Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[Zelandeth]

It's got me well puzzled...a spring that size must originate from something pretty hefty! I certainly don't recognise it though. The one possibility of course is that it's just been hiding under the seat since before I got the car and has just decided to make an appearance. I've not had the carpets out of this one yet (unusually) as they didn't obviously need cleaning. Usually cars when I first get them wind up having the seats and carpets pulled out for cleaning.

Going rate for a B&O MMC20EN stylus seems to be anywhere between £100 and £300. Can't remember what the ones for the Sanyo were, but think it was in the region of £30, which to be fair given how often you need to change them I'm not going to grumble at. Some people seem to say "you should change your stylus at least every six months..." and the like - but I've got at least six or seven years on the one on the Sanyo and can't hear any difference to when I first got it...

With the tracking force set correctly and so long as you're not playing wrecked records they last pretty well I've found anyway. The B&O is tracking at only 1.2g, so realistically should lead a pretty easy life...

Can only think of one stylus I've had to change due to wear over the years. Have had to replace a couple which got physically damaged (usually during house moves when someone forgot to secure the tonearm and it wound up bouncing around while in the back of the van). My parents old deck had to have one changed due to wear (Marantz - can't remember the model I'm afraid), but in fairness it was about 20 years old by then, and saw regular use for its entire life up until that point so wasn't doing bad.

[CitroJim]

Gosh That is a shocking price for a stylus Zel!!!

It's true that a good diamond stylus treated with care and used only on good records will last for ages and ages... What's to wear?

I must admit, the new stylus I bought wasn't needed but now I have one for my decent records and one for some rather well-worn 45s I rescued from dads for nostalgic reasons when I cleared his place last year...

Some real treasures there too. Some original Beatles singles... They've been well abused though and not least by me when I was a kid...

[Zelandeth]

If you haven't yet Jim, give them a good clean. The difference it can make is unbelievable in some cases. I had one Eagles album which went from completely unplayable (it would just skip endlessly) to almost perfect with nothing other than a clean.

Quick update this evening on Project Lada EFi.

I've pulled the EFi loom out of its box again and connected everything up for a "dry run" so to speak. Which given the limited interaction with the vehicle loom is actually perfectly doable.

Spare battery on hand (okay, I nicked the one from the Sinclair C5 which lives in the corner of the Atrium where I was working), I set about splicing together a few extra wires.

Off-the-shelf 12V panel lamps were substituted for the fuel pump load and the check engine light. A toggle switch (actually the one that's destined to be my cooling fan override switch for the Lada) was borrowed to provide my "ignition switch."

First test of course was done with just the loom and its power supply connections present, initially checking with a meter to check there were no shorts, and then turning on the ignition without any bits connected to make sure nothing smoked.

Next step was to do the same with everything aside from the ECU connected, same result.

Then add an ECU and see what happened. What happened was nothing initially down to a duff contact at the positive battery terminal. Corrected that and tried again. The little green light that was pretending to be a fuel pump lit for a second then went out as it should do, and the throttle body unit made the sort of whirring noises you expect from a bit of precision machinery that's doing a self-test sequence.

The only thing that's absent is light from the CEL...though I'm not going to worry about that so much so long as everything else checks out, as it's entirely possible that something is complaining about a dodgy earth somewhere given the amount of things which are expecting to be connected to a currently non-existent engine block.

Experimentally I waved the crank pulley vaguely near the CPS to see whether anything would happen - a healthy click from the throttle body unit, the fuel pump light coming on - and me jumping half way across the room and yelping as a spark jumped a good couple of inches from the coil pack nearest to me - straight to my leg.

Some profanities later, I attached some HT leads and spark plugs to said terminals and stuck them on a metal panel to tame the HT slightly, as I don't want to even try to figure out what it must have shot up to there. Then tried again...clickyclicky noises from the fuel injector and healthy sparks from all four plugs. Also checked that I had power to the lambda sensor, and given how toasty it's getting from the internal heater, that seems just fine.

So it looks like the system is working as it should...Next step I guess is to try it on an actual engine and see what happens...Fingers crossed with many more proper grounds present the CEL will spring to life, and I won't need to look at finding another ECU or potentially repairing this one. If it's just one transistor that's failed that should be possible, provided it's a discrete one rather than buried in an IC anyway. Another ECU shouldn't be massively hard to find if necessary anyway...

[CitroJim]

Zel, that's an excellent method to test the system before full installation... A great confidence builder and at least you know the spark side of things works!

Did you see the injector pulsing too on the test?

I cleaned a lot of my records by scrubbing them gently with a soft brush and luke-warm water with a tiny bit of wetting agent added (washing up liquid) and as you gave found it can turn them from unplayable to almost perfect I had a Carpenters record from a charity shop that was so bad it had mould growing on it! A wash fixed it a treat

[Zelandeth]

Too right the HT side of things works...

Nothing to actually see from the injector (as there was no fuel supply present) but there were clear clicks coming from the unit, which I reckon can only have been the injector firing.

[CitroJim]

Yes, reckon you're right Zel So when are you going for the full conversion then, given the encouraging test results?

[van ordinaire]

Dislike of orange bulb in green switch has nothing to do with OCD & everything to do with offending the principle of aesthetics.

About a year ago I bought a CD multichanger to supplement my pre-CD music centre (which I think was about £20 new) & I've never seen any reason to change it, except to upgrade the speakers (twice) & this is about the 3rd CD player. Hi-fi it ain't, more than adequate for my needs/purposes? Absolutely!

Isn't it amazing you can still get styli?

[CitroJim]

Isn't it amazing you can still get styli?

Currently the vinyl revival/revolution is huge and everything is available at a price. The interest being shown in old record players is massive...

And so is the interest in vintage high-end decks and vintage Hi-Fi gear in general with eyewatering prices to match...

I, with my other major pastime hat on, could go on about it for ages but I won't clutter up Zel's blog with it...

[myglaren]

It isn't long since I bought one to prepare my wife's stereo for my granddaughter who is very much into vinyl.

It was an Akai sourced from Germany.
I replaced my own Sure cartridge & stylus a while back quite cheaply from Richer Sounds.
Could probably do with an upgrade though.

[Zelandeth]

Think I've figured out a good reason for that setup in the welder - it makes it far easier to spot that it's lit outside in daylight than if the lamp was the same colour and blended into the colour of the switch.

So here's how wonky the driver's door was beforehand...Not hard to see why I had to perfect the "lift and slam" technique to close it.

Things propped in place before welding - yes, I did remember to remove the door handle before I started.

It was really quite fiddly to get into the corner where I was trying to do the welding - especially as I couldn't really get my head in close enough to see what I was doing once I had the welding mask on..still, got there in the end. Judging from the other side of the panel, I got at least some reasonable penetration with the weld. Couple of braces on the outside of the door attach the top and bottom of the hinge to the frame as well.

Here's how things looked afterward...

You can pretty clearly see the mark where the door's been scraping against the pillar when opening/closing.

Bit better I think!

Actually looks further out in that photo than it does in person. Just the angle I think.

Before I put things back together I decided to address one issue which tends to cause trouble in Ladas. The door cards are essentially just that - just really thick card...fine and good until they get wet. Simple enough solution really, stick something waterproof on the back...Had the underbody sealant handy from when I hosed down the inside of the door with it.

Putting the door back together thanks to the simplicity of these cars is the work of about five minutes.

Looking in the wing mirror you used to be able to see a good 1/2" gap between the top of the rear door and the front one - looks rather better in the mirror now!

Really need to get rid of that blind spot mirror (it points completely the wrong direction, and is less than useless), if only it wasn't attached to the mirror with what appears to be nuclear attack resistant adhesive.

[daviemck2006]

I see your 107 has a shopping trolley handle [emoji38][emoji23][emoji23]

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[Zelandeth]

I see your 107 has a shopping trolley handle [emoji38][emoji23][emoji23]

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Yeah, I went a bit nuts with the options! First new car and all that - I'd set my budget, and had some left to spare, so added toys. Suits the character of the car though I reckon. Had the rear spoiler, silver rear lights, mesh trim on the radiator grill and the twin headlights. Sadly they have proven problematic due to cracked lenses and I've been utterly unable to find replacements other than direct from Morette - who when I last heard were having major financial issues.

Only accessory I really miss in it is a temperature gauge...Really do need to add one.

[daviemck2006]

Ours is totally standard. Although its a sportium i think it would be the exact copy of yours apart from white mirror caps and white trim bits inside, and dark tinted side and rear windows. You would have expected a sportium would have had a rev counter, but no. Is yours one of the many limited editions, im going to guess a verve!

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[CitroJim]

Zel, great result on the door

[Zelandeth]

Correct, Davie.

Verve spec got me remote central locking, some badges, the rev counter, alloys wheels, metallic paint, air con and supposedly fancy floor mats - those never materialised and the dealer promptly went bankrupt before we ever got to the bottom of it.