CASHEYE's MKIV Modifications & Small Projects.

[Al Massey]

Any chance a mod can clean the thread up?

 

Make it easier for people to read and see the poctures

[CASHEYE]

What is your business?

I did think a laser cutter was quite an extravagant purchase for a hobby!

 

Errrm, Well... I'll get back to you on that Ha, basically I'll do anything that can be done with a laser cutter. When I started using one about 6ish years ago I made custom paint palettes some as small as A5 and the biggest going up to about A2. If you can't think of what I'm talking about, Google 'Bob Ross'. About this time I used to work for a company called H.Tempest. They're a photography company based in Cornwall, they do a massive proportion of schools and university graduation photography but they also do the same stuff for Pirbright and Sandhurst. For a season I worked in the Hot Press department, where they had these hot presses (there literally isn't anything else to call them) which were machines which had two massive plates about 2 metres square, which heated up and compressed photo, glue and card together. So I laser cut some plates out of acrylic and started making embossed business cards on my breaks. That didn't last very long when I dented a few too many backing pads on the hot press machines and didn't end up going back after Christmas Then saw some comic book style acrylic jewellery at a Bristol Comic Con and thought I could do better, That went pretty well but then I moved to Bristol permanently (before this I was travelling between Bristol and St.Ives) so I didn't have access to a laser cutter any more. I sold most of what I had left and that was it until about 5 months ago. I've mostly being doing my own things but I get some commissions from people, small sign writing projects and things like that. I'm working on a series of 3D skeleton puzzles, cam machine scenes but mostly on kitch acrylic jewellery. I've posted some photos below. There's some onomatopoeic comic book explosion rings (that's a mouthful) GeeWhiz stuff (my stuff) then there's some coasters I've made for a Mexican place in Bristol. To be honest though the best way to make a living out of this machine is to rent it out. I think the Universities in Bristol charge about £60-80 an hour. I worked out that the running costs of my machine (electricity, replacing the laser tube after the recommended time etc) is about 33p an hour. Anyway, that's about it.

 

 

What fantastic work, hats off to you I wouldn't even know where to start! Subscripted as I cant wait to see that dash all lit up

 

Also those rear light are amazing and to be fair I was looking at some not that long back which are in the states but they are ridicules money somewhere around $1300 + shipping....

 

Thanks dude, the price was exactly the reason I wanted to try and make the lights myself.

 

Any chance a mod can clean the thread up?

 

Make it easier for people to read and see the poctures

 

Do we have to? I'm all for concise built threads but this isn't quite one of those. Maybe trim the fat when I actually get rolling with this.

 

Oh and Admins.. please redact/delete any of the above if I'm breaching anything. I'm not fishing for work.

Edited October 11, 2015 by CASHEYE (see edit history)

[Willson]

Wow, those products look great, especially like the coasters

Thanks for the explanation

[CASHEYE]

Shut the front door... It's been almost 4 months since I've made any progress with this disaster (that's what I'm calling it now because I'm pretty sure the grey in my beard is directly related to this wiring debacle).

 

So if you guys remember (just back there on page 4) I'd finished the radio panel and wrapped it in some matte vinyl wrap because I couldn't get a paint I liked. The only problem was that the hole that I'd filled in for the clock was showing though the wrap. So over Christmas I ripped it all off. This is where it all started falling apart. Because the cups for the LEDs above each switch were pushed from the front though the dash then soldered to the board, I needed to unsolder all of them to take it all apart. I thought I could just keep the acrylic surrounds I'd cut and leave them stuck to the dash, then peel the wrap off and cut it around the acrylic allowing me to fill and sand the clock space but then if I was going to re-wrap it again they'd need to come off anyway. They broke. Not a big deal but annoying.

 

So after I'd cut the wires, peeled off the wrap, broke the acrylic panels and cracked the dash, I was just about ready to rage quit. Anyway, some time later I was on a bit of an Amazon spending spree (those 'add on' items and Prime postage have destroyed my bank account) and I bought a load of different Hycote paints and found that the Matt Black was exactly what I was after. So with some renewed vigour, I started on this bloody radio panel again.

 

Apologies in advance, this one's going to be a bit picture light (but there is a video if youtube finishes it before I type this).

 

I wanted 2 more lights, one for each of the toggle switches to the right of the AC controls. These would eventually be for the front halo lights and for an extra reversing light. After a bit of messing around with the design I decided on the below as a final shape for the acrylic panels. The P52 custom as a name for this slag of a car and the extra tabs on the top part to include the switches and lights.

 

 

I was originally going to do the extra surround part in another colour but I stuck with black and where the blue line is, that'd be white.

 

So I got the dash back to a smooth finish and sprayed all the panels and they looked pretty good. I didn't want the fiasco of breaking another panel to get the switches or lights out if I needed to fix anything on the circuit board (hah ah! a very wise choice as you will see later) so I bought a bunch of these to go between every connection.

 

 

Everything was going well until I couldn't find my epoxy stuff so I just used some Gorilla Glue around the switches. You can just make out in the photos that the glue expanded though the gaps around the switches and came out on the front of the dash. I've trimmed some of it off and the rest will be removed too, it was just another ball ache I didn't want (but seriously... who wants ball ache ) Eventually I found the right glue and the rest came out perfect.

 

When It came to actually fitting the panel back into the dashboard, it really wasn't as hard as I thought. A bit fiddly but there was plenty of room as I didn't need the brackets and gubbins for the old radio.

 

 

 

 

 

So that's that. Or I'd hoped.

 

But I'm going to need to take it all out again and just check the wiring. Problems include;

 

The 'OFF' switch does nothing.

The 'FRESH AIR/RECYCLE' switch does nothing.

The 'AUTO/MANUAL' lights need swapping around.

When I flick the 'AUTO' switch the 'RECYCLE' light comes on.

The 'SCREEN' switch either does nothing OR the light doesn't come on.

When the top dial is turned to the lowest setting, the 'MANUAL' and 'RECYCLE' lights come on.

Flicking any switch on the bottom bank turns off the 'RECYCLE' light.

The lower dial doesn't seem to do anything.

 

Oh and also since plugging everything else back in, the LEDs I'd put in the speedo cluster don't work. The bulbs are fine when tested with a battery, so maybe I'll order some CANBUS ones to see if that's the issue.

 

On the plus side;

 

The 'UP' switch and light work.

The 'UP/DOWN' switches and lights work.

The 'DOWN' switch and light work.

The 'SCREEN/DOWN' switches and lights work.

The 'A/C' switch and light work.

The 'REAR' switch and light work.

 

And the radio works. Finally. Still got to figure out what buttons do what and each of those dials for the radio has 2 parts and 3 different options.

 

 

Well the video is still on 0% and the help section says that it could take up to 8 hours to process.... oh, nope. Done.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb8GQ0cyoiI

[mplavery]

Very race car mate, love it !!

 

Hopefully get all the little issues sorted, you must be pleased how it's all turned out

[CASHEYE]

Very race car mate, love it !!

 

Hopefully get all the little issues sorted, you must be pleased how it's all turned out

 

Thanks dude. I'm quite happy. I'll be even happier when everything works as it should. I don't drive it that often and I'm kinda tempted to just leave it as it is until the weather gets a bit better (and warmer). There are other things I need to be getting on with and I would like to just enjoy the car for a while.

[Kendo11]

Very good work mate, looks really suited to the dash.

 

Not sure if I'd have gone for the same 'font' but only a minor criticism, very good work as said.

[CASHEYE]

Very good work mate, looks really suited to the dash.

 

Not sure if I'd have gone for the same 'font' but only a minor criticism, very good work as said.

 

Cheers bud, I chose it because it was most like my handwriting and originally I wanted it to look roughly put together. Buttons and switches with labels written in a white tipex pen. It looks much better in my head that I'm making it sound. Anyway, I stuck with the font because I didn't like the others I chose when I skewed them. If I get my mitts on another facelift dash panel I might do it all over again. Or even try and retrofit the radio panel from a pre-facelift. I'm not sure how dissimilar they are.

 

What I'd really like to do is make a mould of the panels and produce new ones with no holes drilled in them. As I'm not working for the company that provided me with that van anymore, I'm on the lookout for a Volvo 940 or 960 wagon. But until then this is my only means of transport and I can't take it all apart again quite yet.

[CASHEYE]

Just peek at what I've been up to this week. The weather has been diabolical so I haven't been able to get out and make more progress with the lighting issue but at least I finally got round to getting one of these finished. Well... It just needs the oven treatment to squidge it all back together and I'll put them in the car for a test run.

 

 

I'll get a little write up done on Sunday but basically I've changed the design of the lights slightly and tried to make them as thin as possible. Also... Indicators! \0/ Woop.

[Al Massey]

Just peek at what I've been up to this week. The weather has been diabolical so I haven't been able to get out and make more progress with the lighting issue but at least I finally got round to getting one of these finished. Well... It just needs the oven treatment to squidge it all back together and I'll put them in the car for a test run.

 

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachment.php?attachmentid=208561&d=1454090024

 

I'll get a little write up done on Sunday but basically I've changed the design of the lights slightly and tried to make them as thin as possible. Also... Indicators! \0/ Woop.

 

Looking good

[Willson]

Nice!

[Kendo11]

Looking good Casheye.

 

Been doing something similar myself this week oddly enough, nowhere near the same level of quality as yours though.

 

[CASHEYE]

Thanks dudes.

 

Looking good Casheye.

 

Been doing something similar myself this week oddly enough, nowhere near the same level of quality as yours though.

 

[ATTACH]208563[/ATTACH]

 

 

Well when I first started playing around with the lights, they looked exactly like yours do. I had an idea of what I wanted the end result to look like and just worked towards it. I'm still not 100% happy with the design. I'd really like some white text around the outside of the rings and even for that text to

 

light up but I don't have the time/equipment/skills to go that far. If you want a hand with anything, let me know. It doesn't take much to get stuff made on the laser cutter and I'd be glad to help.

 

Right so onto this picture heavy update...

 

I'll pick up from the last proper post where at the end I posted a video of where this whole dash mod basically fell flat on it's face and I'd had enough of it. The final design might have looked pretty cool (again though, it wasn't exactly how I had it pictured and I did prefer the first incarnation of the switch

 

surrounds but things change) but it completely failed as a usable unit. If you remember, I kept the original circuit board from the insides of the heater controls untouched so I could use it to troubleshoot any problems that may (and did) arise from incorrect wiring when I was attaching the new switches and lights.

 

When I took the radio panel off and disconnected all the lights and switches I checked the original buttons on the board but half of them didn't work. By this time I was way beyond the desire for an explanation and I just ditched the whole thing.

 

So after stripping the radio panel and trying to save as many switches and lights as I could, I ended up with this.

 

 

Most of it I had to ditch, but after I cleaned it up and removed the paint and primer I finally got it back to a workable condition.

 

 

 

 

 

I then cut a new back panel which would cover all of the holes and a substantial amount of the rest of the panel. I needed to strengthen it as much as I could. The good thing about Gorilla Glue is that it expands so much so even where the original panel curves there was still really good adhesion to the new panel

 

I'd cut. After that had set, I trimmed the excess glue from around the inside of the large hole and I cut another panel to fill it on the front and glued that into place and sanded the whole thing down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then plenty of filler, more sanding and some heavy build primer and some more filler for any dents and pits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I gave it another few lights coats of primer and put it to one side and started working on the ignition panel. When I bought the car this panel had two holes drilled for the fog switch and the security fob contacts. I wanted these gone as I planned on replacing the folding mirror switch with a UK Spec fog switch.

 

So (not many pictures here) I just glued a small piece of plastic to the back of the panel to cover the holes from behind, and when that had dried, filled it in from the front, sanded it down and gave it a few coats of primer and that was that.

 

 

 

 

Continued in the next post...

[CASHEYE]

So after the previously mentioned monumental fail with the radio panel, I wanted to return the dashboard to a more stock theme. I still had the original buttons from the heater controls so I measured up and laser cut a few card templates. After a few changes it fit perfectly. I cut a mock up from 2mm plastic and

 

laid it over the top. The dashboard panels are all going to be painted in a matte black so with the laser cut surround being shiny and the buttons being flat, I think it's going to look pretty good.

 

 

 

 

If you haven't noticed from the pictures of the radio panel, I sanded down the lip around the left hand edge. I was using a orbital palm sander to strip it and went in a bit too hard on the edge so just sanded the whole thing down. As I have a habit of not learning from my mistakes (Yes, a recurring theme) I ended

 

up doing the same on the cluster panel too. So I went all in and sanded off the lip around the holes and to be honest, I think it looks pretty good.

 

 

 

 

 

After I finished these, I put all the sprayed parts away to harden and started to work on the halo lights again. I've been pulling my hair out over the issue with my speedo cluster not lighting up and with the weather being so bad I was happy to focus on something else for a few days. I wanted to try another design

 

for the halo lights where instead of the white diffuser being sandwiched between the black surrounds, it would sit on top. So after lots of measuring and cutting and gluing...

 

 

 

I ended up with these. For this particular set of lights I used a 140mm for the high beam, a 90mm for the dipped and an orange 70mm for the fog.

 

With the lights off...

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with some power...

 

 

 

 

Again, these pictures show some slight brightness/colour shift in the lights but they are even throughout the entire ring. I definitely prefer the previous design when the lights are off, but I like the new style when they're on. Decisions, decisions. Oh I also cleaned up the backs, took the rubber, metal and

 

plastic fittings out and sprayed the housings with some high temp paint. Hopefully when I finally pick a design and get them finished, they should look like a new pair of headlights.

 

 

 

And that's it for now. My callipers I ordered finally arrived any I'm taking the car in on Wednesday to get it all looked at. We'll see what happens after that.

[RichTrdAlsop]

Interesting read this has been, some nice ideas youve got! I can't stand fiddling with anything electrical, so if and when you start taking orders for front and rear lights, I'll send you my facelifts!

[wattwatt]

Loving these headlights and ive got to say you've got some patience, I would of prob got the hump and given up ages ago lol..

 

The orange ring on the headlights I take it that is going to flash as your indicator or is that going to be on all the time?

[CASHEYE]

Loving these headlights and ive got to say you've got some patience, I would of prob got the hump and given up ages ago lol..

 

The orange ring on the headlights I take it that is going to flash as your indicator or is that going to be on all the time?

 

Yup exactly like that.

 

I finally got round to finishing the lights and testing them out. I just stripped a teeny bit of the wires for the side light units and connected the halo bulbs to them. It works perfectly. In the video you can see that the indicator seems to be slightly out of sync with the original lights but I think that's because they are both incandescent bulbs and take longer to turn off as the LED is a bit of a 'sharper' flash. Also the larger of the two white lights seems to be slightly dimmer. It's not really noticeable when you're looking at the car but the photos exaggerate it. It could be that the diode density is less in the larger ring? I'm not sure. Anyway, here's some photos of the finished things and a quick video.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2jG8Z7BiXo&feature=youtu.be

 

I think the whole thing would look a lot cleaner without the sidelights below, or at least have LEDs with a similar colour temp in them. I've got another two sets of headlights here (one of which I've yet to take apart.. they've been previously refurbished and I'd kinda like to keep them as they are but we'll see) and I'm going to make another set of these, but without the indicators and largest ring... So white rings around the fog and dipped (Simply because those are the only lights I've got left). Depending on which I like the least, I'll stick them in the forsale section.

 

Comments and criticism on these are extremely welcome.

 

Also, who would I need to speak to about the procedure for acquiring 'hobbyist status'?

[Kendo11]

They look brilliant mate, great work.

 

Surprised at the amount of light they give off actually.

 

The rings look much better quality than the yoopar ones.

[The Raven]

Mad skills.

 

Awesome looking...Bravo

[j_jza80]

As with the dash switches, it's not really my thing, but the craftsmanship is first rate Looking forward to seeing more of your projects

[Willson]

Looks great. Do you think the 'ring' indicators would be bright enough to use without the sidelight indicators?

Like you say would look cleaner without the (now redundant) sidelights. And saves having to match the led colours.

[Scott]

As above, with that setup I would ditch the indicators & sidelights.

[CASHEYE]

They look brilliant mate, great work.

 

Surprised at the amount of light they give off actually.

 

The rings look much better quality than the yoopar ones.

 

I think they definitely give off more light than the original ones I bought. They're even brighter without the diffusers over them.

 

Mad skills.

 

Awesome looking...Bravo

 

Cheers bud.

 

As with the dash switches, it's not really my thing, but the craftsmanship is first rate Looking forward to seeing more of your projects

 

Thanks dude. To be perfectly honest, I'm on the fence about them really. I think I'd quite like to make a set which are all white. Like I said, I'm making a set now which are just the two smallest lights and we'll see how that looks.

 

Looks great. Do you think the 'ring' indicators would be bright enough to use without the sidelight indicators?

Like you say would look cleaner without the (now redundant) sidelights. And saves having to match the led colours.

 

I'd say they were. I'm going to get some LED replacement bulbs for the side lights and see how they look.

[Noz]

My halo's are pooped, I have some abflug inserts. Would you be able to help provide me with rings so I could attempt an insert project with them mate?

 

The standard of your work is top notch it really is.

[CASHEYE]

My halo's are pooped, I have some abflug inserts. Would you be able to help provide me with rings so I could attempt an insert project with them mate?

 

The standard of your work is top notch it really is.

 

Thanks dude. Yeah of course. Just let me know what you need.