July 2006

Date Event

12/07/2006

4hrs

Wiring

Strip Fuses

Back from holiday I called Nostalgia to clarify the fitting of the strip fuses and the  instrument the strip fuses fit on he bulkhead and connect to the insulated power post  loom.  If you have already fitted the power lead from the XJ6 across the body it will be necessary to disconnect the LH end to fit the connector from the strip fuses and  then replace it.  The main instrument loom fits up in to the box section at the top of the bulkhead. It fits up through the oval hole shared with the LH heater duct. it goes across the car making sure the instrument plugs exit in the centre of the box section behind where the instrument panel will fit. The remainder of the loom contains the connectors for the steering column switches. This  exits from the oval hole shared by the RH heater duct close to the steering column.  The steering column wiring will need to be modified with new connectors to match the wiring loom.  Most of my time today was spent working out the routing above.
 

21/07/2006

3hrs

Wiring
Earth

I called Nostalgia to help identify a bunch of wires terminated in a large ring tag. It's either power or earth but I couldn't see the wiring colour to tell.  It turned out to be earth and connects to the bulkhead just below and to the left of the insulated power post.  I opened out the hole to accept a 10 mm bolt. I cleaned the paint from the bulkhead in a neat circle around the hole on both sides and bolted the ring tag to the bulkhead I used two plain washers either side of the bulkhead to get maximum contact area.  I dressed the wiring in to the loom and secured it with cable ties.
 

22/07/2006

6hrs

Wiring

LH foot Well

Rev Light Switch

LHS Transmission tunnel

 Fuel Tank
 

I continued tidying up the wiring in the passenger foot well. The main thing was to make sure heater flap did not foul the wiring loom when it was opened There is plenty of spare cable in this area to  make sure the bends are gentle and pulled back against the bulkhead using cable ties to secure them clear of the flap when operated.   The fuse boxes are now in position. The strip fuses are secured to the bulkhead and connected to the Battery +ve insulated post on the bulkhead. The corresponding earth connection is also made. The instrument panel lighting switches and warning light harnesses are routed through the box section at the top of the bulkhead.  This means I can now "see the wood from the trees"  and route the rear potion of the harness down the bulkhead along the side of the gearbox cover. Across the floor at the bottom  the rear closing panel and up past the fuel tank in to the boot.  I identified the reversing light switch connections  and drilled a small hole in the gearbox cover , low down to avoid routing the cable up the outside of the gearbox cover.  I connected the reverse light switch and tied the excess cable in to the loom with cable ties.  I identified the brake light switch and left this for later because haven ot yet worked out how to mount the switch.  There are a number of redundant wires in this area for the overdrive solenoid and speedo impulse generator. One wire I could not identify  which is possibly the starter inhibitor switch ( automatic use only) but the wiring colours are wrong according to the build manual.  I made the connections to the fuel tank sender.  Examining the loom I realised I needed to remake it because I have the  combined number plate and reversing light cluster rather than a separate reversing light mounted on the rear o/s dumb iron.  I dismantled the loom and rerouted the reversing light wire in to the number plate loom but I'm short of  some black earth wire. 
 

23/072006

6hrs

Wiring

Rear Indicator / Boot

I ended up yesterday with the rear section of the wiring loom dismantled to reroute the reversing light wiring through the boot lid loom.  I hadn't got a piece of black wire long enough to remake the earth connection . So the first job was  a trip to Halford's fro some wire. With the wire in my possession I remade the loom and routed it back in to the boot.  Taking stock of the situation I decided the neatest way to route the wiring for the offside stop / tail, fog lamp and indicator was across the car in the space behind the fuel tank and down the top of the RH rear wing in to the boot.  I could get the wiring across the car easy enough and in to the boot area but fixing it securely was another matter with the boot closing panel in place.  I had put the panel in place some time ago and sealed it in place.  Now I was about to prove how good the seal was and if it would let me remove the panel. I undid all the screws and broke the seal between the panel and boot well, panel and boot bridge with a putty knife slid between the panels.  It worked.  once panel was out I could reach up and pull the wiring down to make it accessible. I fitted cable ties with sticky back holders to the cable I placed the cable back in position. tucked up across the back of the boot bridge,  and  pressed the  holders to the back of the boot bridge to secure the cable. I secured the loom at each end to the boot bridge stays with cable ties.  Pleased with my efforts I secured the Near side loom with "P" clips at several intervals up to the stop tail light. I then made the connections to the stop tail light.  The only thing to be careful of, was to make sure the the wiring  illuminated the correct filament in the bulb
 

24/07/2006

4hrs

wiring

Rear Number Plate

I called Nostalgia today to ask some detail questions concerning the wiring. The preferred route for  the number plate wiring loom is into the boot lid through adjacent to the hinges and then through the stiffening webs to the reversing lamp and number plate light.  So  that all the wiring is covered by the boot trim plate apart from where it enters the boot. Secondly if you are suing the teardrop indicator lamps fitted to the rear dumb irons the wiring is routed down the inside of the dumb iron and up in to the boot well next to the boot slam plate.  Lastly there is a change ot wire colouring for  the starter inhibitor switch this s now White /Green rather than White/Red as in the build manual.  The Red/white and black wires in this part of the loom are for the automatic gear selector illumination. I had a number of redundant wires adjacent to the hand brake fro the overdrive solenoid and the speedo impulse generator none of which are used on my car since it has a 5 speed gearbox and a mechanical speedo.  After my conversation with Chris I spent the rest of the day  working on the rear indicator wiring. The fundamental problem is extending the wiring loom so that it can join up with the pigtails of the indicator. I eventually dismantled the indicator and unsoldered the pigtails from the lamp holder. I then soldered new longer wires to the lamp holder and covered these with heat shrink sleeving.  The  pigtails are now long enough to reach the wiring loom. I'll join these up tomorrow.

 

25/07/2006

4hrs

Wiring
rear Indicator

I planned the cable route down the rear dumb iron and up in to the body. I marked the position of the retaining  "P" clips,  removed the rear n/s dumb iron, drilled and tapped the securing holes to accept M4 set screws. . I refitted the dumb iron and the indicator lamp holder,  secured the wiring with M4 set screws and shake proof washers. I soldered bullet connectors to the flying leads and the main loom and used snap connectors to make the join.  The wiring was secured in the boot with cable tie mounts and cable ties.  I also used a piece of PVC tube to protect the wiring as it emerges  from the body above the dumb iron.  I started work modifying the o/s indicator lamp holder to extend the pig tails to reach the main loom as before.
 

26/07/2006

3hrs

Wiring RH Indicator / fuel Pump

I removed the o/s dumb iron drilled and tapped it to accept M4 set screws as per the n/s dumb iron. I refitted it and the RH indicator. I threaded the pigtail and the wiring spur for the fog light through some PVC tubing to protect it as it entered the body from underneath between the slam panel and the bottom of the boot.  The PVC tube tucks rather nicely in to the seam between the wheel arch and the boot. I dismantled the RH stop tail lamp to route the wiring through the hole in the wing underneath the lamp housing and in to the rubber gaiter.  To end the day I routed the fuel pump wiring and connected up the fuel pump, The wiring was secured with stick on cable tie holders and cable ties, to the underside of the chassis rail and the inside edge of the boot bridge bracket.
 

27/07/2006

4hrs

Wiring

Rear lights

After interruptions for a family barbeque, it was back to work today.  I discovered that the wiring to the RH stop / tail lamp was a little bit short.  I could make the connections but needed a little ore wire to provide flexibility in the loom so that the lamp holder could be comfortably fitted back in the housing.  Try as I might I could not get it to fit.   Nothing for it but to unsolder the connectors  and remove the lamp housing. I tried opening up the hole in  the wing to give a little more freedom but it made little difference.  I decided to withdraw the loom and re- route it to see if I can gain some length . It looked possible if I undid the cable tie holding the loom to the boot bridge stay and rerouted the loom under the stay.  I undid the cable tie and re routed the loom . This time I had more than enough play in the loom to  make the connections to the stop/tail lamp and refit the bulb holder and lens.  I rethreaded the indicator pig tails and fog lamp wiring through the PVC tube and tucked it in to place. I made the connection to the indicator using bullet connectors and snap connectors as per the n/s indicator.

Lastly I fitted the boot closing panel that I removed on Sunday to facilitate routing of the loom across the boot bridge. The panel was secured with M5 set screws and sealed in place.
 

30/07/2006

9hrs

Wiring

Rear Number Plate & Reversing Light

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fog Light

 

 

 

 

 

Handbrake Switch

Today  I finished the basic wiring of the boot area.  I had started on Friday night working on the boot lid wiring for the combined number plate and reversing lights.  On the 120 the light is mounted in the centre of the boot lid just the number plate.  The wing loom enters the boot area on LHS at the top of the wheel arch . The problem is to get across the boot lid leaving just enough spare cable so the boot lid can be closed and not interfere with the boot space.   I achieved this by drilling an 11mm hole in inside of the boot lid  inboard of top LH hinge mounting bolt. Take care when drilling this hole  to clear the hinge keep plate and not to damage the outer skin of the boot lid. the cable then passes in through this hole and out through the keep plate cut out.  I next drilled two holes front and back close to the LHS of the stiffening moulding that runs across the boot lid.  These holes are approximately in line with ht point where the wiring exits the hinge cut out.  Lastly drill a hole in the front of the inner skin of the boot central to the cut out for the boot handle and the lamp.  the wing is now neatly tucked away and will be covered by the aluminium trim panel. However this in itself creates  a second problem.  The loom is in one piece. It would mean removing the boot lid trim in order to remove the boot lid.  The solution is to break the loom shortly after it enters the boot and remake it using  bullet and snap connectors.  Having worked all this out I started at the and threaded the wiring as described  I passed the wiring in to the area between the  inner and outer skin adjacent to the lamp and connected it to the pigtails of the lamp using bullet and snap connectors. The spare wiring was tucked up inside the boot lid.   I secured the wiring down the inside of the boot cable ties and sticky back holders.  (You could use duck tape, it will never be seen). I checked I had got sufficient cable exiting the boot lid to run it down the inside edge of the boot hinge arm, loop under the hinge and connect to the mail loom again.  Before I connected it back to the main loom I tested the wiring with a 12v battery to check the lamps worked. I secured the wiring with cable ties and made sure that the boot would open and close without placing strain on the wiring.   

I was left with the wiring for the fog light.  The bullet connected were too small to match the snap connectors I had so I had to replace them. During this process I realised I would have to use the short pigtails already on the lamp because they were crimped to bulb holder.  This meant I would have to re route the wiring to make a connection next to the boot slam panel. I pulled the wring back from the PVC tube I had used to protect it and rerouted it alongside. I made the connection using snap connectors in the space between inside of the body and the slam panel.  The wing was tidied up and secured with cable ties making sure the connectors were tucked well in to the space and protected.  Spare cable was looped nd tied beck in to the main loom, the loom was secured with cable ties and sticky back holders to retain it in place.

The last job in the boot, for the moment, was to add some more sealer to the sides of the boot closing panel where it is adjacent to the body

I finished off the day making a bracket for the handbrake switch.  This job and how to engineer it had been puzzling me for some time but on examination the solution is simple.  The switch used is a door courtesy light switch. Plunger pushed in (handbrake off) the switch and the light is off. Plunger released (handbrake on) the switch and the lamp are on.  There are two points to note on the handbrake. The front mounting bolt can be utilised for mounting the bracket and there is a nut protruding from the LHS of  the handbrake lever , at the bottom,  protected by a bracket. This is not a pivot bolt but moves with the handbrake lever. This can be used to operate the switch.   I made a right angle bracket from 2mm aluminium sheet.  The inverted "L" bracket is just wide enough to mount the switch. The back of the bracket was drilled, 10 mm) and slotted  approx 30mm  (for adjustment). Positioning of the switch is quite tight next to the mounting bolt. With the possibility of the underneath of the switch coming in contact with the bolt when operated, I overcame this problem in 2 ways. Firstly the connector at the bottom of the switch was carefully bent away  from the securing bolt to give more space and secondly the operating plunger is grooved to allow it to be cut to adjust it's operating travel.  I cut the top 2 grooves  off the plunger which meant I had to  move the bracket up to adjust the operating point of the plunger and gave me a safe range of operation with no possibility of contact between the switch and the mounting bolt.   The bracket was made by trial and error and I need to make some alterations to it t so that it is completely contained within the gearbox cover and will not interfere with the trim

 

31/07/2006

4hrs Handbrake Switch

Wiring

I altered the handbrake switch bracket to the same width as the switch mounting plate (34 mm). The outer corners of the top of the bracket, where the switch fits, were rounded to match the switch mounting plate. I refitted the modified bracket and adjusted the position of the bracket so that the plunger was in its fully closed position (a few thou clearance) with the handbrake on and not interfering with the handbrake position with he handbrake fully off.

The Remaining connectors in the loom at this position are not used on my car, speedo impulse sensor, overdrive solenoid, starter inhibit connectors .  To neaten up the loom for trimming I cut the connectors off and covered the wires with heat shrink sleeving and insulation tape.  The wiring was then secured to the loom running alongside the transmission cover with cable ties.
 

Total hours this month = 47hrs

 

Total  hours to date =   1770 hrs