starbiscuit
Well-known member
My (project) bus still hasn't turned the corner.
In doing the things on the to-do list I still find it getting longer, not shorter.
My first goal being MOT, to get it useable and easily movable.
One easy job (I thought) would be to reattach the indicator switch that was hanging off the column. I had to replace the wires first, because they were chewed through and bare.
Then I found I only had one of the mounting screws. It had a slot head that was chewed such that I didn't want to reuse it. The problem is that it's M4 with a 5mm head, which is small compared with the normal 6-7mm. I couldn't find anywhere that had them, so I made some.
Starting with regular A2 stainless M4 allen-cap bolts, I mounted the bolt in a slowly rotating drill chuck and ground the heads down with a dremel until they were the right size. A lathe might have been more appropriate...
(I believe that the two halves of the indicator mount are fastened by a pair of similarly small-headed M5 screws, but I had those in reasonable shape so I didn't need to check)
However, I still found that I couldn't fix the switch to the column; there was no way to tighten it. I could fasten the two halves together, but there was nothing gripping the steering column, so the switch just flopped around as before.
Some searching revealed a really useful topic on samba: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=537144
Clearly I was missing the C-shaped clamp.
Again, I couldn't find one anywhere, so set about making one from a piece of 25mm x 1.5mm x 100mm galvanised steel I had lying around.
Marked-out on masking tape and roughly cut and chain-drilled:
Ready for grinding / filing:
Filed, ready for fitting:
The (critical) inner radius is about 17.5mm, the outer about 25mm (but must clear the switch contacts). Overall width started at 52mm; the tabs started at 10mm x 2mm. The tabs sit in the slots in the indicator housing and govern how tightly the inner radius will clamp the steering column. I filed my tabs back until i got down to about 1mm gap between the two halves of the indicator mounting, with the clamp touching the steering column but not tight. That gives enough adjustment when I set the switch relative to the bottom of the steering wheel to tighten it up.
Done.
Hopefully useful to other like-minded improvisers...
Cheers,
Rob
In doing the things on the to-do list I still find it getting longer, not shorter.
My first goal being MOT, to get it useable and easily movable.
One easy job (I thought) would be to reattach the indicator switch that was hanging off the column. I had to replace the wires first, because they were chewed through and bare.
Then I found I only had one of the mounting screws. It had a slot head that was chewed such that I didn't want to reuse it. The problem is that it's M4 with a 5mm head, which is small compared with the normal 6-7mm. I couldn't find anywhere that had them, so I made some.
Starting with regular A2 stainless M4 allen-cap bolts, I mounted the bolt in a slowly rotating drill chuck and ground the heads down with a dremel until they were the right size. A lathe might have been more appropriate...
(I believe that the two halves of the indicator mount are fastened by a pair of similarly small-headed M5 screws, but I had those in reasonable shape so I didn't need to check)
However, I still found that I couldn't fix the switch to the column; there was no way to tighten it. I could fasten the two halves together, but there was nothing gripping the steering column, so the switch just flopped around as before.
Some searching revealed a really useful topic on samba: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=537144
Clearly I was missing the C-shaped clamp.
Again, I couldn't find one anywhere, so set about making one from a piece of 25mm x 1.5mm x 100mm galvanised steel I had lying around.
Marked-out on masking tape and roughly cut and chain-drilled:
Ready for grinding / filing:
Filed, ready for fitting:
The (critical) inner radius is about 17.5mm, the outer about 25mm (but must clear the switch contacts). Overall width started at 52mm; the tabs started at 10mm x 2mm. The tabs sit in the slots in the indicator housing and govern how tightly the inner radius will clamp the steering column. I filed my tabs back until i got down to about 1mm gap between the two halves of the indicator mounting, with the clamp touching the steering column but not tight. That gives enough adjustment when I set the switch relative to the bottom of the steering wheel to tighten it up.
Done.
Hopefully useful to other like-minded improvisers...
Cheers,
Rob
