he hee !
i fitted up on e of the jetta/golf courtesy lights i won on ebay. the fitting and moulding of the plastic is the same as t25 ones (though it's opaque not clear plastic) with blob of circuitry on the back.
wire the lights into the existing permanent live, the existing switched earth (from the door hinge push switch) and attach a permanent live and hey presto !
as if by magic 6 second delay courtesy lights !
will wonders never cease ?!?!?! at this rate i'll have a headlining in the bus and even a stereo !
after a half a week of being out of it with flu i headed over to bristol volksfest on saturday and met up with pete and maria and ben and jeff and kirst and captain selecta.... all very pleasant just sitting in the sun, watching the day go past...
i did some pottering about on sunday and picked up a few bits for the bus. snagged a padded dash edge from gaz at T3GazSpares also picked up a bit of plastic seat trim that was missing and finally got a cone filter that's the right size to get the existing airbox & pipework out of the way. the bus breathes much easier and whether it goes faster it has a nice little induction roar to it :)
the new wheels that thomas so graciously helped me out with (to be honest i stood around with flu lookikng stupid and thomas did most of the work - i think he realised that it might be his only chance to get rid of !) are all fine and seem to have improved the ride in someways, it's tighter and feels more positive but there is a noticable increase in road noise. the clearance is ok, i do howevere need to be carefull not to bounce on full lock, ie turn full lock and go too fast over a speed bump , for example. the tyres catch on the upper edge of the arch, i'll see if i can get the arches rolled, this should sort it out.
the backs look a little high too. i'll see if it settles and see how it handles but i think another 10-20 mm on the back won't do any harm. in a way i could do with another 10-20 mm lower on the front too. however i thnk i'll wait and see how i get on. ultimately i'm still planning on a 6 point roll cage for the front and that's a lot of tubing so the front will get a fair bit heavier anyhow...
now on to the final collection of pieces for the 2.1 engine rebuild.....
:)
got the springs changed for some lovely new 60mm drop ones form Avo, care of cowboy baxter at brickwerks and got them all bolted up. the ride is SOOOOOO much better, the dodgy springs on the back of the wedge had come from something car like, they were actually longer than standard but made of cheese and so soft that they were nearly completely compressed, even standing still.
got the new kahn 18 inch rims bolted up too. they are 5 x 112 pcd so they 'bolt right up' lol. they do bolt right up but need a spacer on the pront to clear the upper wishbone arm and the cap on the spindle. they also need longer studs on the back and long bolts on t he front.
i decided top put studs on the front instead of bolts and got a shiny set of spacers, long rear studs and new studs for the front from that brickwerks again. Simon got them to me in less than 24 hours so big thanks to him !
the front studs change was no problem, wind them in wth some threadlock and a blob of superglue to finish. offer up the spacers and bolt up the wheel, sadly the centre cap doesn't quite fit, with a little modification i think it might tho...
the backs are more problematic as the studs need to be pressed out of the drum and the new ones pressed in...
so off to thomas' workshop and a quick visit to his 12,000 Kg press and bob is your mothers brother, press out the old studs in the hub carrier, press in the new ones, tirque em doen to the old steels to settle the studs and then bolt up thge bling rims and off we go! Massive thankyou to Thomas for the help (especially as i was 3/4 off my head with flu and wandering around bumping into things like a lobotomy candidate) and the use of the workshop and press. I can't imagine how much hassle it would have been without a proper press.
ah... if only i actually had a workshop, with space and light, and tools and all that space for more tools!
doh!