Jake Gully

I brought a gaiter and trim for the gearstick back last year, but was not impressed and decided to get some 3mm stainless sheet and have ago my self. I made the mistake of buying 304 grade which has been a challenge to machine on both the lathe and mill, despite some fresh carbide, a new end mill and plenty of cutting oil - maybe it is time to splash out for some anchor lube. I turned it down to round, but gave up trying to bore out the ID on the lathe and then moved over to the mill and rotary table. The stainless heated up very quickly and produced brown chips and stringy burs on the edges. I probably would have done better with flush cooling, but it seemed a big faff for such a simple part The four chuck was also a pain to index, and to get an offset to allow me to drill a 6 hole pattern without fouling the jaws. Needless to say too much of the day spent in the workshop, but in the end I was quite pleased with the end result. The surround for the handbrake is going to take quite a bit more work and setup on the mill. I'm really not sure I want to do this in the same material, but will have to give it some thought and consider if I want to spend £25 for 8oz of anchor lube...

Surprisingly, the socket set fits rather snugly!

Back to the business of the day, this may look like I've gone mad - but then lino is so practical Looking good - eh? Seriously though I had a plan to cover two issues - closing the gap and protecting cable to the fuel tank sender. The lino has provided a decent pattern and curls up at the rear to prevent stuff falling down behind the fuel tank. I also didn't have a single piece of carpet big enough, so was able to glue the carpet to this as backing. Quick trim and it fits quite neatly and securely into the boot I have enough carpet left to do the panels around the suspension, but will leave this until after IVA. Only issue now is where am I going to put the golf clubs! Stand 'em up and lash them to the roll bar...

Was just sorting out the rear boot cover and carpets and thought I'd have another go at getting the diff plate off. Access was a bit limited, but managed to get a longer torque wrench in and it came out with some gentle persuasion. Still unreadable, but I have just burnt the paint off 83BG-JD-392 and 4A-2E21-0838, so 392 ratio 1985 May 21st birthday. This means my guess at 362 to get the ppm for speedo was wrong and needs should be: 1 mile = 160934cm Diameter of tyre =56cm Circumference of tyre = 176 160934/176 = 914.4 rotations per mile Diff Ratio 3.92 (provided it is original) 4 bolts on prop shaft-diff Pulses = 914.4 x 4 x 3.92 = 14338 pulses per mile. Less MPH, but more smiles per mile!

Cheers Alan, I'm taking the wiper motor out and will grommet the holes. Must be manageable as all the modern panels now come pre-drilled for screens and wipers, but I will ask GBS if they have any advice for this

Windscreen.. I don't want to fit this yet, but want to size it up and drill the mounting holes in the scuttle, as my gen1 scuttle is early and has no holes marked. I can then use these to mount the wing mirrors for IVA, or at least get something in line that will not show after.. The windscreen set has been knocked around in garages over the last 20 years and has quite a patina - I've spent the morning polishing this up, but not too worried as I am planning to spray it with etching primer and silk black. The glass is not scratched and the rubbers look ok, but I did treat myself to some new powder coated brackets.

Reached the end of my electrical snagging list! The lower panel loom is now complete with start button, fog lights, Emerald map switch and a dimmer for the dashboard illumination. Wiring all taped up and tidy, fuse board mounted and dashboard back in place. The 3 position map switch only actually reads 0v or 5v and shows no life at all for the 2nd position, this is an Emerald unit linked to the AuxB port, so I will give the guys another shout during the week. Otherwise just need to file out a little more clearance around the gear lever and make some trims up for handbrake and gear stick gaiters. Also find some pilot lead bolts to bolt it all in. Probably need to remove the windscreen wipers and grommet the holes for IVA and fit mirrors. However, I've just found an annoying crack on the nose, which must be from the radiator cap! - Will need to see if I can lower the rad an inch or so..

I had a very useful chat with Keith and Dave at Emerald in the week. Pins 4 and 6 on my ECU are blown and possibly my fault. They can be fixed if needed, but for the time being I have rewired/moved pin 6 to pin 17, which now gives me cooling fan control. All tested and working this morning and allowed me to do a longer run up to temperature to start playing with the ECU MAPS Dave is making a series of Youtube Videos in his channel 'Walker's Workshop', which are worth a look for starting out tips:

Dropped the wheels and new tyres off this morning and the fitter confirmed my worst fears - the original tyres were 19 years old! Not much point in keeping these, so will happily pay the scrappage!

I spent most of the day wiring up the lower dashboard loom, only to realise the cabling/pin out for these illuminated switches is completely wrong. I brought these as they had a neat shield - but I should have double checked with the multimeter, rather than wire the whole loom, male and female connectors and then curse. They only had the one green wire correct! Proper wiring is as per this image of a similar product. I was able to swap the pigtails over at the shield, but had to chop a few splices out and will need to tidy this up again once it is all working.

Any tips on getting small dinks out of stainless panel? Don't want to make it any worse. They only show now that I've polished the bonnet, but pretty good seeing this has been getting under foot for 18+ years

New Rubber ready to fit - looking forward to getting this on! Will drop the wheels and tyres in at the shop tomorrow.

Hi Alan - I did have the tag, but mine was unreadable. I considered opening it up to check the crown and pinion gears, but it was gunned on too tight and I didn't want to break it!

Nice morning out in the garage/tent. I removed the dash and sorted out the three issues and re-ran the illumination supply so that I can fit a rheostat/dimmer to the lower dash. All the gauges now seem to read correctly and I have illumination when the side lights come on. Calibration for the ETB speedo is via the push button odometer/trip on the dashboard. I'm not exactly sure which Sierra diff I have, but will set this up for the 3.62 ratio and can confirm later if I get my lad to count wheel turns as I rotate the prop shaft. I have a hall effect sensor fitted above the diff counting the bolt heads, so believe my pulses per mile will be 13240 - workings below: 1 mile = 160934cm Diameter of tyre =56cm Circumference of tyre = 176 160934/176 = 914.4 rotations per mile Diff Ratio 3.62 (assumed) 4 bolts on prop shaft-diff Pulses = 914.4 x 4 x 3.62 = 13240 pulses per mile.

My Snagging list is getting shorter, but it has been a hard slog and I have wasted a lot of time chasing my tail to get through the electrical issues and work in some very tight spaces. Resolved List: Relay 4 wiper/washer - all done and much easier than I had feared, with some good advice in this forum. Rear side lights flashing with left indicator and hazard. I have stripped back and checked all connections and happy with the physical wiring and connectors. Grounding fault on NS rear cluster – ran new earth in Relay 3 dip beam - working need to turn on from RH stalk. Resolved, pin 56 on RH stalk had two connections, one to 56 on LH stalk and another direct to earth, which was not required and removed the direct earth. Reverse Gear not engaging – push down and top left – may need to adjust quick shift lever. Needed to rotate gear shift to 180 degrees to allow cut out on RHS Reverse light needs wiring. Wired in and resolved problems with cheap Chinese waterproof connectors Number plate light does not work with sidelight – wiring fault due to cheap connectors resolved. ECU fit map switch. Simples! ECU issue 1 - no earth switch on ECU Pin 4 (Electrical Harness pin 3) This should switch to earth and trigger the relay supply when the ECU receives power on pin 11. Not working, but my ECU relay 5 does work when 85 is shorted to ground. May be config error or fault with ECU, but work around in place. Still to do: ECU Issue 2 - no earth switch on ECU Pin 6 (Electrical Harness pin 4). This should switch the Engine cooling fan relay when temp exceeds threshold - happy I have this connected properly and relay also works when 85 is shorted to ground. May be config error or fault with ECU. Dashboard, Water Temp and Fuel level reading max. No reading on oil pressure. Dashboard, illumination not working with sidelights - need to investigate and would like to fit a dimmer control. Dashboard, Need to set jumpers and setting for speedo/odometer. Lower Dash. Fog light and latching controller needs wiring. Lower Dash. Wire in start button in parallel with ignition switch control. Lower Dash. Wire in Hazard button in parallel with LH column controls. I will speak to Emerald about the ECU config/fault next week - do need to resolve the cooling fan pretty sharpish. I'll drop the dashboard out tomorrow and try to work through and move on to the lower dash. It would be simpler if there was a proper wiring diagram for the GBS engine loom, as not quite sure what runs via ECU and what is direct to the Engine Harness connector. Once this is sorted I will properly mount the fuse box and bus bars. Otherwise, I have new rubber to fit as the original tyres may be approaching 20 years old and start working through my IVA checklists..