Berlinetta build and restoration

[peterboat]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Goes it have a fuel filter in front of it? if not fit one as you will be forever replacing fuel pumps

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

I have made a start on the wiring proper, using the correct colour and gauge of wires and fitting them in their final positions. I am using the original wiring loom which is a slightly modified Cortina loom, but the routing of the wires and position of components such as the fuse box means many changes are required. I will stick to the Cortina colour code where possible as this will make future faults so much easier to trace. I have fitted a battery cut out switch mainly for safety, but it also gives additional security as the handle is removable.

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When it comes to joining wires I recently discovered these things (someone will pop up and say they have been around for decades). They are called heat shrink solder butts. There is a ring of solder in the middle of a plastic heat shrink tube. You just bare each wire then butt them together so that they splice in the solder ring, then heat with a hot air gun until the solder melts, so simple and makes a great join. To make an extra tidy and secure job I have been sliding some black heat shrink over the join too.

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Yesterday I had wired up all the components such as alternator, starter etc to get the engine running for the first time with the final wiring in place. I was looking forward to a few runs up the private farm road but the bloody thing would not start! So several hours were spent double checking and testing the new wiring, I mean it was running in the summer so what else could it be? Back to basics, check for a spark at the plugs, ok. Check for fuel, no fuel. Somehow the high pressure injection pump has stopped working. Connecting it directly to the battery does nothing. So tonight I will remove it and see if I can get it to go, I dug out the receipt and was surprised to see it dated June 2015, where has the time gone? So although it has done very little I don't think there is much chance of a replacement.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Just a wee update in case you thought I had got lost! A combination of a busy time of year at work on the farm, and when I have made it to the garage I have been trying to sort out wiring, which means there is not much to show or tell.

A theme that I am trying to follow is to future proof the car, for want of a better phrase. What I mean is some of the components come from the Cortina and will obviously get more difficult to find as time goes by, so I am trying to replace most of them with easier to find parts in the event of failure. One example is the heater which has been replaced by a new unit rather than one from a Cortina. With the electrics the Cortina fuse box has also been replaced by a new unit.

Following this theme I turned my attention to the wiper motor which is again from the Cortina. I discovered that the Sierra motor has the same mountings so I bought one from Ebay. I know that the Sierra is an old car itself but logic would suggest it will be easier to find parts for it than the Cortina. I mounted the motor on the Cortina linkage, so far so good. Both the motors have the same number of wires with some even the same colour, this is too easy! I connected it to a battery and the two speeds worked fine but when I connected the self park disaster stuck with sparks and smoke. Several hours of trying different connections, testing with the multimeter and staring at wiring diagrams got me nowhere. I decided that maybe I was being too clever and went back to plan A with the Cortina motor which works ok, just hope it keeps working!

Got to go, the sun has come out, fire up the combine harvester!

[djj_engineer]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Just seen your brake end. I built some stainless steel shrouds for our boat and drilled a block of steel the same size as the fitting then sawed the block along the hole.
I could then grip the assembly in a vice with the block and crush the fitting onto the cable. The cables never came loose.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

The cover is a neat fit over the base of the module with nothing to attach to. It is also a neat fit for height. If I had used spacers I would also need spacers on the cover.

[CompoSimmonite]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Why didn't you simply use some spacers on each mounting bolt instead of the ply ?
To attach the cover what about Dzuz fasteners ? There is a vast choice of different types that might be better than Velcro.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

The fuse and relay module does not have a flat underside, there are bolt heads protruding, in addition the bulkhead where I want to mount it also has bolt heads in the way. So the module needs to be spaced out from the mounting surface. I used a plywood plinth with holes where the various bolts protrude, and by making the plywood wider it provides a flange to mount the cover perhaps by Velcro strips.

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The top bulkhead has so far just been sat in place to allow removal for ease of drilling various holes for cables and bolts, but now with all the holes I can think of drilled ( tempting fate ) it is time to bond it to the fiberglass original bulkhead. First it needs the tedious job of polishing. Here it is half polished and you can see the three vertical holes in the center that I hope will be enough to carry all the wiring to engine bay.

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[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

I tidied up the engine electrics.

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I wanted to mount the ECU inside the car rather than the engine bay, to give better protection from damp. However the wires exit the engine originally on the offside of the transverse engine, and that now becomes the front in the longitudinal orientation. The problem is that some of the wires appear to be shielded and more like HT leads and so would be difficult to extend. So I was pleased to be able to reroute the wires and make them reach inside the car. I mounted the ECU under the lower bulkhead above the transmission tunnel.

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I decided to completely rewire the car and after a lot of thought I bought a fuse and relay module from Car Builder. It is a wee bit expensive but it is neat and has most of the fuses and relays that I will need. I have a mate who is really good with auto electrics and I hoped he would do the wiring, but he has just taken on a new business and I don't want to bother him unless I am stuck.

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[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

did you use siver solder? more robust than 'plumbers' stuff however needsa slightly higher tempwhich mightcompromise its strength ie it may become brittle!

I just used what I had so just an ancient roll of solder. Seems fine so far.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Have you tried speedy cables?

I wanted to try to find a way that was easy for the average builder to do. But if all else fails I would get one made by the likes of speedy cables. So far what I've done seems fine.

[Tony Stott]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

did you use siver solder? more robust than 'plumbers' stuff however needsa slightly higher tempwhich mightcompromise its strength ie it may become brittle!

[andyf]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Have you tried speedy cables?

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Handbrake. I had the thorn in the side of many kit car builds to deal with next - how to shorten the cable. I searched on many forums but could not find an easy satisfactory answer. So then I thought what industry may need a quick and easy way to make wire rope cable to length? I thought the construction industry. To cut a long story short I found this gadget on Ebay. It's called a swageless eye terminal, and it looked promising so I ordered one. Unfortunately the smallest available was for 3mm wire and the cable in question may just be less but it was worth a shot.

Here we see it next to the cable end.
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The first job was to elongate the eyehole using a dremmel so that it would fit on the caliper lever. I fitted the cable and cut it to length, it has a plastic coat so I removed some of it to let the jaws of the device grip the cable. Unfortunately the cable was just too small and at the first pull of the handbrake it let go. I then tried some solder on the cable to build it up a bit, after first fraying the cable to give the solder a good hold. Eureka! it seems to be holding. I took the car for a wee drive and I am able to skid the rear wheels using the handbrake. I will give it some more vigorous testing but so far so good.

Here is it in place.
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Ideally if I could find one of these to suit 2mm cable I think it could be a perfect solution, but as it stands it does work after a bit of tinkering but is it better than other ideas out there?

[dcunn]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Great news Scott, a good feeling isn't it !
DC

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

I am lucky to have a 1/4 mile private farm road going past my garage, so it would be rude not to go for a drive!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuXXGt_wUzQ

First drive for 16 years!