supZ' Connect progress thread!

[supZ]

Not much to report yet but I thought I'd get the thread going..

Here's how it looks at the moment (I have started to remove the sign-age. guy who had it used it for his race van and has all his name and sponsors all over all)



todays been my only day to do anything on it since I bought it last week.. got a couple of weeks off now so I'm gonna get as much done as I can

[supZ]

first job of the day, upgrade the stereo!

had an old stereo laying around from my old old car so thought I'd stick that in. its just a plain cd player but it was a good one and its plenty powerful enough for what I want it for.

an old pioneer DEH-6500R

started by drilling a hole in the fascia to run my aux lead through from the back of the stereo.. installed a rubber grommit to stop the lead falling back through and voila...





and all installed..



tomorrow im gonna be removing the door cards and seeing if im able to squeeze my 17cm speakers in the doors or not, attempting to wire up the cheap rear view camera i got, and a few other bits

[Dub-77]

I manged to get some 6.5" in the doors with a bit if cutting of the door not a lot bout 1/2" of the orig hole. Stereo looks good.

[supZ]

I manged to get some 6.5" in the doors with a bit if cutting of the door not a lot bout 1/2" of the orig hole. Stereo looks good.

ahh cheers for that good to know they'll fit with a bit of persuasion. didnt get a chance to get the door cards off today.. but will have a look tomorrow

[supZ]

right today i mostly treated the bumpers and trim.. autoglym bumper/trim restore gel was my weapon of choice..

i had intended to get the speaker install going but as it was actually sunny i thought it made sense to do the bumpers..

a few before and afters..

before:

after


before:

after


and a progress one.. you can really see the difference!




also got the k&n installed and removed a load of random wiring, replaced some corroded connections and some other bits and pieces

[AeroNautiCal]

That's looking good!

I particularly liked the grommet trick to stop the lead from dropping back, very neat.

[supZ]

cheers

reposting the bumper before and after as i edited the photos in flickr and the site wont let me edit the post to update them :/

[supZ]

right about time i posted up some progress, keep meaning to but then forget to take photos.. doh

First up, rear view camera all in and wired up

wiring run through the rear door.. i cut a groove out of the grommit going from the door to the side to run the cables through without snagging or damaging them


camera


wired up to one of the 2 switches that were already on the van but doing nothing (the other goes to a rear light)


and the screen (ignore the dust.. new kitchen being installed and sawdust is getting everywhere )



next up new speakers in.. got 13cm ones in the end as my 17cms would have required a huge amount of work to fit.. not only into the hole, but they were far too deep as well.
fitted using connector adapters i got from america so no cutting required


little bit of sound deadening (flashing) added to the floor whilst i had everything off it to do the floor panel. not a load but it all helps.


decided to put a layer of insulation on the bottom of the flooring, should help keep a bit of cold from seeping up when im kipping in it



halfway through refitting


needed some tie-down points so used some eyelets i had in the shed.. did the job nicely



and finally got to work fitting my electric window kit.
got it all working, albeit a bit slow.. seems to almost stall as it goes up. im wondering if i've mounted the 'turning' part a little off and its pulling on it. will have to adjust it and see if there's any improvements.
apart from that though its all solidly mounted in place and i started sound deadening around it (pics to come when finished)


'hopefully' tomorrow i'll have both doors leccy windows installed and working (properly wired up) and have them both sound deadened and the door cards back on. im hoping to have a look at my central locking kit as well but only if there's time.

[supZ]

couple more pics of the job..

sound deadening all in. got a bit patchworky near the end but it does the job


cut out mounting/screw holes to get the door card back on and plugged in the wiring


didnt want to cover the motor completely as it does get warm when used so i thought best not to encase it in the door frame.

today i fitted the driver side, sorted out the wiring (bar a final tidy) and started sound deadening that side. will finish that tomorrow

had a really annoying problem in that i had fitted everything, tested the windows, all working.. refitted the door card, bolted it all back together and then thought i'll hear the difference in the speaker now its all sound deadened... no sound.... BUGGER!! during my fiddling i must have accidentally pulled a wire out of the speaker and sure enough, taking the whole thing apart again i find one has been pulled out. refitted and a little tweak with the pliers for a firmer fit and alls good in the world again, heh

its amazing already the difference in sound.. left side sounds rich and full.. gonna sound lovely once i get the driver side done a well. nice to have some decent tunes when you're travelling 100-150 miles up the road and back

[supZ]

last couple of days i've been trying to blow up my van by wiring a remote central locking kit the wrong way but thankfully no lasting damage caused..

one thing i can post though is i decided to de-badge the rear.. looks nice and clean now

[supZ]

not much progress of late, but did manage to dodge the rain long enough today to fit my wind deflectors.

do look rather snazzy i must say

[supZ]

alloys on.. might need lowering a bit now..

[supZ]

looks like i deleted my original pic above..



bit more work finally done after constant rain/snow/ice stopped play..

got the bulkhead in and covered. the channel in the middle is due to the fact i want to have the bike in the middle of the van but i need a tiny bit more room for the wheel than the load space provides. i have now cut a slit in the intented material so the wheel fits fine.

test fit


adding a bit of insulation to one side


trimmed


and fit



roof, doors and sides get a bit of insulation/lining




and now onto the ply lining. decided to make my own and glad i did.. cost me about a 5th of what it would cost me buying a ready made kit.

used the plastic covers thati had as a rough guide and cut out what i needed from 6mm ply


test fit


had to make a few tweaks here and there but it turned out quite well..

covered and the final fit




both sides are now done, annoyingly i ran out of material to cover the other wheel arch and roof so i've got some more material now to do that. i have a nasty feeling the shade isnt quite the same but end of the day its close enough and im not winning any beauty contests with it

got a nice mat in there now so the floor doesn't get ruined with wet wheels etc.. all i have to do now is finish up the carpeting and find a mattress of sorts and im good for the race season

[Rumble bee]

Good effort! What do you race?

[supZ]

cheers

i race in the F600 class with EMRA. i only raced half of last season so this'll be my first full season and thankfully i've got a new bike i managed to test for the last race last year and a couple of test days so hopefully it'll be ready. that's a 2003 CBR600RR

im not that fast, but it is fun.. at least with the new bike i'll be able to hold onto the pack a lot better. set my personal best lap time on it last year before it had even been setup so looking forward to breaking some laptimes in the next few months

i've just bought a 2006 model as well for my trackbike. that's what'll be living in the van mostly as the team deal with the race bike

race bike


trackbike