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Anyone got a VZ Cross 8 Crewman? (But now I have one :) )

Fu Manchu

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Got the b-pillar trims sorted.
I used new screws and as Holden suggest, a smidge of sealant on the screw thread.

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Before. Hard to see but not a nice black. Also quite pitted and rough to the touch. (That’s polish dabbed on) I gave the trim a polish in two stages using Maguiars Plastic Polish. I used a medium foam cone on the drill. Then a soft one.

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After

The SRS sticker was stuffed, so got rid of it. I might get two new ones.

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For those wondering how they are removed, gently pull from the top edge to release the clip, then slide downward with both doors open.
 
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Fu Manchu

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I’m using the Jaycar sound deadener. My neighbour is building a Kombi at the moment and just did the floor with Dynamat. I can’t pick the difference between the two butyl products. Mine also has the foam layer. The Jaycar product is a bit thicker.
 

Fu Manchu

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Spent a bit of time in the engine bay today.

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Noticed the low speed cooling fan relay had a burn spot.

849B8DF5-9E52-4609-B98D-018171B8D3BD.jpeg

Pulled it and the terminal has seen some heat. It’s a different relay, so it’s been replaced, and I’m going to guess, to fix this problem. (Which has happened again)
It’s the earth. Pin 87. Thats the pin with the melted plastic on it.

I'm going to guess that there is too much resistance on the earth. Even if it draws too much current, I think there would be other things going on. Not only that, considering the cars state at the moment, best I can do is investigate the quality of the earths.

Someone asked about earths the other day, so here we go.

Screen Shot 2020-11-21 at 4.57.34 pm.png

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X100 is the earth.
Got the wiring diagram up. It earths to the plug behind the battery.


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You can see the stud in the panel behind. the input earth plug is in the foreground and the plug for the earths is on the right.

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Unplugged it and it was a bit gross. This terminal is just a busbar of sorts that bolts to the earth point. It’s an odd bolt/stud. Undo the plug and just undo the whole lot. Then separate the the nut from the stud in a vise or with grips and a spanner/socket. A bit of corrosion there. Gave it a clean up with a small brass wire brush, like a wire tooth brush. All the thread, the washer, the bus bar at the contact point. Gave the plug a clean with contact cleaner. Flushed the plug with sugar soap. Then water. Then contact cleaner again. Got some air into it to blow out any muck.

Gave the Earth a little clean on the pins with some Scotchbrite and a screw driver. Then a kids toothbrush to scrub inside the plastic housing with sugar soap, then water, then contact cleaner.
 
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Fu Manchu

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*going to add more to this

82236337-E980-4EF4-B348-DA44D0E7B4D2.jpeg


C04622DC-828E-4CCD-8935-848CF68E1D84.jpeg

I'm happy with the housing now.

DC0CDD71-04E5-4568-860D-FDEE60411FBF.jpeg

Took the chance to clean up the relay block. Unbolted it from the car, unclipped it from the bracket. It was pretty grot under there. Dead flies and beetles. Heaps of that same grey grot too.

CB60A896-7632-4F88-A08C-43E00E201B66.jpeg


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Pulled all the fuses and relays.

Used sugar soap in a pressure sprayer and a brush to clean up the wiring and under the block. Then water in a pressure sprayer to flush it clean. Used a blower to blow the water out. Then contact cleaner in the terminals. Sat in the sun for a couple of hours after.

39528744-BA59-49AC-9C92-41A859ED80AA.jpeg

*Note the new anodised bolts.
 
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Fu Manchu

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A43B1406-663B-4B46-AA23-CEE8BEFE1635.jpeg

So I next did the earth under the ABS.

29C06A2D-A19D-4267-9B4C-0CE0F8C67FAC.jpeg

It too had a fair bit of oxidisation on it. Cleaned them up with the little wire brush again.
I changed the positioning of one earth so it didn't rub on the harness.
I noted the stud is painted. Seems to earth fine though. I checked with the multimeter.

254FB9B5-E709-4F55-8856-31415B4F1FA4.jpeg

0.002-0.001 ohms from the earths now. That's from relay pin to earth. Also test them from various points on the car. And from the negative terminal to the earths. Of course further away got to 0.003ohms. That was firewall to battery terminal.

I changed the earth nuts because they had some rust on them and in them. Went with a unlock nut on the end to keep it tight and keep the length the factory nut had.

Then I started to swap most engine bay nuts with nice gold anodised nuts. Did heaps. looks good.
 
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Fu Manchu

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385400AC-5065-45C9-9D5E-0BF7E0FAAD49.jpeg

Engine block earths got done. The back one was fine because that has had heaps of oil and schmutz coating it. the front one had a fair bit of corrosion.

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F63BC944-F7D5-4F29-B9F5-386312884469.jpeg


I'm happy enough with the result. Not perfect, but better. 0.002 ohms resistance from far points on the engine harness to the the earth.
 
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Fu Manchu

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7DA32763-B8B8-4015-979D-04E0B232023D.jpeg

So then I'm looking at the grotty bonnet spring. Figured out how to get that out. Pulled back on it with adjustable grips, released the cable. Then pulled back on the other end of the spring and it can be manoeuvred out.


5F83A010-B94E-433B-B294-D9D7EFDA32AB.jpeg
Some degreaser and a paint. Now I know that radiator support panel is also average, but to paint that is more work than I care to do right now to get it turn out nice. So I'm leaving it, which makes no sense.

E8E8E439-3E74-4E77-BCA4-706DF65C6D15.jpeg

The cable was a bit average so I wrapped that with electrical tape. Painted the end part.


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Painted the cable clips and the little hex screw holding it on.

472F285D-7D6A-46F6-9ED7-7EEEF637EA04.jpeg
 
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Fu Manchu

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Some of the nuts I replaced.

27B89E35-3563-4E65-A264-5708B48C30BA.jpeg

Before

7DA09BA1-C539-480C-8149-9F981791BC51.jpeg

After

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EEF2815C-5F39-437D-A4AF-C0274E7DBCCA.jpeg
 
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Fu Manchu

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Putting everything back together and found some fuses in the wrong places. I copied both my photo before I removed them, the manual, the inside of the relay cover and the owners manual.

So checked the interior ones and found the radio was 10 amp instead of 7.5amp. It has had a phone connected and that phone plug was butchered, so no guesses someone blew the fuse and swapped it with a 10 because there wasn't a 7.5 on hand.
I didn't replace the plug on the phone loom but I did tidy it up and make the wiring safe.
 
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Fu Manchu

We’ll get together. Have a few laughs.
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41CDA633-AAD4-420C-9310-24CAC595505B.jpeg

Before.

8FD9BCCA-56A4-4290-8C9B-007D672051AF.jpeg

After

The engine fuse and abs fuses were incorrect. I swapped the heated relay to highbeam, it will see the least use there. Had to put the cooked 5 pin relay back in because it’s 5 pins. The only one that is.
 
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