07-24-10 Finish wiring and interior

Finish the Wiring and Interior

OK, so I've been slacking on the updates the last few weeks. Work got a bit crazier so every spare minute went into trying to get things tidied up and ready for final assembly. Lots of wiring to terminate and loom up as neatly as possible. A lot could have been neater but as it gets down to the wire (and precious driving season weeks pass by) I get a bit more pragmatic with it. Anyway, let's get up to speed as of last weekend.

First off was to get the rear wiring routed, terminated, and tested, then I could get the trunk floor panels and storage boxes installed...

Then it was time to tidy up the dash area wiring and install the heater vents...the Summit heater kicks out quite a bit of air and should keep us fairly toasty when the weather starts to cool off again. With my wonderfully questionable sheetmetal fabrication skills I cobbled together a small console for the stereo. I had a universal plastic unit but thought it would be far too easy for someone to just yank it right off the transmission tunnel.

Then I trial-fit the dash again. I decided to ditch the Probe turn signal setup in favor of a push-button self-cancelling unit to further simplify the wiring. An added benefit is it makes it far easier to make both the upper and lower taillights on the back act as both brake and turn signals. I also added some red LEDs onto the license plate bracket to act as a third brake light. Wiring it up was pretty easy...the longer you hold each button the longer it runs until it self-cancels.

Temperatures were getting into the 80s and 90s so it was getting pretty warm in the garage while working. Mikey would come check on me periodically and towel me off, except he didn't have a towel and he enjoys salt. Weird mutt.

I also rigged up some convenience lighting using LED strips from Oznium.com. You can get them in cool colors to put under your rocker panels if you so desire.

I set up the cockpit lights to come on whenever one of the doors opens or by a dash switch. Some normally-on pushbutton switches do the trick, supplying ground whenever the button is released.

Used a couple of the same strips in the engine bay, it's always nice to have some light in there when popping the hood.

With one in the trunk, I tested them all out with the lights off and flash defeated on the camera....they work pretty well.

The next weekend the wifey offered to help out with the finish work...she didn't want to do the carpet like last time, so she just focused on installing the sound insulation, some stuff called E-dead that has a plastic backing instead of the usual foil. Much easier to work with than the duct insulation we used last time, and the carpet should adhere better to it...I hope.

The trunk was the best place to start...I needed that done so I could put down the carpet and then finish the stereo wiring and mounting on the upper part of the trunk.

Mikey waits patiently for his rides, preferring the cooler concrete floor to his blankey right next to him. Or lying in the messiests spots he could find in the garage.

And with the upper panel carpet in place and the amps installed. The lid for the storage boxes from DarkWater gets mocked up in place.

Rena installs more of the E-dead in the cockpit...

While she worked on that I began installing the carpet on the areas she had finished. I opted for Bentley carpet in Mercedes Gray. Nice plush and sheen. It's more flexible than the Home Depot stuff but that actually made it harder to work with. It also likes to shed fibers near every cut...had to vacuum the loose stuff off each piece before gluing them down with 3M Super 90 adhesive.

I also fabbed up some compartments for the front speakers...

Then finished up the rear and hooked up the sub...we'll see how it sounds soon.

Then finished up the cockpit carpeting...

It's obviously not our strong suit but it looks nice. Once we were done spraying adhesive everywhere we could unmask things and install the boots and bezels on the shifter and e-brake, then fasten down the all-important cup holder.