Tag Archives: license plate lamp

Lighting

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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

 

Chapter 44 Restoration Assembly, Week Eleven 2/26/2007

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Time to install my Moto-Lita steering wheel and my rebuilt control head (trafficator) Trafficator(low res).pdf . This pdf will take a little while to download – lots of images! The installation was fairly easy and straight forward.  I inserted a length of thin wire up the tube and wrapped it around the first bullet connector on the wiring harness from the control head. I was then able to pull the wires down through the tube. I centered the wheel and tightened up the olive and nut at the bottom of the tube. Then tightened the three set screws on the steering wheel hub.

Moto-Lita steering wheel

After installing all of the electrical modifications I have made, I wanted to test things to make sure all connections were as they should be before moving on to the next task. So, even though I will disconnect them for final assembly at a later date, I wired the driving lights, headlamps, turn signals/brake lights as well as the license plate lamp.

The battery was then installed and (big breath) power applied to the system. One-by-one I checked the function of all systems. The right rear tail light turn signal did not function, the accessory lights did not turn on when the “clicker – remote control” was activated, the horns did not sound and my driving lights still needed some work. These items will be sorted out, one at a time, until everything is working properly. A little work remains, but I didn’t burn down the house or melt the car – a significant accomplishment!

I rechecked my wiring for the driving lights, made one change, and they are now functioning properly including the indicator light I installed on the new switch panel.

I made sure all of my ground connections were clean and tight and replaced the original flasher canister with a new one and now the flashers are working properly. The terminal connections are different than the original. Terminal X is equivalent to B (battery feed from fuse box — green wire),

Terminal L (Load, i.e., the feed to the bulbs — green/brown wire) and terminal P (Pulse, to the dash lights — light green/purple wire). Just as an aside, I did pop open the new flasher relay box to examine it for potential problems, only to discover the circuit board of a new solid sate unit rather than one with the original design.

Flasher Relay electronic guts

Following a consult with Michael Salter, I concluded that the reason my horn was not working was that the steering box was not grounded due to the paint on the box and the frame. Once some paint was scraped away from both I obtained a solid ground and the horn “honked” properly! I rechecked my wiring for the interior accessory lighting and they now function properly also.

Chapter 24 – Cleaning and Trial Fitting

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February 12, 2005

Fitting Shrouds and Wings 

Rear Shroud –After removing all small components from the car I secured the shrouds and wings to the car to prepare it to go to Jeremy Turner for panel fitting and painting. To get the shroud and wings lined up properly, the rear shroud first needs to be riveted to the frame. There are a number of sheet metal screw holes in the superstructure and the shroud that Martin used to position the shroud, they are not needed for final installation.

In addition to the rivets, there are six #10 –32 x 1/2” flat head screws and nuts inside the top rear lip of the boot lid channel. Four of the screws attach through the two steel metal clips that provide support for the boot lid hinges.

rear fender fasteners

Rear wing securing plate 1

Wing right rear 1

Wing right rear 3

Wing right rear 4

Wing right rear 2

Front Shroud – Installed 3 flat head #10 x 1/2” machine screws in lip at front of the bonnet channel. Must catch the bottom frame rails on the inside first, then angle the back of the shroud up in the air – not easy to do!

Installed 5 flat head #6 x 3/8” sheet metal screws in lip at back of bonnet channel.

Installed two flat head #10 x 1/2” machine screws on each under bonnet vertical bracket. Couldn’t fasten properly on the left side because of the misformed panel at the left front corner of the superstructure.

Front Wings – Started with the fastener closest to the headlight. Then fastened the rearmost fastener. The long screws are used on the top of the wings. The clips with the shorter screws are used at the front of the wing by the turn signal lights.

Wing Right Front flange1

Wing Right Front flange 2

Car with wings 1

Doors – Pulled the door up and out and then tighten the hinge screws. May need to do some shimming to align correctly.

June 19, 2005 

Side Curtains – I determined that It was better to purchase new side curtains rather than restoring my old ones. However, while the new frames looked quite good, I thought the old rear brackets were better formed than the new brackets. To dress them up and avoid rust in the future, I decided to chrome plate the old brackets.

Chrome Plating 

I sent a number of parts to Custom Chrome Plating in Pennsylvania for plating. Some were for replating and others were items that I just decided to chrome. I am a little concerned about getting too much plating in the windscreen frame channels but it will hopefully turn out alright.

1 Breather Pipe

1 Bonnet Grille

1 Bonnet Grill Surround

1 Interior Dash Grab Handle

1 Interior Dash Grab Handle Escutcheon

2 Boot Hinges (2 pieces each)

2 Rear Seat Squab Retaining Channel Assemblies (2 pieces each)

1 Handbrake Handle

1 Handbrake Pawl

1 Handbrake Ratchet Plate

1 Thermostat Cover

2 Rear Seat Back Hinge Hardware (2 pieces each)

1 Windscreen Frame (4 pieces)

1 Front Grille

1 Boot Spare Tire Strap Staple

2 Side Curtain Brackets (2 pieces each)

Parts to chrome 2

Parts to chrome 10

Rear Seat Squab 

When I owned the car as a twenty year old I decided that rear speakers in the squab were more important than originality! I have decided to have the squab rebuilt by a local carpenter (He made the pieces and I put it together) before sending it to Heritage Upholstery and Trim for upholstery.

Rear Seat Squab assembly

Rear Seat Squab assembly

Rear Seat Squab assembly

Rear Seat Squab assembly

Rear License Plate Bracket and Lamp 

Since I am using Rally car bumpers rather than the original full bumper I need to develop a new approach to mounting the plate and the lamp. I had fabricated something myself, but then decided to modify the BJ8 bracket and mount it directly to the car. I saw another approach on Aussie Peter Jackson’s BN7 at VIR and I may still do something like his.

license & Lamp bracket 1

license & Lamp bracket 2

license & Lamp bracket 5

Peter Jackson’s car:

Peter Jackson’s Plate 

Peter Jackson’s Plate

Battery Master Switch 

So many have complained about problems with the original master switch that I decided to replace it with a modern equivalent from Hella. I mounted it in the original switch bracket.

Battery Master Switch 1

Battery Master Switch 2