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"Those stalks look awful!"
"Those stalks look awful!"
We've never been enormous fans of the Mazda stalk arrangement, they look a bit dated and with no plans to add wipers or washers, one of the stalks is pretty much redundant. Also, the cowl is a bit massive and isn't the best fit against the dashboard
We deliberated long and hard about what buttons we wanted on the wheel to try and keep it neat. We also opted to have the sidelights just be permanently on with the ignition - it can't hurt to be seen!
We decided to go with a carbon fibre backplate to match the dash!
Matt modeled the backplate in Fusion 360 and we 3D printed a couple of prototypes to check it out before we machined a sheet of carbon fibre
Fortunately, we have access to a CNC router to cut the backplate out of a sheet of carbon fibre
Nicely done. It was done just using a 2mm bit designed for fibreglass circuit boards. Really crisp edge and not a surface chip in sight!
So... The things you will need for this project:
A multimeter
Wire strippers
Soldering equipment
Liquid electrical tape
6x 3D printed switch covers
1x 3mm thick CNC machined carbon fibre backplate
6x LED switches (latching or momentary to suit use)
1x DC electronics 12 core coiled cable (20 core if you want more buttons)
New connector to attach to the GBS column and instruments loom - AMP 18 way Multilock 070 (174935-1) and pins
Weipu WY20 twist lock panel power socket and plug
12x different coloured/numbered wires (12 inches long) + spare
A whole lot of patience and some serious soldering skills! oh... and someone to help hold things if you want to make life a little easier
£75 later...
Step 1. Remove the sheath from the cores to the desired length
Step 2. Decide which wires need to go where
Step 3. Make a note of what goes from where to where
Step 4. Roughly lay out your bird's nest (zip ties help)
Step 5. Apply heat shrink to hide the chaos
Step 6. Start soldering up your terminals
Step 7. Breathe, take 5 mins, regroup
Step 8. Finish what you started
Step 9. Check nothing shorts out using the trusty multimeter
Step 10. Apply liquid electrical tape (yes, you read that right) to cover all the ends
Step 11. Put on the covers to hide the mess you just made (out of sight, out of mind)
Step 12. Solder all the wires into the connector (a 2 person job even with the right clamps)
Step 13. Note down what's connected to each pin
Step 14. Crimp a pin onto each of the wires (you may need a loop if you want side lights on all the time)
Step 15. Insert the pins into the correct places into the connector
Step 16. Say a quick prayer so you don't need to redo any soldering or set fire to anything!
Step 17. Connect everything up
Step 18 (optional). Another quick prayer, cross your fingers and your toes (2 person job?)
Step 19. Turn the key and see if everything works!
It did!!!
oooohhh.... aaaahhhh.....
I think we did rather well there!
Savings - £300 over the mainstream offerings... and ours has lights!
The next stage in the project is going to be to 3D print a new cowl for the steering column.
We want to keep the key barrel and steering lock, so the project is going to be a little more complicated than just cutting a bit of domestic downpipe and chucking it in, it's going to be modelled from the ground up and is going to be a big headache - but totally worth it!
Watch this space for updates on the winter cowl nightmare project!
Now we just need some good weather so we can get out on the road for our maiden voyage!
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