Vauxhall Switchgear

[V8OWNER]

Just thought id show you my solution to the switchgear..
I went for Vauxhall as i could get billet arms, (yet to be fitted) for 30 quid off ebay..
also the vauxhall arms are 'kinked' so bring them close to the steering wheel..
For the wipers ive fitted a VW relay (.99) , which allows to you set the intermittent gap to an infinite time delay..





obviously i haven't sorted how the dash fits around all this yet..!

[GTRCLIVE]

Hate to put a downer on your idea..BUT.. I tried it and the Ally arms as bought of Ebay are to heavy. When you return the indicator arm to centre they tend to carry on and go to the other side... So instead of returning to centre after ind right you then start ind left. The standard Arms are very light (That's maybe why Lotus use them), so when you add the ally arms (that look lovely) they now 3+ times heavier than stock... I altered the Spring in the Indent but that made it worse... Need to be lighter than the solid ally Items they sell.... Carbon tubes would be nice... I liked these units as they have normal stile Spade connection on the rear.... Good luck

[ROWDYRENAULT]

Of all the mods that we have all done to our Ultimas the idea of a normal switch box as shown here to me is the one thing that the factory really should look at as a option. It just cleans up the dash area so nicely. But more importantly as a helicopter pilot for all of my life I know that humans get muscle memory for certain functions. It just see a lot of instances were needing to turn on the wipers or chage the lights up or down is at a time when hunting in the dark for a switch that has nothing in common with every other car you drive might not be the best course of action. I truly do get the factories resistance to offering to many options. The quality control documentation issues ect are a more significant issue than some of you may realize because you never been exsposed to them at this level of production. Rant over just think this is the one area where a change could have a very positive gain in the safety of the car and ease of build. Lee

[V8OWNER]

cheers guys..

Clive, thanks for the heads up (why is it problems always come up after you've welded stuff..?!)
I have a second set of switchgear so ill set up a test bed and see how I get on. Out of interest how did you operate the cancel? Ive used the horn contact disc from the back of the steering wheel.. seems to make good contact?
if there is a problem i guess i could get the back of the ally stalks milled out?

Anybody have any comments about proximity to the dash.. this is a worry of mine..

I also think 'normal' switchgear is something the factory should look into.

[ROWDYRENAULT]

Heck, if you go to all the trouble of milling out the alloy stalks don't hide by doing it on the back. Mill them on the front so that the work shows and then polish or anodize the things. There are some hot rod guys here in Southren Cal that could turn those things into a piece of art work. Lee

[GTRCLIVE]

Never got as far as fitting the boss Canceling pin....but just flicked the pin and the arm jumped from there..... I to fixed that tube to the frame for the switch gear to mount as in VX. But have now gone with the ford versions at present...

[ezakimak]

they look diferent but very similar to the ones that i have in the Zafira. the white plastic disc just clips to the back of the wheel.

what ever you do, don't use the standard Opel ignition barrel unless you modify it with a die grinder. they are crap and have been designed to fail after a certain number of starts of the engine. problem is it normally leaves the car imobile without the ability to even rotate the steering wheel.

think i still have some photos up on the web somewhere.
http://rlfromoz.spaces.live.com/default.aspx

Edited by ezakimak on Thursday 12th June 12:07

[V8OWNER]

Ok I have them on now.. There is a little bounce when the cancel releases the arm. but i think with a little lightening and the leather sleeves on they should be fine..



Loads of hacking to get everything right still.. but overall Im very pleased..!

[VxDuncan]

The orignal stalks were the same as used on the VX220 and later elises.

Felt like crap, but did the job. Interesting to see what the alloy ones are like.

[V8 Vum]

Woooow.... V8 VUM to V8 Owner...

Whats the 3 ally pots/ switched bud?

Looks cool!

Keith

[V8OWNER]

V8 Vum said:

Woooow.... V8 VUM to V8 Owner...

Whats the 3 ally pots/ switched bud?

Looks cool!

Keith

More Vauxhall parts! tho this time lifted from the Elise.. and agin aftermarket billet knobs on to keep the cost down. Im problably going to remake the backing plate out of carbon tho...
They are very nice cable pulls on the back of the knob, so i can connect up to the ultima supplied valve ect.. and 4 speed switch for the air con.. to which ive added ballast resitors o give a 4 speed fan.