General - Parts Collection - Again!

I have been doing nothing but wiring lately. Clocking up a fair few hours comparing actual wires with diagrams (that have been kindly supplied by Phil Bradshaw) and painstakingly labeling them all so that when the car starts coming together it is a bit like paint by numbers or join the dots.....well at least thats the theory.

Here's a pic of me trying to sort out the steering column.

It was while doing this and trying to reconcile the wiring for the tilt and telescope function, that I realised the column was the full fruit option. It has position sensors that work by putting out a signal that is read by the steering column computer. This enables a particular position to be memorised and of course this means you can have a couple of settings for different drivers.

I hadn't been that bothered that I didn't have memory seats but now that I have a memory steering column I decided to learn a bit more about it. It turns out that these Lexus had memory drivers seat and memory side mirrors and memory seat belt shoulder positions as well as the memory steering column.

So what all this means is you can adjust your seating position, the sterring wheel position, the side mirrors for your visibility and also the top mount of the seat belts so that they are comfortable and don't rub on your neck etc. You can then have the car memorise this so that if someone else drives the car and changes everything about, you can go back to your own personal preferred settings, without all the hassle of trying to remember how it was and playing around for ages trying to get it just right again.

Now I have to say I was at a point where I kinda couldn't be bothered having to rework the seats and maybe give up on the work I had done with the mirrors. And adjustable shoulder seat belt mounts weren't a big deal really, so why would I go to all the hassle........but this kinda thing eats away at me and I just know if I don't do this now it will be something I wish I had done and that I would regret later on......so the search began for a donor car!

As luck would have it I came across a Lexus LS400 that was about the same years as the donor car that my engine came from, so plans were made to go on a 2 1/2hr drive to Cambridge to see the car and meet Simon, its owner, to see if we could strike a deal for some parts if they were at all suitable.

Well it turned out to be a great find. It had all of the right goodies and a few more that I didn't even know about like mirrors that vibrate to shake the water off them! No I am not kidding!

For those of you that have been reading my blogs for a while you will know I think that the BMW seats I had were a big deal to me as they had electric headrests.....guess what.....this car has them too......only better as they have memory sensors too so they can be set to the drivers preference as well. Yeah okay I am a bit excited now!

Anyway, Simon turned out to be a great guy and gave Roger and I a free reign to grab what we wanted. Whats more the car was in the shed and it was a crap day, so we weren't going to have to fight the weather to get this done. Everything that could go right was going right!

Here is a pic of the donor car. Engine is long gone and so are most of the accessory bits under the bonnet. The dash is gone too but all the auto and memory stuff was in tact.

This is it from the side. It was hard working on it as the suspension had been raided and this meant the car was about 2 inches off the ground and I am getting far too old for groveling around on a concrete garage floor for a whole day. Man am I sore as I write this. It was what it was though and I am immensely grateful for the fact that what I wanted was there and available.

Here's Roger helping me out. He is a bit sore now too and is going back to work tomorrow for a rest he reckons. It took us 6 hours to raid everything so thats 12 hours between us. She's a pretty big job!

This is Simon the owner of the car. A real good bugger! Thanks Simon.

This is the total collection of the bits we got.

Did you see what was there? Yeah that big plastic box there in the foreground.....yes that's right it is another aircon unit. I know, I know....I spent hours on that Celica one, why the hell would I want another one?

Well it isn't any better than the Celica one......but it does mean I have a matching set now though. The aircon core matches the compressor and the wiring matches the looms and diagrams I have. I am hoping this means it will be a lot easier to work out than the Celica one and in the long run I think having everything compatible will be a better proposition.

Whats more the BMW seats and the Celica aircon will be a great start for the next hotrod project which will be a car for Janine, my wife.

Anyway that about sums up how to waste a Sunday.

Thanks Roger, I couldn't have done it without you.