A good start to the week, I completed the flasher wiring and that means the cab wiring is done now, except for the lighting panel connections. To progress that, I sanded and painted the lighting panel wooden base. I’ll leave refurbishing the actual switch box now to be a winter job. I next turned my attention back to the front wing, fitting an edging strip to the rear sharp edge, then fitted the beading and piping to the front wheelarch opening in preparation for fitting the new front mudwing. Fitting the mudwing required some wood packing pieces to be added to the wheel arch, not surprise as the original incorrect wing also required packing, and was a slow job, getting it lined up then jacking and packing into position. However, it fits very well now, much better than I expected. Last job of the week was to apply filler to the curved front face of the wing, to conceal the welds, and start rubbing it down.
Monthly Archives: July 2025
27/7/2025
Started the week by moving the starter motor positive cable over to the terminal next to the battery positive, which cured the volt drop at the cable terminal. The starter motor now engages but there is insufficient power in the batteries to turn the engine over, so replacements will be ordered next month. I then drilled the connection box for the indicators and ran the five-core cable up the cab door pillar to the junction box above the cab door. The next task was to bind together with heat shrink the three large cables that go up the rearward cab door pillar, two being power cables to the lighting panel and the other being a three-conductor multicore to the indicator junction box. I fixed them to the bulkhead alongside the cab door with hand made brass straps. Adding the two-core wire for the flasher unit meant I was able to test the indicator circuit, with success. A this point I decided the indicator switch was the wrong way round compared with the MW, so that needs corrected that. Final jobs of the week were to remove the interior lights switch panel from its base and temporary reattach it to the cab bulkhead so I could lay in the wiring to the flasher unit and set the route for the multicore from the indicator junction box back to the main control box. This required a minor alteration to the switch box base board to accommodate the cable. I also noted an oil and paper 0.5uF capacitor on the base, not certain of it’s purpose but I will replace it with a modern one as it is leaking. It appears to be connected across the 24v supply on the switch box. I also applied a third, darker coat of undercoat to the new front wing.
20/7/2025
I started the week by fixing to the underside of the floor the last few U-clamps over the battery cables. These are now fully secured and connected to the control box. Connecting the lighting circuits to the control box continued with the indicators, the final connections being the the dynamo and starter motor connections, which is another small milestone. Some thought was then given to locating the junction of the various indicator cables above the cab door. A box for this was ordered. I next gave the new wing a coat of red oxide as part of preparation for final fitting after the electrics have all been tested. I also fitted the conduit cover over the cable entry into the control box, under the cab floow. This was tricky but went on after some adjustment of the cables and increasing the size of the opening for the cable entry. Testing is next. All the testable circuits worked, except for the starter motor which refuses to turn although the solenoid operates. The voltage at the SM+ cable is low compared with B+ which is showing 25v offload with both (admittedly old) batteries in circuit, whereas SM+, which should be the same, is showing about 19v.