Hello Chaps....new owner

[Stickfinger]

That is better.

[Stickfinger]

Moving on.....
It has been a while since the bumper and nose cone were attached to the XM........repaint will come later after MoT etc because I want to do that at the very end to ensure no damage if I need to take it all off again to solve some problem that might appear during the running in period.

[Stickfinger]

DRL upgrade.
These will be wired so that they go off when the orange flasher bulbs are operating.

They are important down my way as there are a lot of "shaded lanes" where cars can disappear in the dappled light.
They are flaring a bit in the close photograph, to the eye they are three distinct spots of light. I contemplated using the side lights but I wanted to keep as much as the standard "look" as I could.

[Stickfinger]

1st TEST Run up and back down out hill.....ALL WORKING as expected (still some belt slap)

Gearbox seems fine, kick down works
Brakes working well
Engine pulls well (still sounds like a bag of spanners)


WHHHHEYYYY HeeeeeeeHaaaaa

[Dieselman]

It will be interesting to see the DRL's in position.

[White Exec]

A 300+ohm small relay, with 1800-2200uF electrolytic across the coil, and a series diode up front, should keep the relay closed (and the DRL off) while the indicator is flashing. Avoid the normal low impedance 12v relays, as the capacitor will struggle. Choose value of C to suit.

Have done this on BX (DRLs in the lower section of the front indicators), and it works well.
The relay can just dim the DRL to side-light brightness, if preferred, with one extra resistor.

[Stickfinger]

I am now working on the other Fog lamp/indicator pod....it was requested that I show a step by step of how to do it.......so here we go.

This is what needs to come out......


A VERY strong and thick silicon sealant that is used to stick the glass to the plastic pod. This is very hard to remove/separate from the glass, I used a day spraying it/keeping it wet with WD40,

Getting under the edge of the glass is very hard work and needs care (but it is quite strong), I used various trim tools and a couple of small blunt fruit/wax knives. The plastic edge of the pod will take some distortion and return to shape but you must work from the BOTTOM EDGE first. Concentrate on this edge using a small screw driver to chisel out excess sealant without levering against the glass. Once reasonability clear you can then start with a thin trim tool (you will distort the edge of the plastic pod) and get this under the glass edge.

[Stickfinger]

Tools used.....



Working under the BOTTOM EDGE, note the deflection of the lower edge of the pod. I am sure there must be a better way than this, a fair amount of force is needed to deflect the plastic (with plastic tools). Insert, force under the lip of the glass, cut/release some sealant, work along cutting/releasing the sealant as you go. Leave the 2nd plastic tool in the gap as you go and work along the whole lower edge then extend to the edges.



Note....you cannot work like this on the TOP Edge....lift the glass up slightly and with a long sharp blade reach inside the edge cutting the sealant/glue , lift more, cut. lift more cut.

[Stickfinger]

NOTE...the Plastic pod does not seem suitable to put in an oven, maybe heating with a hairdrier would help soften the sealant but I stuck to WD40. Please CLEAN it before working, the LAST thing you need to do is work with slippery hands/surface.

[Stickfinger]