Multipla Glopsy

[Tubthumper73]

Now looking for a cheap towbar. If you've got one stashed away,give me a shout,thanks ?

 

[kentaur]

Nice work! How's the glopsy going? Any progress?

 

[Tubthumper73]

Still plodding along thanks. Got the MOT soon but unless there's something drastic underneath we should be ok. Still on the lookout for a towbar but have also been tempted by an S-max advertised locally.

 

[Tubthumper73]

Just a quick update on the MOT,she passed with one advisory of a slightly buckled rear wheel. Next job is to find and fit a towbar.

 

[Tubthumper73]

The bar has landed....watch this space...

 

[Tubthumper73]

Rather annoyingly the drill bits I ordered online failed to turn up so the towbar job is on a bit of a hold. I did however start to take out the boot carpet and side trims in prep for the drilling/wiring.

 

[Tubthumper73]

Whilst taking out the nsr boot trim I found this 13 pin plug behind it. Any ideas what it was for,cd changer perhaps?

 

[Tubthumper73]

Any top tips on how to tackle the wiring?

 

[Oletimer]

That plug looks like a cd connection to me.

When I wired my trailer wires in I simply soldered them to the original wiring, never been a problem and they've been there about 4 years.

Good luck with the build
George

 

[Tubthumper73]

Cheers George. Did you use the ns or os light wiring to connect to?

 

[Tubthumper73]

Drill bits were waiting for me at home when I got back from work this afternoon so it looks like I'm good to go on my next day off.

 

[Longprest]

Looks like a CD player connection to me too.
When I came to fit our towbar I found there had been one on before so holes already there if a bit badly drilled. I had to take two wires across from one side to the other for the tail lights and indicator.

 

[Tubthumper73]

Thanks Longprest. The cable from the plug heads off towards the front of the car maybe a previous owner had a cd changer in the boot? Rear trim and carpet are now all out so just need a day off and then I can crack on with it.

 

[Oletimer]

Sorry Tub, been off the net for a day or two.

All my near side wires provided feeds for everything on the nearside, I did take wires to the off side for a separate side, brake and turn supply, if I remember correctly this was more to do with bunching than anything else (when you've connected all the wires together and added the shrink tube it does make quite a bunch and there's not that much space around)

Make sure nothing is turned on when you start soldering - in fact, check and mark up what wires have to go where and then disconnect the battery, you really don't want a live soldering iron melting any cables.

Hope this helps

George

 

[Tubthumper73]

Cheers George. It looks like I'll have a few hours tomorrow to have a go at fitting this and I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Tubthumper73]

Today was towbar day. I'd already taken out the two side panels in the boot and got the carpet out of the way to reveal the dimples that need drilling out to give you a starting point(arrowed) for the rest of the holes. I used a step drill bit as three holes per side need opening out to accept a tube spacer that sits inside the cars box section. It was a bit trial and error, especially as the instructions were badly translated but by doing a hole at a time,fitting the bar/ removing it etc helped line everything up.

 

[Tubthumper73]

Once all the holes were drilled it was just a case of sliding the tube spacers through the holes and into the box section,putting the spreader plates in place,including the two underneath the car and then bolting the bar up to it.
Wiring went through a grommet on the near side and up by the light. A bit of multimeter work to see what wire did what and then soldered/heat shrink tubing. I did need to run a few wires across to the osr for the fog light and indicator and I wired in the audible buzzer on the nsr.
All in all it took me about 4 hours with a few well placed tea breaks.

 

[Tubthumper73]

Managed to pick up a puncture yesterday and had to deploy the 17 year old space saver. Sadly the tyre couldn't be repaired as the nail had gone in too close to the sidewall,so Glopsy now has two new ones.
I've always used Goodyear efficient grips but my local tyre place didn't have any in so they recommended Hankook Prime3's. Price wise they're fairly similar at £113 a pair fitted and having only driven a few miles in the dry so far on them it's too early to give an opinion,but I'll report back when I've put them through their paces.

 

[chr1s]

Nice to see safety first.
Double trolley jack, to be sure, to be sure.

 

[Tubthumper73]

Nice to see safety first.
Double trolley jack, to be sure, to be sure.

I couldn't find my axle stands so used the next best thing I had!