What have you done to your car today?

So I got bored yesterday, having replaced my A/C evaporator and fitting a set of poly engine mounts, and I made a start on something I'd been toying with for a while.

Flappy paddles for changing gear.


I debated fitting them to the steering wheel, or fitting them to the column, and decided that I'd prefer them on the column, where I would always know where they are so I don't accidentally down-shift when I wanted to up-shift (I know the gearbox won't let you shift down) or vice versa (which it could let me do!)


I started by removing the airbag and steering wheel, followed by the column shroud. I decided to use the 4 mounting screws for the clock spring, and base my design around this.

So, I started off the fabrication by making a template for the base plate out of some 3mm thick foamex board (usually used for advertising signs), and then drew a design for the paddles - using the top of the steering wheel shroud as a rough template for the outermost edge, and filling the rest of the shape in by hand. I cut this out of the foamex too, and offered it all up to the car, and placed the wheel back in position to check it out.

I was happy with that, so I moved onto making it out of some 3mm thick aluminium which I had lying around. I chain-drilled the base plate, then filed it smooth, and did the same with the paddles themselves, clamping them together whilst I filed them down smooth so that they were a perfect match.

I added some small hinges, put some bends into the arms of the paddles, and offered it back up to the car:

2013-07-14182259.jpg


Happy with this (although the left hand one looks a little low here, but I hadn't properly tightened it all up), I tweaked the little arms coming downwards (well, by tweaked I re-made them) and added a couple of switches, to be activated by these little arms.

I then added the wiring back to the original gear shifter, put the steering wheel shroud back on, and all good:

2013-07-15202823.jpg



I'll eventually take the paddles off, give them a proper clean up and a blast with some paint :)
 
Nath, that isn't real is it? you surely haven't got that on your car still? Inside joke, maybe?

I thought you was a cool guy, not anymore. :o
 
There's nowhere to jack under there, just an exhaust, spare wheel well and fuel tank. I'll stick to jacking it up from the side :p
 
Got it all fixed on Saturday, as after bolting it back together on Friday I found out the supercharger belt tensioner bracket bolt was stripping all its thread, new bolt purchased on Saturday morning and it was all back working again.

Also found out I averaged 19mpg doing ~30 miles of Llandow then driving back home (170 miles in total) which isn't too bad!
 
I got into the car the other day to find that the felt part of my o/s front inner window trim that runs along the top edge of the window had become detached from the rubber part. Over the space of a couple of days it had detached itself so much that it was drooping down by up to a foot along the full window length. Its quite a common problem from what I can tell and was bugging me so I decided to sort it.

I tried sticking it back together with super glue but it just wouldn't hold, so I picked up some Evo-Stick Impact contact adhesive from B&Q for a couple of quid. This stuff worked like a charm. After applying a thin layer to both parts you wish to stick together and then leaving it for 5 minutes to become touch-dry, you just push the two pieces together, hold it briefly and it sticks together amazingly well.

It takes 24 hours to cure fully but I've been out to the car several times today and it's not budged.

Just need to see if the repair holds up long-term now.
 
So funny you should say that scratch, as my door trim went all E46 on me today too!!

Opened the door to find this:

20130716_192221.jpg


20130716_192321.jpg




Tried with superglue and it failed so cracked on with some double sided tape. Needed two layers to get it up to thickness.

20130716_192826.jpg


20130716_192944.jpg



Whilst doing this part of the trim the front bit decided it wasn't enjoying being stuck down either:

20130716_193313.jpg




With that fixed I thought I better check the passenger side:

20130716_194701.jpg


20130716_194723.jpg



Equally as broken so cracked on with those as well, once all was completed, car no longer looked like it was owned by a knuckledragger.


20130716_195333.jpg




It's got to be this heat as they were nowhere near this bad before.
 
Haha we copy each other again..although is that a super shiny steering wheel I see in the last pic?! :p

Like you say I guess it must be the heat that's making the adhesive fail.
 
NathWraith said:
Last weekend

$WAG
Click to expand...

****ing stupid ****y whooshy writing stickers.

Maybe put another in the middle of your windscreen 10 times the size for more scene points!

ARGHHHHHHH RAAGE :mad::mad::mad:

ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH:mad::mad::mad::mad:

:(

pepsilol said:
Hahaha, oh come on matey. I loved the "wizz" bit.

I used to do that sort of stuff before I got a ramp. I know exactly what the differences are and it's just far too night and day to be able to justify it being wizzy working on the floor.
Click to expand...

Scared of getting your knees on the floor? ;)

It hardly takes any more time at all and the only reason for it is if you have a power point close by and are constantly taking your wheels off.
 
Not something I've done "to" my car but my insurance renewal is August 4th and I've been looking at prices.. Aviva are winning by a good margin at £417 at the moment.. Pleased with that! Admiral don't seem to be cheaper than ~£515 so unless they can match Aviva (or get near to) when I phone them up, I might finally have to leave them after all these years!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom