.

Started today out like this:



Had these delivered:



A minute later it looked like this:



All in all a very effective transformation in under a minute. Its the small things that make a difference

Definately liking the "black and blue" theme

[KarlBristol]

Well I did a bit of car maintenance today .... and also have numerous parts on order to fit to the car shortly

I systematically went through all of the car tightening every screw and bolt to prevent rattles and ensure everything fits properly (this will get done every 6 months or so)

I then oiled every lock, joint, and hinge to ensure smooth operation of all parts. Its suprising how much of a difference this makes to simple things like opening the doors, and although I never do it - manually locking the doors, etc...

Having completed this I oiled all of the weather strips and weather seals aswell to ensure that they don't crack. Every sill, slam panel, etc... got cleaned and this includes areas such as the inside of the fuel flap, etc

I removed old grotty stickers to give a cleaner appearance. These are a few photos of how the car was looking today:







Here are the bottom sills of the car cleaned:





An example of the sticker removals:





I then set about fixing the annoying road noise that I had coming from my tweeters when I drive down the road. The problem is that the plastic trims around the tweeters have warped with time and no longer hug the window, thus causing a noise when driving. New wingmirror brackets fix this issue, but are a pain to replace and also rather costly. Hence I went for a diy fix.

Here is how they started;



Here is what I used:



Strong self adhesive soft side (hook) velcro

Here they are part way through fitting. They got bonded down the inside of both sides, hooked underneath and then led down part of the door to ensure that with time they didn't get ripped off when the window goes up



Here they are fully fitted with the doorcards fitted back and the window up:



The passenger side also completed:



Both sides are not visible as having been altered and there is now no wind noise when driving!!!! I am so happy

It sounds like a different car on the road

Hopefully some of my deliveries will turn up tomorrow and then I can do a bit more on the car when I get back from work...

[CJ]

Enjoying this thread immensely.

Good work indeed my friend.

[craig]

Awesome thread/updates mate. Car looks fantastic

[Magic Beans]

A fellow detail mental

Loving the work

[KarlBristol]

A fellow detail mental

Loving the work

Thanks mate - its certainly a completly different car up to when I bought it! I guess thats what days of slaving away in my garage lead to, lol.

I'm under no illusions that there is still loads more to do though! I'm sure there always will be.

I am a bit of a photo and detail nut. I think that the small things make the difference between a great and normal car.

I like photographing everything as its such a good reference tool when your sat in your living room wondering what part of the engine looks like, lol.

Enjoying this thread immensely.

Good work indeed my friend.

Thanks mate - its nice to hear great comments from people. I can't wait to be able to put the next installement up ... just waiting on parts, money, and time as per usual! lol.

Awesome thread/updates mate. Car looks fantastic

Thank you very much bud

Rest assured that I still have plenty of plans left for her.

A main goal would be to sort out the wheels professionally, as the only thing that lets the car down is them currently. I fear a refurb will cost a small fortune, so its been demoted to the wish list whilst I crack on with bits and bobs that I can. Eventually they will have polished lips and black centres

I have other plans that I'm keeping under wraps...

[KarlBristol]

My car doesn't get driven very often, but the other day I took it out, and ended up driving it home at about 23:00. Needless to say it was dark outside, but unfortunately with my light on full I was met with this:



I immediately wanted to sort this out and improve it; if nothing else it would modernise the car and ensure that its a little safer to drive!

So today I have had a delivery which feels like I have been waiting for ages to receive!!!

I got this delivered for my led dash conversion:



Within minutes of them being delivered my car looked like this:





I didn't even have to rip the speedo out fully as the space behind is relatively accessible

So I started to rip out and replace the old dash lights, making sure that I tested each one after fitting (they have to be fitted a certain way around or they won't work)

Here are some of the old lights, and part of my ignition circle:



The entire job start to finish took me 17 minutes (I've clearly ripped my car apart too many times! lol)

Here are some photos of the finished products:









Here is a before and after:





Needless to say I am very pleased with how such a simple job improved and updated the car vastly I now intend to replace all of the lights in the heater controls, window and door switches, etc etc...

So I took delivery of this, I just need to dig out my soldering iron:

[jack-p]

looking good karl, just a little bit jealous of that ignition ring!

[craig]

Awesome, that stoney racing kit is spot on!

Recently fitted stoney racing LED interior dome lights:



Only replaced them, as one of the bulbs had blown.

[KarlBristol]

Awesome, that stoney racing kit is spot on!

Recently fitted stoney racing LED interior dome lights:

Image Replaced With URL For Quote http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/Re ... G_0177.jpg

Only replaced them, as one of the bulbs had blown.

Funny you should mention that - I've got a bright white set of stoney racing LED interior dome lights on order

They make a big difference!

[KarlBristol]

The speedo photos were taken in my garage when it was still light out, so when I went out in the car earlier I couldn't help but resist to take some of it in proper darknes





The thing that really lets it all down now is the heater lights, which currently look like this:



I endeavour to attack these next and then the window switches, etc...

[KarlBristol]

Well I couldn't resist but to go outside at 23:00 and rip the car apart again today having found my solering iron!! I may be getting up for work in 4 hours time but I'm bored and can't sleep, lol.

And the car was looking so clean and tidy inside earlier!! lol.





So I took the heater lights inside with a view of soldering some new ones together and also took the drivers window switch in with me ... theres no harm in looking after all! lol

Here are the current heater lights:



I unwound the light from it's housing:



Once the light was out I took the housing and started to re-construct it using my new LEDs and resisters





I wrapped the resister leg tightly around the LED leg to ensure perfect contact:



Then the fun strated





I then did the other lightbulb, and they are both awaiting fitting to the car once I finally get home from work after tomorrows shift:



I then stripped the driver's window switch unit down:





I then spent over an hour chasing around bits of button and tiny springs that had fallen all over the table, and tried desperately to re-assemble the parts of the unit that I needed! lol. There was a lot of cussing at this stage.

I managed to get the lights and board out:



And then I test fitted the new LED before soldering anything ... only to find that they are too big.

I spent another 25 minutes cussing and swearing trying to fit everything back together in a bit of a huff. Rather than spending more time, effort and money on new LEDs and stripping it all down I think I'm just going to see if I can buy a pre-converted set.

Can't wait for the fitting of the heater LEDs to see if it's made any difference, and if they actually work! lol

[StuRobinson88]

MORE good work.

i can't help but think you have probably caused at least 15 others to go and change their dash lights now!

stu.

[KarlBristol]

Lol - Thanks mate, the best compliment that I could have is people being spurred on by my work and wanting to do the same to theirs


Today has not been a good day for the car and has set me back with my led conversion a bit...

I tried to fit the LEDs with the heater unit in situe but I couldn't do it. I did however manage to make them light up in order to see what they looked like. Here is what one of the lights looked like when it was hooked up:



I had a feeling it was going to be a vast improvement on the old lights

I did manage to fit one LED, but when I turned on the lights to test it, the LED went out and there was a very bad burning smell.

After more cussing I finally managed to rip out the heater unit:







I then proceeded to strip it all down in order to see what was wrong with it:









I got to this stage and then I realised what the problem was when I turned over the circuit board - the circuit board managed to fry itself. I presume that too much current passed through and it burnt





I had a little cry at this stage and then trolled eBay for a replacement unit. I know it is fixable but I could not face spending time trying to bodge together a broken unit with the thought that I would be putting sub-par materials back in the car.

I have now bought another unit and it is on its way to me as we speak

I ripped apart the old LEDs and started afresh. I believe that the resister was not strong enough to cope with the charge, so I have now doubled up on resisters...





I'm hoping that this should do the trick and it will just be a case of plug and play when the new unit arrives




I have the following parts on order to help with my LED swap

1) x2 24 LED high intensity flat panel dome lights (to match the dash and blind myself in the process)

2) LED T10 501 short arm glass untra intensity LED number plate lights

3) A replacement heater panel

... I now need to think of something that I can do to the car whilst I await these bits to turn up. I'm hoping it will all be here by Wednesday at the latest so that the car is fully fitted together again and properly usable by my rest days.

[MR2O12]

Bad luck mate! Im going to do mine next week hope the same dont happen.

Your led's do look massive compared to mine, i ordered 3mm 12v ones. My resistors have also different colour bands. But i supose only time will tell

[KarlBristol]

Bad luck mate! Im going to do mine next week hope the same dont happen.

Your led's do look massive compared to mine, i ordered 3mm 12v ones. My resistors have also different colour bands. But i supose only time will tell

I did a lot of research and for it to match the dash lights they need to be flat head, 5mm high intensity, wide angle LEDs. I just think that the resisters were too weak for them. I'm sure that doubling up on resisters will solve the problem,

I'm sure yours will look great - and probably be less hassle! lol
I warn you in advance the heater unit has been one of the most annoying parts I've ever had to take out - its rather stubborn

Keep me updated as to how it goes mate

[MR2O12]

Realy? Thanks for filling me with confidence lol. Shame because the speedo looks so easy, but you cant do one and not the other. Think ill leave it at the speedo and heater though. The window buttons look too tricky for me

[MR2O12]

Any one got idea why this happend to karls heater unit!? Only dif between my resistors and yours is i have dark brown ring instead of your burger sauce colourd one.