Well, the dash supports are coming out. It broke again on me a couple days ago. Kind of a bummer, but its the "right" thing to do. In the meantime, I've been working out the little electrical issues I have and finishing up all my additions. So far as I can tell, I've gotten rid of all the terrible splices. Those have all been replaced with crimp style, uninsulated butt connectors and adhesive lined heatshrink.
My mirror project is 100 percent complete. All wires shortened, connections made, and wires routed and tied down. I tested my new electronic flashers (two, because for some reason, the hazards are on a separate relay from the signals) and those are working. They need to be fully installed though. The power and load leads plug right in, but the electronics need a ground. I'll also need to find a place to mount them.
I need to clean up the signal wires running to the front grill. I have a couple new grommets to install and some loom to protect the new wires. My new signal lights should be here late next week. I do need to clean up / replace the terminals for that circuit. They are pretty green and dirty.
I've also been working on the EL wire project. Here is the old fiber optic braid...this picture shows it MUCH brighter than it really is...3 sec exposure! The bright spots are breaks in the fiber.
This is the EL wire I'm replacing it with. Much more consistent light and much brighter (camera had instant exposure).
Unfortunately, I screwed something up modifying it to be "dash Lights" and rendered it inoperable. I took the board out and installed a step down transformer, that had a 12V input and a 3.3V output. I also jumped the power switch, so it would automatically turn on when power was applied to the unit. I had it working, but one of my solder joints wasn't good enough. I tried to fix it, and it wouldn't turn on again. I don't know what I did, but I somehow took out the AC transformer (or its just a shit part). So, I ordered another one. I also found a power supply/AC transformer in one this time, so I can just plug the EL wire into power supply that accept 12 volts, and not worry about modifying a circuit board again.
Finally, I've been working on the Dash Face. This is the "wood grained" faceplate that covers all the inner workings of the dash.
Here you can see it in all its 70's fake woodgrain glory
There are 4 screws across the top of the faceplate. You remove those and pivot the faceplace down toward the floor, and there are 5 little tabs along the bottom to keep it in place (I bet you all know where this is going). Well, to the surprise of no one, those tabs are broken. Not all of them. Thankfully, one was in good enough shape to model it. I created a new one in my modeling software with a 0.500 x 0.750 baseplate and the hook geometry from the original. Here they are, fresh off my printer (printed from ASA filament).
To install them, I used a punch and a matching template that fit on the original hooks.
I traced the template with a series of dimples from the punch, so I could sand the chrome without loosing the position of the hooks. You can see a couple dimples here after sanding
Finally, a little bit of ABS cement and they are "fixed"
And, all 5 of them replaced.
I have a screw hole up top that needs repair, and I'm sure you can see the broken plastic circle there on the lower right. I'll fix those up by hand (just some ABS sheet and standard tools) and this guy will be ready to install.
Finally, I need to work on the radio harness. I have the rear camera installed, and the wire run to the front of the coach. Speakers wires are all set (since I'm not doing anything crazy here). The original 8 track, AM/FM mono or optional stereo only used a ignition source 12V supply, since they didn't have an electronic memory to maintain. The Factory radio power circuit only has a 10 amp fuse on it, but they used 14Ga wire(!) so, that will be plenty big enough for me to use for the new radio (200 W). I'll just have to put a 20 Amp fuse in radio slot and change the call-out. The new radio will also need a constant 12V supply. Somewhere along the line, the factory radio was replaced with a Clarion two post. That used a battery supply 12V as well, which was picked up off the Cig Lighter. I'll probably copy that, though that circuit will be running my new USB power supply instead of a cig lighter. I'm searching for the "correct" terminal to use for the old, factory connector. There is an empty slot, and it would be cool to run the Batt (+) through the original connector.
