Lady Meg's Build Thread... Starting Oh-So-Small...

L3MUR · 08-23-2011, 10:07 AM

I'm sure you'll get it to work. Good luck

Lady Meg · 08-23-2011, 11:06 AM

Thanks, L3mur...

THIS GUY... the bane of my existence for the past 48 hours..

And trust me when I say splicing that little piece back together with the rest of the wire was not simple for someone who has never dealt with any electrical repair before. But so far, it seems to be completing the circuit just fine. Maybe, at some point, I'll get someone who knows what they're doing to re-repair it for me... just to be safe. I have no problem taking apart the steering column again if it means I won't have to worry about something catching fire or just not working.

AXIOM8888 · 08-23-2011, 11:08 AM

Megan you should be able to buy a new pin that has more wire to splice too ....

hela fass droid doooooooo!

Lady Meg · 08-23-2011, 11:18 AM

In all of the 5 stores we went to to try and find the wire terminal tool (that I should have gotten in the first place to avoid this), not only did they not have the tool but they also didn't have any pins that were this small. Granted I'm sure we didn't hit the "right" kind of places, but not even RadioShack had what we needed.

I'm definitely going to look into finding some of those pins to keep in stock for potential future need. Looks like I need to ask the hubby for a tool box for Christmas. :P

AXIOM8888 · 08-23-2011, 11:35 AM

Hmmm seems strange ....maybe on line?

hela fass droid doooooooo!

Lady Meg · 08-23-2011, 12:01 PM

Yeah, I found the tool online... shipping was the same (if not more) than the cost of the tool itself. =P I held off on ordering, on the chance that John's suggestion might work. Which it THANKFULLY did.

Looking forward to when I have the income to start building my collection of tools and necessities for Box repairs and mods. I'm adding the wire terminal tool and those pins to my list of "must orders".

1camzc · 08-23-2011, 03:15 PM

Sweet glad I could help some one out!

Zman · 08-23-2011, 03:42 PM

Lol solder that b*+$& on!

It would be nice to see what pics you do have, because this install is necessary on the xA just to even have keyless entry work.

Lady Meg · 08-23-2011, 03:58 PM

I got a couple photos of the panel disassembly, and a shot or two of the first plug-ins of the V5 harness... But after that I became a bit single-minded and forgot about taking pictures. That V5 harness though... Not gonna lie... Royal pain in my ass. Routing it from the driver's side through the center console to the passenger's side of the front dash was NOT easy for me at all. Lol. I'll put up the couple of shots I did get, but I highly doubt they'll be even remotely helpful.

BestmpgxB · 08-23-2011, 05:43 PM

Been away from this thread a while. You're a real modder now, Megan. Overcoming the stuck/broken connector issue means you'll beat the next hang-up, too. Kudos!

Lady Meg · 08-23-2011, 11:11 PM

Thank you so much! I'm terrified of a short/electrical fire now, but if that does happen then at least I'll know why and where it originated. Lol I do think my next purchase is going to be one of those mini fire-extinguishers, though. The sooner, the better.

BestmpgxB · 08-24-2011, 12:09 AM

That's why you always put fuses in circuits, for fire prevention. If you are ever tempted to run a wire directly from the battery, don't. Buy a fuse holder and insert it into the circuit. Your car will thank you.

Lady Meg · 08-24-2011, 12:18 AM

Duly noted. Not fully understood...
But duly noted.

Lady Meg · 09-03-2011, 08:56 PM

I know it's not a big deal or anything, it's a tiny part really... but I've bookmarked my first replacement piece that needs to go on my monochrome mistress.

Darling Husband (insert sarcastic eyeroll here) decided to shove a bag of beach toys rather roughly into the back of my B when we left coastal Oceanside today... I discovered the right shock cover underneath everything once we got home. 3 fitting clips, all along the same side of the cover, were completely broken off... which, to me, shows directionality of force. Picked it up and showed it to the hubster and got absolutely no reaction at all. None.

Needless to say I've googled, located, priced and bookmarked the appropriate panel for when I've got wiggle room in my budget. Not as much of a "build" as it is a "rebuild"... and definitely my poor car's first casualty of marriage... but there ya go.

blackscionxb · 09-03-2011, 11:08 PM

Wow. Great thread you got going on here. Makes me feel so homey and lovey dovey. I'm glad you've hit the modding but so hard like the rest of us. In no time you'll be lookin better than anyone of us. Keep your head up and the modding going. One day you'll be so proud of a masterpiece that you created with YOUR OWN 2 HANDS.

Lady Meg · 09-03-2011, 11:38 PM

There's so much I want to do... but so little that I have the skill or money for (as of right now). I don't want to be the kind to only turn to forums and peers when I need assistance, but to actually be a part of the community between projects as well. The people that I have had the pleasure of getting to know here so far have been more than awesome in many ways.

I'm so very excited to upgrade/mod/enhance my ride... but the core of my motivation is to learn everything I can about it so that if something goes wrong, I can claim the huge victory of being able to do the repairs myself (at least mostly). My friends say there's something hot about a chick that can work on her own car (and I don't necessarily disagree) but I value my self-reliance... I've learned to really despise depending on other people to get what I need done.

Thank you for the encouragement, it is GREATLY appreciated! And yeah, I tend to be lovey dovey and overly grateful and highly generous with the graciousness... but only when I feel it's deserved. lol And considering the extensive amounts of knowledge and talent and skill amassed in this one location, I definitely feel it is all worth it.

L3MUR · 09-04-2011, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady McCoy

Duly noted. Not fully understood...
But duly noted.

You fuse wires coming from the battery so the fuse blows if you ever get a short. That way the circuit is broken and your car doesn't start on fire. lol

Sorry if you already knew that, but your response to the above posts implied that you might not.

Congrats on conquering the pin

BestmpgxB · 09-04-2011, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L3MUR

You fuse wires coming from the battery so the fuse blows if you ever get a short. That way the circuit is broken and your car doesn't start on fire. lol

Sorry if you already knew that, but your response to the above posts implied that you might not.

Congrats on conquering the pin

I'll add that the issue isn't if you ever get a short. It's when you get a short. That's why every professionally designed and commercially produced electrical circuit contains fuses. It's also why homes have to be built to building codes, and meet city building code inspections.

DTRAIN619 · 09-30-2011, 01:18 PM

Bump for more of Megan's artistically inspired photos....

Lady Meg · 09-30-2011, 03:08 PM

lol I have no more photos... haven't gone anywhere other than to work and home. =P