Have spent a few hours of each of the last 3 or 4 days doing more wiring and electrical related stuff. I had purchased a washer bottle with pump that needed to be installed, quite a simple job but somehow rather satisfying. Originally I had intended to use a rotary switch that I had found for the wipers but it didn't have a washer function so I changed my mind and had a play with the Corsa switch that came with my steering column. The wiring didn't match my wiper motor but I came up with a cunning plan and have used the intermittent contact as a park switch and that all now works as intended. The BIVA rules say you must have a two speed motor with auto parking, you also have to have a washer fluid reservoir that holds at least 1 litre of fluid. Mine holds 1.3 litres so it's compliant. I wanted a nice shiny stainless steel one really but they are very expensive, mine cost just £8.50 including the pump, it will do until I have more money to spend. I had to shorten the switch lever as in it's standard form it hit the door. I chopped an inch out of it and then built it up with body filler so it had a bit more of a factory look about it. It needs a wee bit of tidying but I am otherwise very pleased with it. It works as it should and it looks neat, much better than the rotary switch I originally intended using.
The wiring is taking a lot longer than I thought it would as I am having to do it a bit at a time, it won't be long now before it is finished though. I have made some design changes along the way, originally the temp, oil and volt meters were going to be behind the steering wheel. I offered them up and they looked fine, I then had to get out of the car so I put them down. It just so happened that I put them just in front of the gear lever below the heater controls. I instantly realised that was where they should go. They just looked right there and filled out an ugly blank plate that just didn't look right. It meant I had to pull back a load of wires that I had just routed but I am much happier with the look now. I have a number of ideas in my head about how I want it to look when it's done, I hope I can summon up the skills do realise my vision.
I purchased a set of multi pin connectors as I want to make everything easily replaceable and I want panels to be easily removable. Each of the gauges and the speedo will all have separate connectors, it's a bit of extra faffing about but it will make a better job of it. I quite enjoy doing this sort of thing anyway, it is a hobby after all so I don't care if it takes a bit longer.
Another job I have done under the bonnet is to add spiral wrap to some of the wires. When we took my mate's Dino in the tester wasn't happy that some of the wires were single insulated and looked a bit vulnerable. I have taken that on board and will make sure my car does not get failed on the same thing. Spiral wrap is brilliant as you can easily take wires out of the bunch at any point, it keeps everything neat and offers a good level of protection. It's cheap too, 10 metres is under a tenner with delivery, well worth adding to the shopping list.
Video of my exploits are on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNHcLwzTjVEluBF6uEHvmqg
Most of the under bonnet work is now done, the windscreen washer is in place, the wiper assembly still has to go in but that fits the other side of the firewall.
Not the prettiest washer bottle in the history of motor engineering but it does the job, is compliant with the current rules and cost less than a tenner.
It's pretty much done under here now, just have to sort some flexi pipes for the air inlet filters and mount them down near the front. Still plenty of bodywork to do though.
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