XIL - A Rolling Project

[cliff]

As the more eagle eyed among you can see, there are bricks behind the rear wheels. That is because the car is on axle stands - again.

Andy at Q-Mech had mentioned that the front shocks were corroded and difficult to adjust. I was a bit surprised as they had only been on the car for 14 months & 900 miles. So had a look and found this:

You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to work out why they were hard to adjust.

James at South West Lotus has been great, he really understands customer service and has been instrumental in dealing with GAZ to sort this out. A new set is on the way.

Apparently there were problems with the early Nickel coating process, this has now been resolved and while James has not heard of any issues, I would urge all members with GAZ shocks to inspect them.

Before and after pics of the rear, I know which one I prefer.

Still de-badged and seriously thinking of leaving it that way

[cliff]

A few more jobs out of the way.

The radio reception has always been poor, this could be why.

Someone has fitted a new aerial and decided just to twist the coax cables and shields together and wrap with tape. That has to come out, so while I am at it, time to sort out this mess.

Original alarm wiring removed, although there is a lot of it, it is quite a clever plug & play design.

Boot remote unlock solenoid wiring and relay installed.

I also used the telephone connector to run in new wires for the radio. This plug has positive, earth, switched positive and illumination available, only needed to add a reverse light signal and speed input to fit this Becker 7922 navigation. A poor picture, but for me it is more suited to the dash than the old Alpine.

On my car there was an aerial cable plug near the fuse box so only had to run the new cable as far as there. Looks like it could be standard.

Alarm wire for the boot re-routed, aerial cable and battery isolator fitted. I really wanted to have the isolator in the boot but as I have a strut brace fitted, there was no easy way to make it fit and be out of sight below the plastic shroud. Looking a lot neater now.

Battery isolator, red key is removable for some extra security. It also matches the carpets and looks pretty unobtrusive when the seat is back.

A new plug fitted under the centre console.

Saab boot release switched tucked neatly away under the armrest. As the Toad alarm has a boot release function (hence the relay) this switch will only work with the ignition on.

[novacaine]

Looks good! Have you managed to hook you boot release to your alarm fob?

[cliff]

The Toad alarm comes with that function, just hold one of the buttons for 3 seconds. I asked the installer to leave the wire where I could find it and have connected it to a new relay near the battery.

I haven't installed the solenoid yet due to work & other stuff, but I have one from an Alfa GTV ready to fit.

Where did you get your Rhino lip from? It looks really good.

[novacaine]

I got my rhino lip from eBay, price seems to be going up for them though. Nice and easy to fit and feel more durable tha. The lotus one.

I'm slightly scared to tackle the alarm, knowing my luck it will get stuck on haha

[cliff]

I had my alarm "professionally" fitted a few months ago but when I changed the ignition switch recently, I had a good look around and wasn't too impressed with the state of the installation.

In fairness, the Elan is not easy to work on but wires soldered together and wrapped with tape don't really do it for me. I have replaced most of this with aviation grade environmental splices, much neater and more resilient. These are used in non pressurised areas where the temperature can vary +50 to -80 degrees and can be subject to hydraulic fluid or other contaminants.

I don't understand the obsession with soldering, we rarely do it on aircraft so why do it on cars? Then again, having seen some of the carp sold as electrical connectors by the likes of Halfrauds and others, I begin to despair.

If you know which alarm you have fitted, then it should be easy to contact the manufacturer and see if remote boot release is available. If you can locate the wire or find a good alarm installer to do it for you, then it is quite easy to connect it to a relay.

[Fredjohn]

Cliff
Question re remote boot switch in storage box. If it is wired through the ignition, and you lock your keys and fob in the boot, how do you open the boot????
Mine is similar, working from the spare button on a Scorpion alarm fob and from a switch in the car, but it has a permanent feed. I decided the security issue of a permanent feed was not an issue, as did a few others here.
I used a Volvo double switch and I can also open the fuel flap. Each part of the switch is appropriately labelled.

[cliff]

To be honest I hadn't really thought about locking my keys in the boot, although the chances are a lot less with remote opening, thanks for the reminder FJ.

The Alfa GT does not have an external boot release switch or key, it can only be opened by a button on the key fob or a switch on the dash. This switch works with ignition on and remains active for a timed period after the ignition is turned off.

Being used to such a system, I would rather have the added security of the boot release being off when the car is left unattended, especially when driving around some of the less salubrious areas of Europe. A hidden boot key would seem to be a better solution.

[Enright]

I really like that idea of locating the boot release in the armrest tray - I'll be doing that next time I install one.

[epipete]

A hidden boot key would seem to be a better solution.

I wish I'd thought of that

[novacaine]

Sorry to hijack your thread but does this diagram I've drawn up look right?

I have a hidden switch that I want to work at all times as well as the remote boot release from the Toad alarm that will only work when the ignition is off

[cliff]

That´s a nice diagram, better than my scrawled effort.

Only thing I would be worried about would be the 12v from the in car switch causing damage to the alarm control unit. You would be better off with either a diode on the alarm line or connect the in car switch to pin 87 so that the alarm unit is totally isolated.

Something like this:

Boot release.png (15.16 KiB) Viewed 9349 times

[maz_r]

Much cleaner.

(and we are assuming here that the Toad outputs a +ve pulse when activated, rather than pulling to ground. Consult the Toad manual......)

[novacaine]

Look much nicer! But I guess for the toad system this is wrong, the manual says the boot release output signal pulls low (to ground).

Not a clue where to start with that, time for some research after work I think.

[cliff]

Good point Maz, thanks for that, what would we do without LEC?

I spoke to the technical department at Scorpion and they confirmed that the blue/black boot release wire goes to ground. So the diagram should look something like this:

Boot release.png (16.42 KiB) Viewed 9321 times

I did find a copy of the installation manual online but for obvious reasons don't want to post the link.

[novacaine]

Would that not send a 12v shot to the alarm unit? or will the electromagnet lower current enough?

[Brit-Car-Nut]

No. The alarm is feeding the pull-on coil in the relay. Cliff's circuit is bypassing the switch part of the relay.

Terminals 85 and 86 are always windings while 30 is always power and 87 and 87a (where used) are switched circuits from terminal 30. I believe 87 is normally open while 87a is normally closed.

[cliff]

As John says, 12v is waiting at pin 85 for something to happen. In this case it will be the ground (or earth) on pin 86 coming from the alarm unit, nothing will happen until that ground is present. When the button on the fob is pressed, the alarm unit supplies the ground, the relay solenoid will then close the contacts 30/87 which will in turn operate the boot opening solenoid.

Exactly the same with the 12v waiting on one side of the in car switch. Operating the switch supplies 12v to the boot opening solenoid, the difference is that the ground is already there.

By the way this is only for the Toad AI606 system, other alarm systems may use different logic.

[novacaine]

That makes sense. I know what I'm doing Saturday I have a i606 so should be good for me. Cheers for the help

[cliff]

Novacaine, if you want the installation pdf, pm me.

After all the work I have done on the car it's odd that this little mod has provoked the most discussion.

Back to reality, the replacement shocks finally arrived. Fitted and copious amounts of aviation grade Dinitrol applied.

New nose badge.

I really like my metal monkey dial faces but I wasn't happy with the look of the white warning lights so I left the originals in place.

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=11457&hilit=metal+monkey&start=100

I asked Naomi at MM if they would make me a set with a black background but with a slight modification.

For me, it looks much neater than before.

Can anyone spot the change for a (hopefully) future modification?