fiestaturbo.com

[Excursion]

:lol: You need some sore of car diary or work programme then!

I hate project management

[andymac]

:lol: You need some sore of car diary or work programme then!

I hate project managers

Fixed that for you

[Choosey]

:lol: You need some sore of car diary or work programme then!

I hate project management

Doesn't change the fact you NEED one!

[Excursion]

I'm retrofitting opening rear quarter quarter windows to the car and the external nut part of the through-bolt fixings tend to rust underneath their cosmetic caps leaving a near permanent stain on the glass. I want to avoid this as the glass I'm using is brand new, so I've had the externally facing part of the fixing replicated in stainless steel. The freshly painted stainless version can be seen in the top of the photo and in the foreground is a comparison of standard vs stainless.


New glass built up with new fittings and rubber seals.


I bought a professional Rivnut tool to add captive fittings to the shell. It's the best tool purchase I've made for a while.


I've removed the Mk3 tailgate wiring and its sometimes unreliable brass pin and contact plate system that was used both to send power to the tailgate and act as an ajar switch, and replaced it with a tilt sensor inside the tailgate and rubber grommet to feed the loom inside. I've blanked up the original pin and contact plate holes with parts from a foreign market poverty spec model that didn't have a heated rear window or wiper. Thanks to Tom Peters for digging out the FINIS for me.


For a Ford fixing I thought the floor drain plugs were a very good part; they have a bead of wax around the circumference and once in position a hot air gun is used to melt the wax and seal them to the floor. They are almost Audi like in that they solve a problem where there isn't one (Ford could have used seam sealer instead).



Many thanks to RS EDDIE I now have most of my parts back from the electro platers. The finish is far better than any plating work I've had done in the past.

[- Danny Boy -]

Awesome stuff Mark

All those nuts and bolts look lovely compared to rusty ones or painted over ones

[Dave G fsi]

All looks brilliant Mark

[jonyb4]

great stuff

[AndyKam]

Amazing ultra cool

[andymac]

Mark, what's the diameter of those drain plugs ? I'm short of a couple in the rovers boot.

[Excursion]

Thanks guys! Andy, they are approx 35mm. I'm away from the car at the moment so can't give any accurate measurements - maybe some else can help if you need them in the mean time.

I've done a little more work in preparation for a Bi-Xenon headlamp conversion, as the standard Fiesta headlamp wiring and switch configuration is not suitable for either a Xenon or Bi-Xenon conversion. Here's why:

Fiesta: Halogen dip beam, Halogen main beam. Low beam is off when main beam is on. Main beam used to flash.
Xenon: Xenon dip beam, Halogen main beam. Dip beam remains on with main beam. Main beam used to flash.
Bi-Xenon: Xenon dip beam, Xenon main beam (the same bulb but cut off is modified by a solenoid and shield arrangement). Dip beam is main beam so remains on. Dedicated halogen flash unit.

So I had two requirements for Bi-Xenon: 1) modify the Fiesta switching behaviour, and 2) install a dedicated flashing bulb system.

The lack of a dedicated flashing bulb which is not a problem for night time use, as assuming dip beam is already on then the Bi-Xenon solenoid/cut off could be raised as normal to flash using the high beam setting, however during the day this is not an option because rapidly cycling a HID system is very detrimental to its lifespan. The same caveat applies to a Halogen bulb but the replacement cost is much less; also the bulb 'warm up' time for Halogen is much quicker which makes it more suitable for a flashing application. The other problem I must address is that the Fiesta switch configuration means that dip beam is switched off when main beam goes on, which would of course leave me in the dark with a Bi-Xenon system

The wiring configuration consists of a main & dip relay so the logic is actually contained within the column switches. I disassembled those to see how they worked.


I figured out the contacts and wire functions by tracing them back to the loom, and located the the actual dip/main switch which is essentially a mechanical logic gate system. I am really impressed by the engineering that has gone into this switch system, as there are multiple switch axes on the stalks and each has a different state. Here's the switch which is actuated by a wiper moved by the column stalk.


I figured out the states of the standard switch.


...which enabled me to modify it to suit my needs.

[SEG1]

one word


genius

[Choosey]

This is epic. I can't wait til the day it's complete and you have to sit an type out a spec sheet!

I think I understand the last 2 pics, but then again, I think i don't!

Good job anyway!

[- Danny Boy -]

one word


genius

Agreed

[russ-RST]

Lovely example of a bit of head scratching, when explained like that I can work out what is what and how it all works but there's no way I'd even start ripping apart electrical components

This will be a masterpiece when finished and I very much look forward to it, altho I would get your insurance to phone you when it comes to it as the magic question " is the car modified" will crop up and you will be there forever
Let alone having to write up a spec sheet for the car to send to insurers / show off the best fiesta around

One very cool project I will continue to enjoy the updates

[AndyKam]

one word


genius

Agreed

Two words for me - f@@k me

[Excursion]

Cheers guys

[andymac]

Nice, simple solution. Best sort.

[edit : scrub that, brain fart, of course it's switching negative isn't it]

[edit 2 : If you use a ~2mm drill to go through the PCB on the contact but outside the wipe area then solder a bit of ~1.5mm solid equipment wire from the reverse side, you can rub the solder joint down flush then on the tracking area for a neater (factory) finish.]

[Excursion]

Nice, simple solution. Best sort.

[edit : scrub that, brain fart, of course it's switching negative isn't it]

[edit 2 : If you use a ~2mm drill to go through the PCB on the contact but outside the wipe area then solder a bit of ~1.5mm solid equipment wire from the reverse side, you can rub the solder joint down flush then on the tracking area for a neater (factory) finish.]

It's a double sided PCB, Andy

[jonyb4]

wow clever stuff indeed!

i was lost looking at them boards, but your explanation helps

[andymac]

It's a double sided PCB, Andy

Bugger. Also, surprising tbh.

Jon, if you look at the white plastic part, you can see that it shorts two tracks at a time through the rollers. If you bear that in mind, you can see how it works. It's incredibly simple, but ingenious. One half deals with dip, the other half with main.

[Excursion]

I'm going to look at http://www.maplin.co.uk/conductive-pen- ... 7&t=module for joining the tracks, my only concern is wear resistance so I will conduct some abrasion tests

[DanFraser]

Oh please go through a little guide of exactly how this thing works!

[~nomad~]

Your handwriting is terrible.

[andymac]

I doubt that'll stand much wear tbh, I'd consider attempting to well/bridge solder across the highlighted area, maybe use a dremel to put a 1mm channel in the pcb for the solder to sit in. Then flatten it with wet and dry.

Alternatively, since the wipes stop around 5mm from the top of the pcb you could put a wire link in at the top by soldering to the tracks directly, provided the small gap won't be problematic during the dip/main switchover.

Dave, his handwriting is better than mine !

[~nomad~]

Its better than mine as well, I just wanted to level out some of the compliments, when Mark gets too much good feedback he actually gets a bit high off of it. Thats when he turns up at my house at 3am wanting a cuddle that always turns into so much more. Last time I woke up 4 days later on a ferry to Hull, next to a Armanian businessman who claimed to own me.

[Excursion]

LMFAO!!!

[- Danny Boy -]

please tell us how the rest of that story goes!

[dontpannic]

Its better than mine as well, I just wanted to level out some of the compliments, when Mark gets too much good feedback he actually gets a bit high off of it. Thats when he turns up at my house at 3am wanting a cuddle that always turns into so much more. Last time I woke up 4 days later on a ferry to Hull, next to a Armanian businessman who claimed to own me.

[jonyb4]

lol whaaaaat

[andymac]

Oh please go through a little guide of exactly how this thing works!

Tracks A, C & F can be considered ground. Convention is to switch grounds rather than supply where possible.


Bottom to top :

Position 2 [flash]

Tracks A & G shorted - This brings G to ground which switches on the dedicated halogen bulb used for flashing
Tracks D, E & F shorted - This brings D & E to ground which switches on the main HID system

Position 1 [dip]

Both left hand rollers at on the wide part of track B
Tracks D, E & F shorted - This brings D & E to ground which switches on the main HID system

Position 3 [main]

Tracks B & C shorted - This take B to ground which is used to drive the beam angle solenoid on the main bulb
Tracks D, E & F shorted - This takes D & E to ground which switches on the main HID system.

[andymac]

Mark, looking at this, you could put a diode between B and E with the negative side on B to achieve a seamless changeover when going to main beam from dip. There's a crossover of a couple of mm or so where the wipers get to C & B. That could be done at the solder joint above the tracks to keep it neat.

[SEG1]

Its better than mine as well, I just wanted to level out some of the compliments, when Mark gets too much good feedback he actually gets a bit high off of it. Thats when he turns up at my house at 3am wanting a cuddle that always turns into so much more. Last time I woke up 4 days later on a ferry to Hull, next to a Armanian businessman who claimed to own me.

FOOKING JOKER!
nomad gets my vote as funniest guy on the forum.

[AW0L]

I'm going to look at http://www.maplin.co.uk/conductive-pen- ... 7&t=module for joining the tracks, my only concern is wear resistance so I will conduct some abrasion tests

Mark the pens wont hold up for long as their purpose is to create a track and not have anything move over them repeatedly

i am not sure how foil tape will hold up and if it would be best but you could stick that over the original slots and then cut to shape the whole new track layout

[HCS PIMP]

you can get rear window repair pens for the heated elements on rear demisters that would work and should flow any current, failing that id use solder or some lead flux
and if not some metalic paint I used some as a child that when it dried conducted electricity I made a circuit using it in science.
Was like £40 a pot but a tester pot would work

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REAR-DEMISTER ... 2a199fd92f

[HCS PIMP]

double post sorry