Several days on from the last update now, and as I'm trying to recall back to whats happened, I don't think a lot has been achieved but I'll try and glam it up a bit to make it worth reading :)
Well, we had to put the wifes car in for an MOT and we used Leigh Park Services again as they seemed remarkably helpful last time round and because they are local. I'm still waiting for my new alarm module and door lock system to turn up from eBay so I've got the hump over that, but I figured I'd ask the chief grease monkey at the garage about the alarm on the scum runner. His response surprised me as I hadnt figured on fixing it being this simple.
Apparantly this is a hugely common issue with older Fords and the manuals simply state "take to a Ford approved garage" for repair as the alarm system needs atention. What that translates to is pay £50 for them to do the following:
Under the bonnet is a button. Press this 10 times within 8 seconds and the horn chirps to let you know the alarm is in a safe reset mode. In the next 30 seconds, open and slam Drivers door, Boot, open passenger door, open close glovebox (as this is alarmed) close passenger door firmly and shut bonnet.
This resets the alarm to normal use and solves the problem.
What this means is that when the pratt from eBay eventually sends me the bits I'm waiting for, I no longer need them. It has however saved an enormous amount of mucking about replacing bits that are perfectly good.
Now that we have power without the alarms going off every time the car is opened / shut / just feels like being annoying, I figured time to play with the big boy speakers.
So I have now attached the amp to the back of the sub-box, and threaded the speaker cable through to the front footwells, then had a change of heart so taken the speaker wires back to the boot. I've had the door panels off (yet again), removed the upgraded 2x300w speakers, and refitted in their place some reasonably priced 2x80w Tornado speakers. These Tornado bad boys beat the crap out of the Powerblaster Extreme's in every aspect when fitted straight to the head unit. The bass, mid and tweeters are so much better. I'm hoping that when I place the amp through the PB's they have some magical uprising and sound ok.
I started to remove the rear quarter trims, and was looking pretty good to go having taken away every screw anywhere near the panel but it still wont shift. Figured I'd rermove the bench seat now to facillitate it but the buggering sodding screws (funny start shaped things) do not wish to move, so after a lot of grunting, sulking and raw 12 stone of power trying to remove said fitting, I gave up and returned the area to how Ford wanted it in the first place. As I'm filling in the rear area with a wooden enclosure for storage anyway, I'll just mount those speakers straight into the enclosure.
However, I thought I may as well get the amp and sub sorted so looked at how to select the right power cable for the amp (AWG), This is a complex calculation involving various scientific factors including output, input, resistivity of the wire with a variable for amount of feet required multiplied by the conversion to meters over ohms with allowances for quality reduction by a percentage. Or, pop to Halfords and give them the manual. Guess which way I went? yup, after 35 quid, I've got 5 meters of: Power, remote and RCA leads with another meter of the correct grounding wire. together with some thick speaker cabling (which I already have loads of from the surround sound).
Enthusiasm started to build, so I've attached the RCA and run them down the drivers side of the car, with the remote power cable running down the passenger side to avoid the power whine when in use. The ground is attached to the amp and ready to wind into an earth in the booot and that leaves the power cable. The power cable has a bulky fuse assembly which should be near the battery and that means I need to thread about 4.5 meters through the firewall into the interior which is proving to be a pain as I cant find an unused hole big enough for it, so I've given up for a couple of days.
Other than that, I've given my measurements to MRB Carpentry (or Uncle Matt as he's also known) for him to grab me a sensible quantity of MDF as he can grab it with his trade discount. Once we have that, I will give the bench seat another attack and can start fitting the storage / sound unit.
In terms of publicity for Team Floppy Throttle, I'm currently trying to condense this blog into a much much smaller article as this should then appear in a Ford Owners Club quarterly magazine. So far we have PM Electrical Systems Ltd, Alan Knight Transport, HSP, as larger sponsors and we will try to get them their monies worth in plugging wherever possible. If you are tempted to sponsor, but not yet sure, FastCar magazine are doing a feature on the run and I'm thinking a bright purple cabiolet with full racing sponsors/livery may attract a little bit of attention? Got to be worth a few quid eh?
Also, I had an interesting email exchange with a company offering me a voucher in return for advertising them. As yet, they havent returned the last mail, but a summary is that everyone who sponsors this trip will be entered into a draw and someone will win £25 to spend on their website. As soon as this is confirmed, I'll mention it again, but in the meantime that leads nicely to:
We have a just giving site up and running and all sponsorship is greatfully received. We have a requirement to raise £500, but we're aiming for the £1000 marker. In reply to one tight git who at the moment I will keep annonymous, both myself and Gareth have already donated £230 each for the entry, bought a car for the event, will be paying the fuel (estimate at roughly £300), insurances, ferry crossings, fines, tolls and all the other expenditure and once we're done on the rally, the car is up for grabs with profits going to charity as well. OK, we get a weekend away, but you get to live it via the blog and if it gives you even a little amusement to see us suffer, donate a pound.
Finally, this week I received an email from Ed at scumrun HQ, The spaces are nearly filled. If anybody else wants to enter the event, get in touch asap. Feel free to buddy up with us, now is the time to buy a convertible escort as winter will be with us soon so they're cheap, then sell it in the spring when the run is done and you'll get your money back. If you are tempted, then we can get you cvovered with the same sponsors as ourselves if you go for the same car - Sound fun?
Any queries, questions, comments, we now have a team email address: floppythrottle@live.co.uk
Laters
Savage
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