Monthly Archives: September 2024

Lighting

Posted on by
Reply

Sidelights/Flashers and Tail Lights – We had previously switched the incandescent bulbs in the flasher/side lights and tail lights in favor of LEDs. These are much brighter, consume lower amperage, and produce less heat. This requires replacing the flasher relay can with a substitute suited for LEDs. In our case, the LED flasher relay is incorporated in the Classic Technologies Fuse Box.

License Plate Lights – the original light fixture used two small incandescent bulbs.We converted these to LEDs sourced from Moss Motors.

Headlights – We ordered new headlights from The Bus Depot. Their web site states: “Essentially generic knockoffs of the old Cibie Z-beams, these are tested and certified to meet stringent E-Code and TUV standards.  This means better light distribution and visibility than the cheapo knockoffs sold on Ebay, etc. (which are not E-code and often don’t even come with protective boots on the back). These are direct bolt-on replacements for your stock 7″ sealed-beam headlights; just pop them in and you’re ready to go. They also have curved glass similar to how the sealed-beams looked, whereas most other E-codes have flatter glass that is more common in Europe. (The difference does not affect performance and is just a matter of personal taste, if you care at all.) They also feature a special anti-fogging coating on the insides of the lenses.”

Cibie Headlights

Then we needed to find some LED lights to put in the headlight bodies. After some research we decided on these units from Classic Car LEDs. These were very reasonably priced for what appears to be high quality units.

Classic Car LEDs H4 Mini

Classic Car LEDs

Driving Lights – We have considered, but not decided on, installing Lucas driving lights. Since it is a possibility for the future, the wiring harness has incorporated the wiring for the lights should we desire to add them at a later date. This image shows what they look like once installed.

Lucas Driving Lights

 

Steering Installation

Posted on by

The steering installation story in the Bugeye has been characterized by fits and starts. This often happens in restorations because systems frequently interfere with the installation of other systems. The new steering rack was first discussed in Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Thirty-five: https://vimeo.com/810655660/46123c8339?share=copy The steering rack is a new one purchased from AH Spares. Information related to the steering rack begins at the 5:00 minute point of the video.

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Eighty-seven shows the installation of the steering components of the car.

Bugeye Steering Components

We almost missed the shim that fits between the chassis crossmember and the passenger side of the steering rack bracket, part number 44 in the diagram above. This shim aligns the steering column through the dash at the correct angle. We sourced a new one from AH Spares.

The trickiest part of installing the steering system was the coordination required with the installation of the dash. We installed the column through the firewall and let it hang loose. We then positioned it through the hole in the dash and gradually moved both the column and dash upward and into position on the car. Only then did we begin to connect the various components of the steering system. The horn cone was installed with its three mounting screws, but with plenty of room to move around as the column shifted position. All parts were loosely fitted to ensure that we didn’t have any binding of the parts as they were assembled.

Dash with zip ties to the body and column in position

In our final installation we had already centered the steering rack and had also threaded the new tie rod ends to the proper location to hopefully result in a rough alignment of the wheels permitting us to roll the car around in the garage. We will find out later if we were successful! Of course, we will align the steering professionally when all is done.

The following points are covered in Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Eighty-seven:

https://vimeo.com/1010637487/a43c135b98?share=copy

0:00 – Steering column bracket, grommet, and bushings

1:56 – Steering column firewall corrugated grommet

2:18 – Stering rack shims

2:49 – Steering column to steering rack locking bolt

3:00 – Steering rack to chassis brackets installed

3:22 – Steering rack to chassis shim

4:12 – Steering rack bracket bolt torque values

4:22 – Coordinating the dash and steering column installation

4:40 – Final steering components installation sequence

6:19 – Horn cone positioned and secured

7:22 – Testing the steering column connection to the rack

8:20 – Connecting the tie rod ends

9:00 – Steering wheel installed

9:30 – Horn test

 

 

nn

Dash and Custom Wiring Harness – Part 2

Posted on by

Before installing the dash we wanted to complete the installation of the front courtesy lights as they are not easy to access without the dash, much less with dash in place. We also completed the wiring and testing for the pedal brake switch that can also be seen in the photo below.

LH front courtesy light

We then covered the front aluminum cockpit molding with our red vinyl and installed it on the body. It looks quite handsome.

front cockpit molding vinyl covered

Just to add a touch of bling to our work the chrome rear view mirror went on next. Two chrome oval head #10-32 x 5/8″ machine screws secure the mirror to the captured nuts in the body.

Rear View Mirror

We then added the rear cockpit molding:

Rear cockpit molding

We then installed the LH demister hose to the elbow and nozzle vent. We will be using an AFR gauge to assist with tuning but do not plan to leave it in the car permanently so we ran a red wire from fuse position #19 in our fuse box, through the firewall an into the interior. This wire can be easily removed after we finish tuning.

We then began the actual installation of the dash with all of its wiring, gauges, switches and etc. in place. We had seen a tip on the internet to make this task easier. That is to use large zip ties to support the corners of the dash. This allows easy access from above for mating Deutsch connectors, finishing up with a few loose wires and for running cables through the dash and the firewall. As it turned out, it was a great tip and made the job quite a bit easier than it might have otherwise been.

Dash with zip ties to the body

We could then gradually tighten the zip ties and move the dash closer to the body. Ultimately, we cut the zip ties and inserted the 1/4″-28 – 1″ hex head bolts and tightened each corner.

Care must be taken with three items 1. one must keep an eye on the steering shaft so that it remains free in the column bezel. 2. There are two braces under the dash that secure the dash to the firewall. The braces must be above the lip that they mount to on the firewall before the dash to body bolts go in on the corners, otherwise they are difficult to properly position. This is especially true in our case since the braces serve as the platform for our supplementary switch panel behind the dash. 3. Routing the capillary tube for the water temperature gauge and the copper pipe for the oil pressure must be approached cautiously to avoid damage to either.

The installation of the individual items associated with the dash is covered in the attached video. Once we had the dash in place we began testing all of our circuits. Everything seems to functioning properly! A major achievement in the process toward assembling the Bugeye.

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Eighty-six:

https://vimeo.com/1006256130/a0a01395e3?share=copy

0:00 – Front courtesy lights connected

0:21 – Brake light wiring

1:11 – Covering and installing the aluminum cockpit molding

2:56 – Rear view mirror installed

3:18 – Rear cockpit molding installed

3:50 – LH demister hose installed

4:00 – Temporary AFR gauge wiring installed

4:22- Dash wiring and installation

8:00 – Zip tying the dash to the car

8:47 – Wiper controller rheostat installed

9:07 – Water temperature & oil pressure gauge & pipes installed

10:00 – Windscreen washer pump hoses and wiring connected

10:19 – Brake wiring connected

10:48 – Started cable installed

11:05 – Heater switch installed & wires connected

11:12 – Choke cable installed

11:24 – RH ground bus bar wiring

11:39 – Dash to body mounting bolts and braces

12:08 – Electrical circuit testing begins