Report on (slow) S2 Coupe rebuild progress

[nthomas1]

Hi Colin - the three solenoids are behind the fuse rack, inside the hinged panel. The two smaller ones on the left side are: on the top, Low Beam, reference 30 on an S2 wiring diagram, and underneath that is Main Beam, reference 32 on the wiring diagram.  The larger solenoid, with 7 connectors is for Sidelights and is located on the right hand side, reference 31 on the wiring diagram.

The three are shown together at the top  right of all S2 and S3 wiring diagrams. Note that reference numbers are different on the diagrams for some other versions - such as S3.

I spent a lot of time understanding the interaction between the three solenoids and bench  testing them individually, and I put together some diagrams to make things clearer.  I’d be happy to share them if of interest.

[Scott]

This is definitely going on my to-look-at list! Coming back from a trip in my Fulvia in the dark I had a nightmare as with main (dipped) lights on then every time I hit a bump in the road there'd be a 'click' and the lights would go out. Onto full beam then okay ... but angry flashes from oncoming motorists quite understandably. So the whole journey was spent between Russian roulette with the lights / road bumps vs. dazzling my fellow road users! Not the usual fun Fulvia outings I'm used to! Sounds like a solenoid...!

[nistri]

If the lights go out when hitting a pothole, one likely cause is the loose fixing of the lights unit to the steering column. This must be quite tight, Andrea

[andyps]

Hi Colin - the three solenoids are behind the fuse rack, inside the hinged panel. The two smaller ones on the left side are: on the top, Low Beam, reference 30 on an S2 wiring diagram, and underneath that is Main Beam, reference 32 on the wiring diagram.  The larger solenoid, with 7 connectors is for Sidelights and is located on the right hand side, reference 31 on the wiring diagram.

The three are shown together at the top  right of all S2 and S3 wiring diagrams. Note that reference numbers are different on the diagrams for some other versions - such as S3.

I spent a lot of time understanding the interaction between the three solenoids and bench  testing them individually, and I put together some diagrams to make things clearer.  I’d be happy to share them if of interest.

That is really helpful, thanks. If you can share the diagrams that would be much appreciated.

[davidwheeler]

Baker's Soldering Fluid helps in the final cleaning of multicore wire.   

[nthomas1]

Thankyou chaps for the soldering hints.  That's my next rainy day project.  The new battery arrived today, a 45Ah Varta, so I can restart my electrical fault finding tomorrow.

In the meantime I've been working on the dash.  I fitted the lower left crash pad section and the handgrip.  The "Fulvia" script plaque needed some work to smooth out the cutout that overlaps the clock as it had been butchered by the previous owner who had fitted it behind rather than in front of the clock (different radius). The refurbished wooden dashboard has been installed, but sits a bit lower than it should, exposing the edge of the housing above the speedometer.  I'll pull it out tomorrow and see if I can realign it better.  The dry-fit of the dash top has shown that it sits fine along the top edge of the wooden panel.  That just leaves the bottom right section and column shrouds to fit.

Something of a milestone to see the dash in place, and quite satisfying!

[lancialulu]

When soldering wet the soldering iron with solder to aid heat conduction to the work piece.

What has happened to your rev counter. Seems a "stop" is missing??

I am going to try to restore my wooden dash over the winter. I hope I can get as good a finish.

[nthomas1]

Major breakthrough today!  With the new Varta 45Ah battery fitted I ran through the testing of all lighting circuits and measurement of voltages on the affected fuses.  All the circuits are operating as they should now: sidelights, low beam, main beam, day flashing, indicators and the new hazard flashers.  All bulbs are shining brightly, and the dashboard warning lights all come on when they should.

As David and John pointed out, I was chasing my tail with the below-par battery.  I couldn’t see how 11.2v could be so massively different for testing lights to the 12.2v on the new battery. It’s all about amps I suppose. John recommended linking the old battery directly to a headlamp to see if would take the load - and it wouldn’t!  The sidelight came on but just a faint glimmer on the low and main beams. So I saw the light, literally and figuratively.  

On the plus side I learned a heck of a lot while wallowing around and tracing and re-tracing circuits, and it convinced me to do the thorough overhaul and cleaning of the wiring and connectors in the fuse panel. As a result, I now know the purpose and routing of each of those cables, and the interaction of the solenoids, which could all be very useful in the future.

I’ve fitted the lower right dash pad and tidied up the under dash cabling on that side, and fitted the flasher switch back in place.  I tried to fit the column shrouds but it looks like the top one has to go in before the wooden dash.  I’m planning to take the dash out anyway to better align it, so can do it then.

Having reached this point I will spend less time lying on my back in the front footwells so I was able to install the front seats, and will now proceed to fit and trim the driver-side door.

I still need to investigate the rev counter.  As Tim pointed out, the needle is out of position.  I don’t know what’s happened there because I removed the original rev counter for that very reason, and replaced it with one from a spare panel. Work to do.

[SanRemo78]

Front seats are huge step Norm! You're not far off putting the key in the ignition and starting her up! That'll beat sitter there, steering wheel in hand making vroom vroom noises!
Guy

[Jaydub]

Great job Norm! It was worth all the head scratching because that`s how we all learn. You need a problem sometimes so that you can figure out the solution. If it was too easy, people like me would be out of work.
Regarding the top column shroud, you could have loosened the column bolts and dropped it down.

Keep up the good work!

Jaydub.

[fay66]

Norman,
Looking great, your next project is a book detailing how to restore a Fulvia Coupe.!
I'm sure you'd get plenty of buyers, even if they don't anticipate restoring one..
Put me down for a copy.
Brian
8227 :

[nthomas1]

Great idea Brian but I doubt I have the skills to pull it off!

[nthomas1]

Today’s conundrum.  I’m now looking to hook up the fuel supply.  

I have two drain plugs - one with no filter and the other with a crudely made gauze filter that is blocked over most of its surface. Following the discussion earlier in this blog, I bought an in-line glass filter on Ebay and am using the cylindrical gauze filter from it to fit to the better of the two drain plugs.  I also bought some Hylomar Blue gasket sealer to seal the bottom of it against a disc of nitrile rubber on the drain plug base.  The Hylomar is fuel resistant.

Now here’s the problem.  When fitting the drain plug I have to ensure that the opening in the top of the gauze filter fits over the pick-up tube in the tank.  If I don’t, I could miss it completely which would invalidate having the filter in the first place, and could damage the pick-up tube.  But measuring the distance of the end of the pick-up tube to the base of the tank with a wooden dowel shows about a 35mm gap, so my gauze filter has to bridge that gap and then some to locate it.   Also, that gap does not seem right as it would leave an awful lot of petrol in the tank when the pick-up stops picking up.  

Can anybody tell me what the correct gap is from pick-up tube to base of tank?

I wonder if I could push a short length of fuel line onto the tube to extend it.  It would have to be held with needle nose pliers, and have to be of the right internal diameter to fit over the tube, and tight enough to remain there.  May not be possible to push into position.

Worst case scenario if I do nothing is that my range on a full tank is reduced, and if I can’t fit the gauze filter and will have to rely on the upstream inline filter in the engine bay to collect any debris.

Would appreciate any thoughts on this.

[lancialulu]

What is the o/d of the pick up pipe (8mm). A possible solution would be to buy some thin wall stainless or brss tubing with the same i/d as the o/d of the pipe for the extension and use a loktite bearing fit product to secure. Should look to overlap by c10mm. I would drill 4 holes at the bottom just in case it dropped down and sealed off the fuel pick up....

[nthomas1]

That's an interesting suggestion Tim but I'm not sure it would work.  It's difficult to get an accurate measurement of the tube, and it looks like it's not completely circular and I can't see how I could get to it to shape it.  Also, the extension tube would have to be very close in diameter as I'm assuming the Loctite would only bridge a narrow gap.  I was thinking something with some flexibility would be better.  Could even put a short incision in it to help start it off, then push it up maybe.