Check out the link below. This is Monster 300 PowerFlex Power & Ground Cable, which is usually #8 or #4 gauge and about $2 per foot. So we used #6, which is in between, about would've come out to about a total of $40, so we saved $40! And, the welding cable is probably a much higher quality than the Monster marketing hype stuff.

Monster 300 PowerFlex™ Power & Ground Cable

 

I think this is a bad assumption. For a question that specific, start a new thread. There are probably guys with SII cars that don't regularly follow your thread but still might have some good info for you related to mounting speakers, tweeters, etc.

 

So today, I had a little time to work on the stereo installation again.

Basically the idea behind the installation is to allow the head unit to slip out from the front aluminum bezel without removing the console. This allows me to change speakers, add amplifiers, just do all kinds of other stuff with out taking the car apart.

The head unit mounting system is simple, as it consists of 2 pieces of about 16 gauge zinc plated angle steel; don't call me on this cause I found it in a scrap pile at the scrap yard down the street from me. Then I also found some steel banding strap; basically it's the stuff that you band pallets with when you're going to ship something. The whole thing it bolted together with 4 #4 screws and nuts. In addition, there's some carpet tape used as shims to get the correct angles vertically, and some door seal to hold the shape horizontally.

Attached are some pictures of the mounting rails, with all of the wires in place, and just a teaser with the aluminum bezel and the radio slipped into place.

I could really use some ideas on how to improve the looks of the original aluminum bezel.

 

looks good, the original bezels have a vinyl covering adhered under vacuum, but you can either paint it black with some kind of textured paint, or laminate it with wood, or just cover it with very thin vinyl.

what is the exact size of the tweeters? (including Depth). You could mount them on the rear parcel shelf.

 

Thanks Jose! As you know, there are 4 fiber optic cables going from the Opticell Illumination module to the aluminum bezel and 2 other places. I've attached a picture of a break down of it. The original incandescent, 5W bulb was bad, and in any case, melted the module somewhat before it went bad and we managed to repair it. Now, we've decided to rebuild the module with an LED bulb and a BuckPuck current driver. Below are links for what I plan on using:

Vollong 5W White High Power LEDs

BuckPuck DC Driver - Wire Leads, Dimmable, TTL Compatible

I'm ordering one of the LED bulb in warm white, and in cool white. I'll experiment and see which one looks the best in the end. But in any case, I don't want to lose these lights by covering them with something. Do you think we should go for the wood look? The brushed aluminum vinyl look? Or just solid black? And what would also be the easiest to work with to allow for the light to still come through? Thank you thank you for your help!

 

you welcome, the reason the opticell lens was melted is because someone tried to increase the illumination by installing a high-watt incandescent bulb, but it doesn't work, it melts the lenses.

LED's is the way to go, I had a friend build me an LED array of 7 super bright LED's and the illumination is great now, mine also has a very long cable all the way to the Headlights switch and another to the Ignition switch and I can actually see them illuminated at night now!

 

I don't understand what you mean by "covering them up"; do you mean covering the areas/holes through which the A/c Temp and Mode selector indicators come through? no, you don't want to cover those. I'm talking about covering the radio bezel. Brushed aluminum sounds good, or brushed stainless, or wood, or vinyl.

I saw another covering material at Autozone and I can't remember the name but it is called something like "carbon ****", a modern look being used in cars nowadays.

 

Hi guys! Sorry I haven't been on this thread too much, I've been doing a lot of school work lately. First of all, I think I've spent way to much time on this, but I'm a little obsessed with cockpit lights. So you can look at the pictures, they're self explanatory. I installed a 5W 350 lumen LED into the Opticell housing. What you see is actually the second attempt. I thought, after doing some tests, that the 5W LED produced more heat than I thought it would. I didn't want to melt the housing any further. The second attempt was to thermally isolate the LED from the plastic housing and make some kind of crude heat sink. As you can see from the pictures, the first step was to install a rubber grommet in the original hole. Next, using a 1/4-20 bolt used for furniture which I bought at a local hardware store that carries lots of miscellaneous items, I glued the LED cell to it. And using washers, I clamped it around the grommet.

At this point, I think I've fixed a lot of the things that didn't work in the console area, and eliminated a lot of problems, and at this point, I can start putting the console back together.

One thing that you can see from the pictures is that there's a lot of surface rust on this Jag, would you guys treat it, and with what?

 

Wow, those two things are illuminable? Any pictures/info on how you got that together?

This is some really great info. How do the lights look now? Were you able to test them?

 

Hi FastKat. I don't have any pictures, but we did test it. The indicators on the aluminum faceplate around the radio can be seen in a dimly lit garage, so the improvement was substantial. I never could see the temperature and fan control lights at all, but now I can see them clearly. I'm quite satisfied with the retrofit. And by the way, the bolt we used is a 1/4-20 elevator bolt and the diameter of the grove of the grommet is a 11/32 which fits perfectly.

 

So today, I was going to install the center console. And guess what I realized? The center console really can't go back in unless everything else is in. So that's what I worked on... Reinstalling the dashboard sheet metal backing. I wasn't concentrating on the wood finish, but now I'm stepping that up. I think I have about 2 more coats of polyurethane before I'll be satisfied with the finish. Since I was forced to start working on the dashboard, I decided to go for a preliminary refit of the gauges. That was a good thing because I haven't detailed the warning lamp cluster.

 

Howdy guys, I'm back from hibernation for the winter to get this thing rolling (metaphorically and literally). We've gotten the dashboard re installed, all of the windows in, and 95% of the electrical faults out (it's a Lucas system, it's impossible to be 100%). Today, we were going to crank the engine and see if it fired up. So we got the distributor and the new electronic ignition (Pertronix Ignitor II) all wired in, and it would spark, but here's the dilemma:

When we go to turn the engine over, it doesn't fire whatsoever. And then at some point, with all of the gas that has passed through the cylinders, the exhaust manifold lets out a deafening pop (as in the fuel in the exhaust manifold just burned). Could the timing be that wrong, that it won't fire properly? How far off are we on the timing? Please, any help would be great. We want to see this beast LIVE!!!

NOTE: It does spark.

 

FYI: when re-doing a carbon canister, I have also seen folks use a torch to burn off any trapped chemicals and "reactivate" the charcoal. Charcoal is also sold by pet shops for use in aquarium filters, and many folks also use that.

If worse came to worst, you could likely make an MGB canister fit, which has a screw-off bottom and also has the side benefit of being extremely common. The Buy, Sell, & Trade forum on The MG Experience would be a good place to find one if you took that route.

Tom

 

Hi guys. It's been quite sometime since I've graced these forums, I just haven't had time with the amount I've been doing. I'm sure that many of you thought this was a real piece of junk, believe me, I did too. But I've pushed through the British-Leyland crap, and made it all work. We're getting ready to refinish the doors and their components, and get those installed. This is really exciting to be saying that it is coming back together and nearly done. All we have to do is re do the interior and get it all together, and refresh the fluids and check them all out, and she'll be done. So I just thought I'd show you all some pictures of the car now. It's on track to be done in mid-late July/early August. Enjoy!

**NOTE: The pictures of the engine were before the distributor and wires were re-installed, but they are now re-installed and it runs fairly well. **

 

It looks like you've done a lot of work on it. Series 2s are my favorite. Its nice to see one being well cared for. Great job!

 

Hi guys, just thought I'd share a few more snaps with you. I picked up a new Nikon D5100 today, and was messing around with it taking photos of the Jag. Now I'm going to concentrate on getting the car registered so I can drive it around and enjoy some of the work I've done, while I continue working on it. Now that I've placed the newly wrapped climate control panel against the OEM pieces, I really like the way it blends in and how clean it looks with everything else! The wrap we used was 3M Scotchprint 1080 Brushed Aluminum Vinyl Flex Wrap (1080-BR120), and I'm really pleased with the results. So enjoy the photos!

 

Looking really nice. Get it back on the road!

 

Hi guys, just thought I'd post some pictures after I mounted the dash cap completed the dashboard. Now to work on the center console, finish that up, and get the rest of the interior rolling.

 

Just posting an update on today's progress. With school winding down, I've had more time to work on this. I want to get this car on the road, so I focused my attention back on the engine. The interior is coming along quite nicely, and I don't foresee any major problems there, so it was back to the engine. I want to get this Jag on the road and start driving it to see how it performs. This issue that I've always had it keeping the car from stalling when I take my foot off of the accelerator pedal, and keeping it idle at 650 RPM, which is SPEC. I did some more tuning of the carburetors, balanced out the mixture and adjusted the throttle stop screws independently. It's really convenient that the carburetors aren't the American SPEC carbs, and have the adjustable needle. So I ordered the certified needle adjustment tool and the same balancing tool that John Twist at University Motors uses (since the tube stuck up to my ear just wasn't cutting it... I couldn't hear a difference). At one point I had the engine idling at 500 RPM, and it was holding steady. This was previously un-thought of with this car in the beginning. I felt so confident about the carbs and how they were running that I then temporarily re-installed the air filter. Now I have to find the right size air intake flexible tubing hose thing to connect the two pieces together.

 

Just a quick note to anyone who might be doing this: when I started doing the engine, I decided to use a matte black, and if I were to do this again, I'd try semi-gloss. I'm not unpleased with the results in any way, but I'd try semi-gloss.