I see you

 Bit of work needed to finish off the camera setup - first off was a simple metal plate:

Attached to a friction hinge:

Bolted to the side of the aux panel:

Just some velcro on the back of the camera, to make it easy to remove if necessary:

Need to think about how to tidy up the wiring further but otherwise, job done.

I wanted to go for a drive but, annoyingly, the battery is almost flat - strange when a multimeter shows 12.5v across the terminals? Although Zedster hasn't been driven in over 2 months, so maybe to be expected. Battery charger on...

Un-tangle the Snakes - part IV

 Well, wonders will never cease...re-wire finished and everything STILL works. Miraculous...

I did have to change from one 12-pin DT plug to a 6-pin and 4-pin but fortunately quite simple to remove the pins in a DT plug, so not a big pain. I had to do that because some of the wires come from the dash, others come from the main loom on the scuttle:

I routed the rear camera cable down the centre tunnel and wired the main unit into the ignition circuit, so the camera comes on with the ignition. Wiring behind the aux panel is now much neater:

Finally, in what was a productive day, I fitted a rubber cover round the gearstick rose joint, while the tunnel panel was off, which is supposed to cut down on the stick vibration. I bought this a few months ago but I really could not understand how it was supposed to get round the rose joint without me cutting it in half, like I have done. This doesn't look right but I can't work out how I should have done it, it only cost £2 and I'll be amazed if it makes any difference, even if it doesn't drop off in 5 minutes:

Most importantly, with the dash back in, all the electrics still work and my horn works again. I'll hold fire on calling this a complete success until I go for a drive and check it stays in one piece.

Un-tangle the Snakes - part I

 So time to do something reasonably major; sort out the damn wiring behind the aux panel!

After my quickshift was repaired, which required the aux panel to come off, my horn stopped working - damn wiring AGAIN! 

So I'm going to do 2 things; re-design the circuit to hopefully simplify it and use some more professional plugs and crimping techniques. I've spent some research time on YouTube, investigating good crimping techniques and I've bought some DT-type plugs, which are waterproof (not that I need that) and have an excellent clamping method. But the idea is to rationalise the 3 plugs I currently have to undo to get the aux panel off, down to 1 larger DT plug.

Obviously, with wiring, this could go horribly wrong but I'm sick and tired of something stopping working every time I so much as look at the aux panel.

Included in this rewire, I'm installing a front and rear camera system (same as the one I have on my motorbike). This has a 3-fold purpose; as a dash cam in case I have an accident, as a reversing camera but mostly so I always have my drives recorded, so I can always make a video if something unexpectedly good happens. At the moment, I have to fit my camera and then turn it on at the right time - as the battery only lasts an hour, I regularly find I think I've recorded something but then find out the battery died 5 minutes in and I've got nothing.

First thing tonight, though, was to test out my LP pump. Someone on the forum had a similar starting problem that I have and it turned out his LP pump had died, so the HP pump was having to suck the petrol all the way from the tank. Seemed like a possible cause of my problem but, after pulling the pipe off the swirl pot and turning the pumps on, petrol came out, so the LP pump is working - damn. I spent some time cleaning the filter which had some paper strands in it (like a mouse has made a nest in my tank?!), so maybe that will help? Unlikely...

While I had the rear panel over the diff off, I made a start on the rear camera. After some thought, I decided to attach it to the top of the number plate light, so I drilled a couple of small holes in the top of the unit and then, scarily, a hole in the rear panel for the wire:

A grommet and that's done - not too intrusive:

The wire will go through the tunnel up to the dash and the main 3-inch screen. I have yet to decide where to put the front camera or the display screen - that's for next time. It has to be integrated into my new wiring, as it needs an ignition-switched power supply.

Lights, camera...

I did originally think of trying to setup a time-lapse camera for my build but a dedicated camera was just too expensive and it seems strange to me that normal cameras don't have such a function - it's only a timer, surely?

Then fortune struck - my son dropped his mobile phone and cracked the screen. As it was his birthday and had been nagging for a new phone for ages, we got him a new one, which left me with an old phone. With a camera. And i already had bought LapseIt Pro, a £2.50 app which is very good.

So, one spare car phone holder, tin can (for the sucker to suck to) and voila!

Quick test tonight and seems to work ok - genius. Only worry is that the SD card is a cheap Chinese one that has already lost me some other video but it's ok so far.

Also optimistically booked a van for collection day - £80 and i can cancel 2 days before if GBS decide to get funny...