Farrar's car blog

OK, so feel free to pick this apart and make corrections to it. I was bored at work and started looking stuff up online and trying to think if I could make a door lock circuit which would

a) work with either solenoids or actuators
b) is cheaper than new lock module and draws less standby current than stock/LockZilla
c) be compatible with off-the-shelf remote keyless entry (RKE) systems -- the $50 kind.

Attachment 8870

I think that will give you about a half-second pulse. But I am bad at math. Also, I am essentially teaching myself electronics, and if you take into account the facts that I started with no knowledge of the subject, and that I am both a bad teacher and a lazy student, then you can probably guess (correctly) that my lessons are sporadic, difficult, and confusing. This circuit may in fact make no sense at all, but I had fun drawing it. :lol: Opinions? Ron? :)

<soapbox>

For $600 plus shipping I can get carpet... and I can get a 3.0L engine from a 1992 Eagle Premier for just $100 more -- with free shipping.

What... the...

</soapbox>

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Originally Posted by Farrar

<soapbox>

For $600 plus shipping I can get carpet... and I can get a 3.0L engine from a 1992 Eagle Premier for just $100 more -- with free shipping.

What... the...

</soapbox>

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Supply and demand :hmm:

I am getting tired of waiting. With no TIG welder in sight, I am prepared to simply epoxy a jam-nut onto a big washer, then start the de-rusting and Rustoleum painting. No one is interested in selling their used carpet, and I am tired of having the console and seats in my living room. I have driven the car without carpets installed before. But driving without seats is impossible.

If you have the parts separated from the seat and in your hand, just stop by any machine shop or even exhaust shop and have them spot the weld on for you. It'll only take a minute and probably cost $5-$10 if even that for the trouble. JB is just asking to do it again.

The jam nut will stop the stud from wiggling. The fender washer will be adhered to the jam nut just so that it won't fall off during installation. Since I have Moroso engine epoxy left over from my VOD operation, I will use a tiny bit of it instead of JB Weld. If it lets go, then I will only have to deal with reattaching the fender washers to the jam nuts the next time I take the seats out.

By the way: My efforts to get the work done at a machine shop were unsuccessful -- either the shop foreman says that they don't do jobs that small, or they didn't return the message I left on the machine, which I presume to mean the same thing. I am guessing they figure it wouldn't be worth the time for the amount of money they'd make tack-welding two studs.

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Originally Posted by Farrar

By the way: My efforts to get the work done at a machine shop were unsuccessful -- either the shop foreman says that they don't do jobs that small, or they didn't return the message I left on the machine, which I presume to mean the same thing. I am guessing they figure it wouldn't be worth the time for the amount of money they'd make tack-welding two studs.

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What about a muffler shop? Those guys weld all day long. It's only like 10 seconds worth of work for someone with the right tools. It sounds like it's turning out to be frustrating but I still think you'll regret not welding it properly.

I bet a lot of plumbers would have welding supplies as well. Or a body shop.

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Originally Posted by jawn101

What about a muffler shop? Those guys weld all day long.

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There's an idea! I will see what happens.

Well, the muffler shop guys didn't seem interested. Ace Hardware has M8 jam nuts in stock, so I bought eight of them. These will take the place of the giant washers -- they're the same thickness. I will place a nylon washer between the fiberglass and the hex nuts -- in the event that anything is torqued too much, the nylon washer will sacrifice itself by deforming, thus saving the fiberglass and/or stud threads.

At least that's the plan...

Still no carpet. No one wants to sell me a used set. Maybe Houston has some old carpet they took out of a "new build" that they could sell me for cheap. I will give them a call if I have some time.

First coat of Rustoleum is on the passenger seat hardware. This Rustoleum is fantastic stuff -- I brushed on a fairly thin layer and as it dries I can see the brush-strokes vanishing. Won't help the bubly texture of the rusted metal underneath, though. :lol:

For preparation, I hit the rust with my Dremel's little wire brush, then sandpaper, then Acetone, then a vacuum cleaner to make sure the surface was super clean and there weren't any little bits hiding in the nooks and crannies. I have to wait 24 hours between coats, which means the earliest the next coat can go on is 7pm tomorrow. I plan to do a coat a night every night this week that I can, which means three to five, then re-install the seats next Saturday.

I bought some posterboard to start making templates for my custom console, and a remote keyless entry system which consists of two remotes and a control module. I will start testing that as soon as I am able, since I have only 30 days to return it if it doesn't suit my needs.

First coat is dry. Looks good so far! :D

Attachment 9048

Farrar, it's time....... save your pennies and come over to the "light" side: EFI. Ditch that old fashioned carb and find salvation.................

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Originally Posted by Spittybug

Farrar, it's time....... save your pennies and come over to the "light" side: EFI. Ditch that old fashioned carb and find salvation.................

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I would love to, but at the moment I am working on the lock module/ remote keyless entry/ starter interrupt, fixing the seat bottoms, replacing the wood and carpet, replacing the evaporator...

BTW, here's my lock module. I finally got it open! :D

Attachment 9069

From what I understand, I am to replace the two innermost/topmost resistors with 10k ones, correct?

Later that same evening

Remote Keyless Entry installation is in progress. I had to call it quits for the night, but I am hoping to get back to it later this week. It will be difficult working on this, the console, and the seats all at the same time. I hope I can keep my head on straight.

And then there's the wood panel -- that will have to wait until this weekend at the earliest, as I do not have a shop at my disposal.

Second coat of Rustoleum went on the passenger seat hardware tonight. As someone pointed out in another thread, it's nice using oil-based enamel -- if you have to wait two days between coats, no problem. Fume control while painting is being handled excellently by the bathroom vent fan. Makes me think it will be easier to fabricate small fiberglass parts than I originally thought -- no need for an outdoor workshop if I can just cover the bathroom in protective plastic and turn on the fan before I work. :D

Also made a tiny bit of progress on the RKE installation tonight, before I had to get back to my homework. The RKE module includes a way to send a ten-second signal to the parking lights when the "unlock" button is pressed. I added a relay to give my car this functionality. This makes a total of four relays -- one for the lock signal, one for the unlock signal, one for the starter kill, and one for the parking lights. There's also a "trunk pop" option which involves -- you guessed it -- another relay! (Obviously I am not using this since I don't have a trunk actuator -- yet.) I don't know where the manufacturer of this system expects folks to get all of this extra space for relays. Modern cars always seem to have everything crammed into as little space as possible. For my installation, I plan on getting a project enclosure from Radio Shack, cutting the appropriate holes in it, and mounting it inside the driver's cubby hole for easy access.

The great thing about this system is that every pulse it sends is negative. I was concerned with having to install diodes everywhere, but since all I have to do is make connections to ground, and most everything on the car is switched ground anyway, it's not as much of a fuss as I thought it would be.

Anyway, here's where I am with that:

Attachment 9133

You can see that, as usual, I am labeling the relay sockets. And just for fun, I used some of the old relay sockets that I removed from the car a little while ago. :)

...and if having two people (sean & dermot) with similar avatars isnt confusing enough, enter Farrar. :lol:

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Originally Posted by dvonk

...and if having two people (sean & dermot) with similar avatars isnt confusing enough, enter Farrar. :lol:

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He just couldn't refrain from the awesome any longer :D

clearly--i guess ill just have to keep calm...

Just made this. It's a quick-fix.

http://i.imgur.com/KsthV.png

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Originally Posted by Accipiter

Just made this. It's a quick-fix.

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:D Nice!

haha, love it. :lol:

In other news, I am still looking for a set of used floor carpets for my DeLorean. As long as they are in decent shape I will be fine with them. Mine are rusty and I am not putting them back in. I can't afford new ones right now.

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Originally Posted by dvonk

...and if having two people (sean & dermot) with similar avatars isnt confusing enough, enter Farrar. :lol:

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What about me?

Ahh! Its the signature banners all over again!

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Originally Posted by stevedmc

What about me?

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There, there, now.

The awful weather here means I have no time outside with the car. I haven't even replaced the vacuum hoses yet, and those materials arrived weeks ago. So I have decided to see what I can do inside. I think I will take some measurements and start working on a console redesign. It's been in my head for a while, and I have most of the parts I need, but I need to get things firmly on paper with actual numbers attached so I can begin making stuff.

It occurs to me that if I make the console go all the way to the floor (which I would like), plus kick-panels which do the same, I would only require a longish piece of carpet to go from the footwells to behind the seats. Until I have the money for real carpets from Houston or another vendor, I could always just cut something to fit between the kick-panels and the console. It wouldn't look great, but it would work as a stopgap measure and possibly get me to Orlando.

For kick-panel construction, I am reading up on small-scale fiberglass fabrication. Does anyone have a good book or other reference material they could recommend for this? Thanks!

I have come down with some sort of sickness, but I can still get things done inside. Today, I finished cleaning and conditioning one of the seats. Just for the sake of comparison, here's a photo.

Attachment 9211

Obviously, the cleaned and conditioned one is on the left.

I think I last cleaned and conditioned the seats last summer -- while in the car, though. The leather is a lot thirstier than I expected: I had to keep reapplying conditioner before I could successfully "remove the excess with a dry cloth." The excessive shine goes away after a little while, but I do like the way the Mother's cleaner and conditioner makes the black leather black again.

Edit: I see that it's time to clean my camera lens! Sorry about that. :lol:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Farrar

I have come down with some sort of sickness, but I can still get things done inside. Today, I finished cleaning and conditioning one of the seats. Just for the sake of comparison, here's a photo.

Obviously, the cleaned and conditioned one is on the left.
.

Edit: I see that it's time to clean my camera lens! Sorry about that. :lol:

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Looks good! Get well, the pollen has been kicking my ass lately, all kinds of congested for the last week or so.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Farrar

I have come down with some sort of sickness, but I can still get things done inside. Today, I finished cleaning and conditioning one of the seats. Just for the sake of comparison, here's a photo.

Attachment 9211

Obviously, the cleaned and conditioned one is on the left.

I think I last cleaned and conditioned the seats last summer -- while in the car, though. The leather is a lot thirstier than I expected: I had to keep reapplying conditioner before I could successfully "remove the excess with a dry cloth." The excessive shine goes away after a little while, but I do like the way the Mother's cleaner and conditioner makes the black leather black again.

Edit: I see that it's time to clean my camera lens! Sorry about that. :lol:

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Which did you use? The Mothers, or Skidmores, or something else? They look really nice so I will use whatever you did. :)

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Originally Posted by sean

Looks good! Get well, the pollen has been kicking my ass lately, all kinds of congested for the last week or so.

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Thanks! I think it is partly lack of sleep. I got home from last night's gig at about 1:15am and had an omelette for supper (thank heaven for the 24-hour diner in my neighborhood), then slept for 10.5 hours. Feeling better already. :)

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Originally Posted by jawn101

Which did you use? The Mothers, or Skidmores, or something else? They look really nice so I will use whatever you did. :)

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I have always used Mothers. I am a bit anal-retentive about cleaning -- in my opinion it's not clean until the rag comes away with nothing on it. Therefore, I had to use the Mothers leather cleaner a few times in certain areas -- I think the previous owner had problems getting to the sides of the seats, for example. I cleaned the seat, then had lunch, and then did conditioning runs waiting five minutes between applications. So this took a few hours. It's definitely not a "touch-up" product that you would just take to the car show and use at the last minute, but I can say I have had good results with their products so far.

Edit: Now that I think of it, the leather might have been so difficult to clean due to salt water. I really need to fix my air conditioning. :lol:

Got nothing done today, but got these together for y'all to look at. It's what I plan to do with my console and kneepads after I am all done.

Here's what we all know and love:

Attachment 9257

And here is how I want mine to be.

Attachment 9256

Not much of a visual change, but lots to be done literally "behind the scenes."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Farrar

Got nothing done today, but got these together for y'all to look at. It's what I plan to do with my console and kneepads after I am all done.

Here's what we all know and love:

Attachment 9257

And here is how I want mine to be.

Attachment 9256

Not much of a visual change, but lots to be done literally "behind the scenes."

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What are the up/down arrows? The window switches?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jawn101

What are the up/down arrows? The window switches?

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Yeah. Sorry about that; they're not very clear, are they? I am not very good at drawing, even with a computer to help me. :lol:

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Originally Posted by Farrar

Yeah. Sorry about that; they're not very clear, are they? I am not very good at drawing, even with a computer to help me. :lol:

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Well I figured it was either that or the controls for the hover conversion :)

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Originally Posted by jawn101

Well I figured it was either that or the controls for the hover conversion :)

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Sure, all I need is four 1000HP engines for my quad-rotor conversion. :hysterical:

OK, just for fun... possible new kneepad-mounted HVAC vents...

Attachment 9281

or

Attachment 9280

The above are 2.5" vents.

Attachment 9282

The above is 2.25" and although it's smaller and has that weird three-vane design I think it looks better... black instead of chrome.

What do y'all think?

I only like the last one because it is black in color. All three are kinda "meh" but I think whatever you go with it should not be shiny or chrome. Just my opinion of course.

Just remember you have a car where the only circles are the wheels, steering wheel, and HVAC knobs. I personally think the round vents look out of place in the car, even when used in DMCH's 2004 prototype interior. That said, I've also visualized square and rectangular vents in the kneepads and they also look mildly out of place. Even when using identical vents to the center console or door vents (to be DMC-Correct). Having not found a way to satisfactorily (at least, to me) add/replace the existing vents I've chosen to maximize their effectiveness with tint, sealing (door vents), and making cooled seats.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sean

I only like the last one because it is black in color. All three are kinda "meh" but I think whatever you go with it should not be shiny or chrome. Just my opinion of course.

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Yeah, I am not installing anything else shiny/chrome so I prefer the black. Unfortunately, it doesn't look really nice in my opinion: I really like the straight-across look instead of the Mercedes-Benz look for the vanes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dmc6960

Just remember you have a car where the only circles are the wheels, steering wheel, and HVAC knobs.

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And headlight switch and hazard switch.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dmc6960

I personally think the round vents look out of place in the car, even when used in DMCH's 2004 prototype interior. That said, I've also visualized square and rectangular vents in the kneepads and they also look mildly out of place.

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Agreed. I toyed with the idea of vertically-oriented rectangular ones a la Proto-1, but that ducting would be a nightmare to fabricate. It may sound strange, but the interior doesn't really look good with any particular vents. Even the stock ones to me look like an off-the-shelf, make-it-fit solution (although I know they were typical for the time). Of course, since I will not be altering the original kneepads but rather making my own, I can always go back to stock, or make something else, later if I like.

If y'all see anything better -- black, round, in about the same size -- please let me know. I like options. :)

Thanks!

I found another option. I am not too hot on it, but it should get the job done without being unnecessarily ugly. And since it's a standard size I can replace it with something better when available.

Attachment 9309Attachment 9308

2.5" wide and $15 each. For $60 + S&H I think I can live with it for the time being. And my girlfriend will like it since it can be completely closed easily, forcing all of the cold air to go to me. :lol:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Farrar

I found another option. I am not too hot on it, but it should get the job done without being unnecessarily ugly. And since it's a standard size I can replace it with something better when available.

Attachment 9309Attachment 9308

2.5" wide and $15 each. For $60 + S&H I think I can live with it for the time being. And my girlfriend will like it since it can be completely closed easily, forcing all of the cold air to go to me. :lol:

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I so much need to do this. The vents behind the console could easily be blocked off and the side vents could be tapped into. I so much hate having to line up the center console vents when taking console in/out of the car.

Edit: I forgot to mention but I think you are looking in the wrong place for vents. You could easily get some modern vents at your local salvage yard or ebay.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stevedmc

I so much need to do this. The vents behind the console could easily be blocked off and the side vents could be tapped into.

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Either that or create a ducting arrangement which will redirect the console-vent air which to the innermost vents in the kneepads and redirect the door-vent air to the outermost vents in the kneepads. If I can teach myself fiberglass fabrication, or bend plastic appropriately using a heat gun, I intend to go this route.