Very little done this last month, it's amazing how much work is involved getting rid of 15 years of accumulated junk - much of it very large lumps. Definitely getting there though so thought a few hours of relaxation working on the car would be a good thing. It was all of 5 minutes before I realised that tidying up and getting rid of stuff I definitely wouldn't need any more would ensure that my day off would be anything but relaxing. Can't find a bloody thing now and every 5 minute job is taking forever. The first thing I couldn't find was my reel of solder - the reel that I have had since I was 17 years old but still has plenty on it. I found it eventually, hiding behind a can of paint on the shelf, exactly where I had put it a couple of weeks back. Sadly I had put the soldering iron somewhere different - not even in the same workshop. The problem with this sort of thing is that I then spend ages looking and while doing so find things that I haven't seen for a while that need cleaning / playing with. Before I know it 3 or 4 hours have been wasted and I have completely forgotten what it was I was trying to do in the first place. I decided that the only way I was going to get around this nonsense was to do a list and stick to it.
I had a walk around the car and decided that I would keep the list short - 10 to 12 jobs, I didn't want to overwhelm myself with a massive list that would have me giving up and seeking refuge with beer and Netflix. The list I came up with was as follows:
1. Fit rear view camera
2. Make template for windscreen
3. Purchase screen (Rimmers in Lincoln have them, couple of hours there and back)
4. Cut and fit windscreen
5. Finish bodywork around rear lights.
6. Investigate 2 x rattly tappets (minor, might not worry for now)
7. Paint Front wheels
8. Get front tyres fitted (the ones on there were always temporary and are not IVA compliant)
9. Find / fit gaiters for gear lever and handbrake
10. Fit boot panels.
The rear view camera fitting was the first job to be tackled and the first challenge to quash my short lived enthusiasm. It didn't work. It was working, I tested it when I got it to make sure I wasn't wasting my time and I recall being quite impressed at how good it was. Now, though, it decided it didn't want to work any more, I concluded it was not getting a signal from the camera. On further inspection I noted some damage to the connector at the camera end. Out came the cutters and my newly relocated solder and iron, 5 minutes later the set up was working again, great, now it was time to cut holes in the bodywork. IVA rules again - the camera had to be mounted in such a way that it didn't represent any danger to pedestrians / cyclists or anybody else for that matter. I had to make up a metal holder for it that frenched it in to the boot panel. It doesn't look very nice but it will keep the camera safe and it will be compliant. I think it would be a very strict inspector that would fail it but at 90 quid and a 4 hour round trip for a retest I don't feel like taking chances. It took me much longer than that to fit it all but I got there in the end. I have mounted it behind the steering wheel as IVA rules give you an exempt area where the radii of the plastic casing would not be measured. If I mounted it where the rear view mirror would normally be I would almost certainly get a fail, which is a shame as I think it would be better there. I should stress at this point that the two door mirrors I have give adequate rear view to pass the various tests, this is more for my own benefit, I just prefer to have the kind of view a normal internal mirror would give but as my rear window is blanked out I don't have the luxury of a conventional interior mirror.
Next I need to go to some diy shop or other and get something ply to make the template for the windscreen.
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