Fog on the Tyne!!!!

This update is dedicated to Mr Richard Dixon, who has been bitching my arse on facebook because my updates are few and far between... this one is for you Dicko you fuckwit!! ha ha

Before i start on the fog and reverse light, i though i would show you my knob, its very pleasing to hold in the hand, but my shaft is a little bent as you can see (so many puns available, but I'll leave it at that)  This was the style of gear knob i wanted from the start and this one was a eBay steal, and allot cheaper than retail cost. Wasn't an easy job to fit to be fair, firstly cut straight across the old gear selector then i had to grind down the diameter of the stub i had left to fit the internal diameter of the new gear selector. This is then held tight by 3/4 grub screws that hold it nice and tight. They also make removal fairly quick and easy as this gear selector is not IVA compliant.... bugger!! time to make another one for the test then!! I will hopefully find the correct rubber gear gator and chrome surround whilst hunting the internet for more parts.

So onto the fog light and reverse light. On my finished car i don't want the horizontal nudge bar that most people fit on their cars and they then fit the reverse and fog within that. I'm considering some nice quick quick jacks but again not IVA compliant so maby afterwards. This left me with a decision of how to mount the two lights, i certainly didn't want any brackets coming from under the rear valance and i didn't want to have to make bloody great swan neck brackets to fit them. I decided the best way was to have them surface mounted just off the centre line. This left me with another problem as the rear valance is contoured and curved so surface mounting isn't just a simple bolt on job. My first few attempts ended in failure, but you need to fail first in order to succeed (or so I'm told) I thought i could create a contoured flange the same diameter as the light unit, i had some bits of off cut drainpipe that was the correct thickness and diameter but i found it very tricky to get it cut to fit... so tricky that i said a few bad words and gave up on that one.

Idea 2 was to make a wedge of fibreglass body filler and sand and shape that to fit.This ended up the same fashion as idea 1.... lots of bad words and fingers covered in fibreglass bodge, so scrap that.

Idea 3 was the winner for me. I started by extending the length of the mounting threads on each light unit, simply knocked the old ones through opened the hole a little and in with a M6 x 100 bolt, you can also see two little brass nipples that take the lens holding screws. These i needed to bond into place from the back to stop them falling off when fitting the light, so a little epoxy glue and job done. I also bonded the rubber backing to the back of the light to stop that from looking unsightly from a side angle when fitted.

Now to measure and cut the rear skirt. Normal rules apply "measure twice... cut once" or measure ten times in my case. First is to cut the larger hole for the rear of the light unit to fit in. The light can then be offered up to mark the fixing bolt holes, i opened these a little to give some adjustment as they will be secured with a penny washer and nyloc nut from the other side. The reverse side is not integral to the boot, and sits just under the boot floor skin. This is good as it helps keep the lights high enough to be IVA happy as the bottom of the lens cannot be lower than 250mm from ground level.

Now i needed to make a spacer to stop the light from just falling down or just point to the floor. I used some alloy tube that was very easy to cut and shape with a file. This then just sleeves over the fixing bolts as the come out the back of each light and stops the light from pointing down to the ground. And yes the pictures here do show sunshine!!! it was almost an alien concept to be outside and not be balls deep in snow, or flood water. And the temperature was a tropical 8 degrees so i didn't take any risks and whacked on a load of suncream!!! ha ha






Once i had the little spacer sleeves done it was just a trial a error process on getting the correct angle to get the lights to sight right. The advantage to me with fitting the lights like this is their will be no damage to paint work when that's done, but the light will sit as far back to the body as possible, so the top of the light will be touching the body (12o'clock position) and the two bolts sleeved with the spacers and look nice and tidy.

The fog light in this picture is not an IVA happy one...something to do with parabolic reflectors or the like.... parabollox in my opinion. However these are the rules i must follow, so i will...... currently. LOL

The fog in this side picture does look to be pointing down, but its just the angle i took the photo and the uneven ground surface.

 I'm thinking that i don't like the way the centerline of sight is thrown off with having one clear lens and one red, so i might look into getting another clear lens and a coloured bulb, that way everything is kept uniform and pleasing to the eye. I could even just re wire the fog to be a second reverse light (with clear lens) then just fit the red fog for MOT time and switch the wires back over?? not sure yet.

So all sorted and happy with the work today. Another step closer and another job ticked off the list i have a few snag's i need to sort out but nothing worthy of a blog update. So keep your eyes peeled for more updates soon. (probs battery tray and kill switch next)









All tested and working fine. Good