Well this weekend has been one of success and disappointment. I set out with three sub-projects:
- Paint the new bracket and install the new arm rest.
- Clean the front bumper, treat with hydrogen peroxide cream and finally apply the Gtechniq C4 coating.
- Install the Bluetooth module.
First off, the bracket. I picked up some Hammerite spray on Saturday, direct to metal stuff. It went on nicely but I now remember why I don't like Hammerite, a day on and the stuff is still really soft; it not only scratched but picked up fingerprints as I was handling it and that's after being out overnight in our warm summer weather. Turns out that wasn't to be the only issue with fitting the arm rest...
The bracket I bought is sold as a way to install the particular VAG/Ford armrest in to the Smart Fortwo or Roadster, a guide to doing so is available here and presumably uses a Fortwo for demo purposes because it really doesn't fit a Roadster properly. There is no way the bracket could be fitted in the position they show in that guide as there is a tunnel in the way, even if that wasn't there the arm rest would hit the handbrake before it could be fully folded down. I had to fit the bracket as far up as it could possibly go while still being on the side panel of the seat frame, it still rubs on the tunnel carpet when being rotated and just can't be used in towns where the handbrake needs to be used. On the plus side it's now in and sits in a nice, comfortable position with the option of adjustment.
Folded up, looks like it belongs there. Sorry this forums is still refusing my vertical images.
Folded down, doesn't. Still functional though and I'll be thankful on the long drives coming up
Project the second, the front bumper. As soon as I got it I decided that the yellowing on the bumper was due to UV rays. I've been well aware of the retrobright process to reverse this yellowing on computers, even if black plastic was used so wanted to replicate the process on the Roadster bumper. First I cleaned the bumper using the Meguiars surface cleaner as it was covered in dead things again, then applied the cream. I had done a test and it showed no bad reaction and an apparent improvement after one hour, so this time I was going for two hours. The cream was covered with cling film to try and prevent it from drying out, and it was left in the sun. I removed the cling film after one hour, re-applied and agitated the cream and re-covered.
It's pretty horrifying with the cling film on.
After another hour I washed it all off, and to my disappointment saw that it really hadn't had the effect I was looking for. Yes it was no longer as yellow but now it was more of a faded blue than the blue-grey original colour. There was also a little blotching but this was only noticeable when dry. Clearly the retrobright technique doesn't work with this plastic in this situation so I accepted that this was the best I can do for now and proceeded to clean the whole thing down with surface cleaner again, followed by isopropyl alcohol and finally applied the C4 coating. It actually does look better than it did when I got it and the darkening caused by the coating (just like when it was wet) hides the blotching almost entirely. Good enough I say, you can judge for yourself at the Ringmeet.
Finally, project the third. Bluetooth. I had 3D printed a little box to house the Blutooth module and the 1A fuse protecting it, with just the wires poking out and a hole in the side to connect the 3.5mm plug.
Fitting would be a bit of trial and error as I hadn't planned a space for it, truthfully I didn't even know if it would fit in the space I had. Fortunately there is plenty of space behind the switches, easily big enough for the box and all of the 3.5mm aux cable. It quickly became apparent though that I would have to make some extensions for the wires that connect to the back of the switch, there simply wasn't enough space for the connections to the cars multi-pin socket and the switch with the original wires. With those made it all went back together very nicely.
However, testing revealed a problem. When the ignition is turned on, the unit fires up nicely and connects to my phone within a small amount of time. Great. I can start playing music no problem, and I can change tracks on the phone without an issue. If I press the button on the dash, however, instead of pausing the music the unit simply reboots. This never happened in testing so I'm guessing there's a short inside the box. I was careful in routing the wires to try and avoid this but I did have to make a last minute adjustment as the original routing blocked the 3.5mm socket. Never mind, it works great when the music is controlled from the phone or for navigation and the switch looks right at home in the dash. I might get the unit out again this week or I might just live with it.
I also removed the little drawer with the ashtray as it was blocking proper access to the 12V socket and removed the little cubby holes so I could wedge in my 12V splitter. The dashcam from Bugsy will be going in (once my cables for that arrive - I didn't want to remove the ones from Bugsy) so I need at least two 12V sockets.