Technical Winter Mod - Reversing Light

[Bleeding Knuckles]

I finally obtained all the requisite bits for my Mod today and as it's very nearly Christmas I'll forgive the slow post. Initially my main concern with fitting a reversing light to a car without one was where to attach it? I don't recoil from drilling anything anywhere if I have to, but I don't like the idea of allowing rust to develop by placing holes in the bodywork So methinks I'll fit a home made bracket onto the bumper securing bolt and wire the whole thing into the oil cooling fan supply to avoid overloading the original wiring loom!!! I've obtained some 12mm (o/d) mild steel pipe with a 2mm wall so that should accommodate the bumper bolt at 8mm (o/d) and some 25mm x 3mm flat mild steel bar to fashion the simple L shape mount. 25mm width will give me sufficient room between the body work and the bumper. All I need now is a little time with a ruler, saw and my faithful MIG. The forward gearbox housing from a 126 BIS with a working switch is a simple change, but I did need to swap the switch as the plug on the original was broken. For some reason I cannot post .JPG pics so I'll get back later.
Ian.

 

[Bleeding Knuckles]

Finally managed to get a content pic in !!!!!!!

 

[Bleeding Knuckles]

View attachment 392573Finally managed to get a content pic in !!!!!!!

Ok Next step was to cut the parts and assemble the mount, As the original bumper mount is very flimsy and the bolt holes in it are some 13mm I have needed to place penny washers onto each end of the tube to stop the 12mm pipe striking the bodywork when assembled, it looks crude, but will not be seen anyway. The final test today is to see how bad my welding skills are and attach the bracket to the pipe. More later.
Ian.

 

[Bleeding Knuckles]

Ok Next step was to cut the parts and assemble the mount, As the original bumper mount is very flimsy and the bolt holes in it are some 13mm I have needed to place penny washers onto each end of the tube to stop the 12mm pipe striking the bodywork when assembled, it looks crude, but will not be seen anyway. The final test today is to see how bad my welding skills are and attach the bracket to the pipe. More later.
Ian. View attachment 400116View attachment 400117View attachment 400118

Ok Mount finished and a lick of paint applied, fitting the mount in place was a bit of a faff as the bolt goes in blind, but perseverance ruled the day and it all went together well. To finish this stage I mounted the lamp too. Next fitting the new front gearbox housing and the wiring - time to crawl under the car
Ian.

 

[lazylobster]

Looks good. But, is the lamp protuding into the airflow? Would hate to see the drag coefficient impacted

 

[Bleeding Knuckles]

Hi lobster, to help with your comment I quote the following - see pic.
Where the main type of Drag is 'parasite drag' due to the shape of the body, it matters not that a small light is in the airflow as the Velocity is never high enough for it to cause any problem
Ian.

 

[Bleeding Knuckles]

Hi lobster, to help with your comment I quote the following - see pic.
Where the main type of Drag is 'parasite drag' due to the shape of the body, it matters not that a small light is in the airflow as the Velocity is never high enough for it to cause any problem
Ian.View attachment 401261

Right, now that I've sorted the aerodynamics of the mod it's time to crawl under the motor. Winter is playing tricks with the temperature and as it's some 12degC at the moment I shall set to. I have raised the front of the car to the maximum I can with my new lifting beam and used four axel stands as safety. I have to admit that I'm not as lithe as I once was and crawling around on the cold garage floor only adds to the discomfort However, modding comes with it's pluses and minuses and you have to accept the negative to get the positive - some of the time!!!!
The speedo cable, clutch cable support and gear shift lollipop all came off easily, with the gear shift I elected to select reverse gear and then dismantle the lollipop from the aft - gearbox end only, this leaves the lollipop in position to simply bolt on again once the gear selector is correctly in position. You will notice from the pic that I am using a 126BIS gear selector that has two oil seals (never leaked) A tap with a rubber hammer and a tad under 600ml of oil is lost in the process. I have included an internal view of the two gearbox housings for part number reference. I've left it to drip overnight and will reassemble everything tomorrow, there's only so much crawling around I can manage at the moment .
more later.
Ian.

 

[Bleeding Knuckles]

Right, now that I've sorted the aerodynamics of the mod it's time to crawl under the motor. Winter is playing tricks with the temperature and as it's some 12degC at

Right, now that I've sorted the aerodynamics of the mod it's time to crawl under the motor. Winter is playing tricks with the temperature and as it's some 12degC at the moment I shall set to. I have raised the front of the car to the maximum I can with my new lifting beam and used four axel stands as safety. I have to admit that I'm not as lithe as I once was and crawling around on the cold garage floor only adds to the discomfort However, modding comes with it's pluses and minuses and you have to accept the negative to get the positive - some of the time!!!!
The speedo cable, clutch cable support and gear shift lollipop all came off easily, with the gear shift I elected to select reverse gear and then dismantle the lollipop from the aft - gearbox end only, this leaves the lollipop in position to simply bolt on again once the gear selector is correctly in position. You will notice from the pic that I am using a 126BIS gear selector that has two oil seals (never leaked) A tap with a rubber hammer and a tad under 600ml of oil is lost in the process. I have included an internal view of the two gearbox housings for part number reference. I've left it to drip overnight and will reassemble everything tomorrow, there's only so much crawling around I can manage at the moment .
more later.
Ian.View attachment 401262View attachment 401263View attachment 401265View attachment 401266View attachment 401267

the moment I shall set to. I have raised the front of the car to the maximum I can with my new lifting beam and used four axel stands as safety. I have to admit that I'm not as lithe as I once was and crawling around on the cold garage floor only adds to the discomfort However, modding comes with it's pluses and minuses and you have to accept the negative to get the positive - some of the time!!!!
The speedo cable, clutch cable support and gear shift lollipop all came off easily, with the gear shift I elected to select reverse gear and then dismantle the lollipop from the aft - gearbox end only, this leaves the lollipop in position to simply bolt on again once the gear selector is correctly in position. You will notice from the pic that I am using a 126BIS gear selector that has two oil seals (never leaked) A tap with a rubber hammer and a tad under 600ml of oil is lost in the process. I have included an internal view of the two gearbox housings for part number reference. I've left it to drip overnight and will reassemble everything tomorrow, there's only so much crawling around I can manage at the moment .
more later.
Ian.View attachment 401262View attachment 401263View attachment 401265View attachment 401266View attachment 401267

Greetings, the assembly of the gearbox housing turned out to be a fiddle as the selector shaft was a faff to get into the correct position, it did go together ok after a few tries. I included both the forward (500) and rear (126) selector shaft rubber boots to keep muck out and it all went back as it should. The loom is powered by piggy-back from the cooling fan supply as a stand alone cable with a 20A fuse there is no danger of the original car loom being compromised and it all works too - result!
Ian.