100 Series Family Adventure Rig

[Bretthn]

Wires through firewall

With all the new gadgets on their way I have been trying to figure out how best to route all the new wiring through the firewall while still keeping things factory looking and water tight. I came across this awesome bit of rubber in my searching.

So I ordered one... next I had to find a good spot to install it. I found this area on the drivers side between the brake fluid reservoir and the fender.
From the engine bay. The ovalish area without any insulation.


From the interior side under the drivers side of the dash. There is the same ovalish shape missing from the insulation and a bolt spot welded in the center. this must be here for an option that I do not have or for the right hand drive vehicles over seas.


Now I am just waiting for Brown Santa to leave a few more packages on my door step.

 

[Bretthn]

Prep for new wires

Current status of the LX is... after a lot of cleaning.

I am getting things ready for installing some new gear and found quite the mess when I started pulling things apart.




I have been soaking and scrubbing all of the plastic bits and carpet with this. Woolite and hot water does an amazing job of cleaning things up.

 

[Bretthn]

Sound restoration

While I have things apart I figured it was a good time to repair my rattling Mark Levinson factory subwoofer.It has been blown since I bought the vehicle and has forced me to turn the bass all the way down to be able to listen to any music. I ordered a new foam surround kit from Amazon. I am still waiting on it to arrive but have already prepped the speaker for installation. It is as simple as removing the old surround with a razor blade while being careful not to puncture the paper cone. When the new one arrives all I have to do is glue it in place and reinstall the speaker.

Here you can see that the foam was blown out all the way around.

This is all ready for the new one to be glued on. I will post the final results once it arrives and I get it installed.

 

[Bretthn]

I had a few packages waiting on my doorstep when I got home today. Still waiting on a few other bits to deliver.
These are my first Blue Sea products and I can definitely see why everyone uses them. These things are built like tanks.
I also got a marine 12 volt receptacle, the Daystar firewall boot, and a few step drill bits.

 

[p nut]

Curious to know how that speaker foam will work out. I think mine is on its way out.

 

[Bretthn]

Progress

I got a little work done this evening. I installed the Daystar firewall grommet. All it took was a 1 1/4 hole saw bit.
I had to move this to fit the drill down there to make the hole.

Once it was moved drilling took all of 10 seconds. Not as centered as I would have liked it to be...


I cleaned up the edges with a file and pushed the grommet through from the interior and finished up by pulling it the rest of the way from the engine bay. It was all very simple and I highly recommend this product if you do not already know about it. I am now ashamed at all the time I have wasted and butcher jobs I have done to factory firewall grommets in the past.


So after finishing that up much quicker than I thought it would be, I decided to make the bracket for mounting the Blue Sea ACR. I had a few pieces of scrap aluminum that already had good bends in them so the bracket was pretty easy. The hard part was deciding where it should go. In the end I put it close to the starting battery where I only had to move a few wires. It still needs some work and a coat of black paint.

 

[Bretthn]

Sound restoration part II

Curious to know how that speaker foam will work out. I think mine is on its way out.

I stayed up to finish one more item on the LX. I got the foam kit in the mail today.

Since I had already prepped the speaker ahead of time by removing the old surround and creating a clean cone and fame edge to glue the new one too, this went pretty quick. The prep is what takes the longest.
First, make sure the new surround is the right size by doing a dry fit. Make note of the inside edge so you don't apply glue too far into the cone where the foam will not cover it.

Start off by applying a good even bead of glue around the outside edge of the cone.

Apply the new surround to the glue making sure it is centered and even. Start out applying light pressure to set the glue once it is oriented correctly. Work your way around the cone using two hands working opposite of each other. If you try to slide your finger around the edge it will cause the foam to stretch and make it uneven, creating lumps.. so don't do that. I continue to press it into place working my way back and forth around the cone, with two hands, for a couple of minutes.

After about an hour the glue is bonded good enough to start on the outside edge. I prop the cone up and away from the frame by gently putting paper towels between the cone and the frame. This gives you room to apply the glue to the frame without the foam falling into place until you are ready.

Apply a good even bead of glue to the lip of the frame. Remove the paper towels and allow the cone to fall into place. Lightly push up and down on the center of the cone a few times to center the voice coils. You will feel slight grinding when not centered and it will move up and down smoothly when it is centered. Once centered, start working your way around the edge, with two hands, pressing the foam to the frame and setting the glue.

Do this for a few minutes. Then put a bead of glue on top of the outside edge of the foam and put the plastic speaker edge back on. Flip the speaker over, apply a little pressure, then let it sit and the weight of the magnet will help hold things in place until the glue is completely dry.

It came out good. I will see how it sounds tomorrow.
Old and busted.

New Hottness!

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

That seems like a lot of work for a speaker. Why not just replace it?

 

[Bretthn]

That seems like a lot of work for a speaker. Why not just replace it?

Price the speaker then price a foam kit. Takes less than an hour all said and done.

 

[Grundletaint]

Looking good, did the same with my sub and it's been solid for months now. Replacing the thing was like $800 IIRC.

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

Price the speaker then price a foam kit. Takes less than an hour all said and done.

If you know what you are doing it works great!

...and it seems like you know what you are doing!

 

[Bretthn]

I got some more stuff in the mail and have finally finished the dual battery wiring.

All wiring was made using 2 awg marine wire and lugs. The connections are soldered and sealed using marine heat shrink then protected with 3/4 inch split loom.

It took just a little trimming to fit the Blue Sea dual battery switch into one of the factory blanks.

I also ran 2 awg to the Safetyhub in the back for all of the constant power house wiring. It and the ground bus are held in place with heavy duty velcro for ease of access. So far the only thing wired into it is a power outlet for a fridge. I will be hooking up some better trunk lighting, air compressor, power inverter, and some more constant power outlets.

 

[Bretthn]

ARB Fridge

Sorry for the missing pictures. It looks like I need to do something about my picture hosting. Will correct soon.

I just got off the phone with Cliff from Sierra Expeditions and he was very helpful in answering my questions and placing my order for a 50qt ARB fridge freezer. It should be here on Monday. I can't wait.
Now to plan some drawers and a fridge slide.....

 

[Bretthn]

Mortimer in the morning

So we just decided to head to Mortimer in the morning. We were planning on taking my 5 year old daughter fishing for the first time this weekend. The plan was to just go to one of the several local lakes we have in Greensboro. Well it turns out that they do not allow any shore fishing at any of them... So it was a toss up between Badin Lake and river fishing in the Mortimer area. Since we have already been to Uwharrie and Badin recently and have yet to explore the abandoned town of Mortimer, we decided to head west early in the morning. I am not a big fisherman but know I will have a blast teaching my daughter and wife. Please post up any suggestions on things to see in the area or tips for fishing out that way. We will post up report and some pictures when we get back.

 

[Jwestpro]

Shortly after turning off the Parkway, headed to Sampson Rd we came across what looked to be a salvage yard, but there were some pretty nice restorations in progress as well.

Keep your wits about you out there. I can hear the banjos in the distance.....