Evora S1 ambient lighting

[Brendonian]

1 minute ago, agentdr8 said:

In theory, yes. But using a pot to reduce current will incur heat, and while most pots are tolerant to some degree, it would be better to do this via PWM. 

Get you trying to bamboozle us with science 😀 I'm guessing that's Pulse Width Modulation. Easy to implement?

[agentdr8]

5 minutes ago, Brendonian said:

Get you trying to bamboozle us with science 😀 I'm guessing that's Pulse Width Modulation. Easy to implement?

Probably. The ambient lighting is all driven off the same source (fuse C12), so it would be a matter of isolating just the LED connections to avoid also dimming the dome light, which shares the same source. 

[Brendonian]

6 minutes ago, agentdr8 said:

Probably. The ambient lighting is all driven off the same source (fuse C12), so it would be a matter of isolating just the LED connections to avoid also dimming the dome light, which shares the same source. 

That's interesting, but I'm far from desperate for it. I really like it as it is, especially if I can fix the light leaking around the steering column. 

[agentdr8]

4 minutes ago, Brendonian said:

That's interesting, but I'm far from desperate for it. I really like it as it is, especially if I can fix the light leaking around the steering column. 

If you've ever had the center console surround off, like for a headunit swap, it's possible the LED that drives the light strip has either rotated or is not seated properly. I don't recall ever seeing light bleed near my steering column. 

[Brendonian]

25 minutes ago, agentdr8 said:

If you've ever had the center console surround off, like for a headunit swap, it's possible the LED that drives the light strip has either rotated or is not seated properly. I don't recall ever seeing light bleed near my steering column. 

Well it does look like the dash panels on the RHS of the steering column don't fit together quite as well as they should. I'll take a better look at it sometime. Gotta finish this wiring first!

[Brendonian]

Slightly better progress this evening. Passenger seat and rear seat back removed. The front, inner seat runner bolt was a little awkward to access, but otherwise smooth running 👍

[Techyd]

Good progress! I’m interested to know easy the side sills come off - do you have a trim removal tool for it?

[Brendonian]

No, I don't have any specific tools. I'm going to see what I can do, and take it from there. A family member run his own garage, so he can probably help if I get stuck. 

I think the car will be rather a lot noisier for the next few days without the back seat in place. It didn't sound particularly nice when I backed out into the garage this evening 😀

[DBG]

Yes, mine sounded quite different with the rear seat removed (to fiddle with the sub). Much more chatter etc from the engine / gearbox.

[agentdr8]

I was quite surprised how much sound deadening the rear seat bottom and back pad provide. Without them, the interior noise is pretty unbearable, especially if you have a loud exhaust like a Plack

Looking good so far @Brendonian. 

[Brendonian]

Another small update. Rear window surround removed. It was pretty easy, but it took a moment to realise it slots into the panel below, so it needs to be pulled upwards to free it after releasing the clips.

I've ordered a cheap set of trim removal tools from Amazon, they should arrive tomorrow.

[Brendonian]

Ok, I have a question for you, @agentdr8. Am I expecting to find the roof harness connector behind the rear quarter panel? If so, which side? The basic diagram I found on the DeRoure site suggests it might be on the right of the car, even on a RHD model. Does this mean I should remove the RHS sill panel? I wonder whether I've removed the wrong seat....

[Techyd]

uh oh...

[agentdr8]

7 hours ago, Brendonian said:

Ok, I have a question for you, @agentdr8. Am I expecting to find the roof harness connector behind the rear quarter panel? If so, which side? The basic diagram I found on the DeRoure site suggests it might be on the right of the car, even on a RHD model. Does this mean I should remove the RHS sill panel? I wonder whether I've removed the wrong seat....

The roof harness 2 connector should be behind the RHS rear quarter panel. But since the RHD front fuse panel area is on the LHS of the vehicle, you can choose to either run the wire along the back seat (I'd tuck it under the carpet near the leading edge of the back seat) and over to the LHS of the vehicle and go up under that sill cover, or you can remove the RHS sill cover and then somehow get the wire across the driver's footwell into the passenger's footwell. 

Since the RHS rear quarter panel is tucked under the RHS sill cover, that cover has to be removed either way. Whether you choose to use that side to run the wire or not is up to you.

As for removing the wrong seat, I think given the limited space to access the fuse panel area, removing the LHS seat makes sense, even if you run the wire along the RHS of the vehicle. I would rather take the ~10 mins to remove both seats when working on the interior vs. contorting into the "lotus" position when trying to access various areas. Your back will thank you  

[Brendonian]

Thanks for the clarification @agentdr8.

I'm going to see if there's anything more I can do this evening without the trim removal tools, and then hopefully I'm free Saturday to finish the job, or at least attempt to get it connected up and drivable again.

I'm actually enjoying this!

[Brendonian]

Update! The passenger side sill cover came off easily. I was able to pull the for tree fasteners will my finger tips, and my car only has about 3 little strips of velcro holding it down. I also pulled the LH rear quarter panel. I haven't removed it entirely as that involves removing the seat belt at the bottom mount. That means removing the plastic cover which is mostly held in place with double sided tape. There isn't really any need, so it can hang loose for now.

The good news is I now feel confident I know what's involved with the rest of the job. Feeling confident 👍

[Brendonian]

And whist the car is in pieces, this seems a good opportunity to clean this disgraceful B pillar trim piece 😲

[Brendonian]

And a view of the current state:

[agentdr8]

2 hours ago, Brendonian said:

And whist the car is in pieces, this seems a good opportunity to clean this disgraceful B pillar trim piece 😲

Wow. Now I feel like I should probably pull mine to see if they need a thorough cleaning.  😮 😮

[pete757]

Very useful install photos you are taking! Thanks :>)

[Techyd]

22 hours ago, Brendonian said:

And a view of the current state:

So from this picture, you’re then going to remove stuff from the other side or is the wiring you need access to on this side??

Appreciate the photos BTW, should have my kit next week!

[Brendonian]

12 minutes ago, Techyd said:

So from this picture, you’re then going to remove stuff from the other side or is the wiring you need access to on this side??

Appreciate the photos BTW, should have my kit next week!

Tomorrow, I'll do the same on the driver's side. The connection should be somewhere near the driver's B pillar. The cable will run probably along the back edge of the seat, behind the two rear quarter panels, then along the bottom of the passenger side sill.

At least that's the plan 🤞🤞🤞

My trim removal tools came today, so the driver's side sill should be a breeze. 

[Brendonian]

Feeling a little frustrated 🙁

First, I forgot to pull the connector under the driver's seat. Ripped a wire out of the plug, so that's a repair job for later.

Now one of the bolts on the RHS rear quarter panel isn't coming out. Feels like the nut on the back is spinning with the bolt. No choice but to cut the head off the bolt. Let's see if I can Dremel it off without setting fire to anything 🤔

[Brendonian]

Ok, I don't know what went wrong with that bolt. Having cut the head off, and removed the panel, the bolt unscrewed relatively easily 🤔

The good news is I did a trial connection with the wire trailing across the cabin, and it's all working beautifully. I'm very happy with @agentdr8's kit and instructions!

Now to find a good route for the wire, and begin reassembly, and repair the seatbelt lamp connector.

[Brendonian]

It's done! I'm glad I did it myself, but that was definitely close to the limit of the kind of work I want to do myself.

Besides the problems I mentioned previously, I ran into a couple of other issues. Firstly, the clips on one of the rear quarter panels came off. On of them fell down into a void next to the rear fuse box, and was a pain to extract, and the other remained attached in its slot in the car rather than the panel. Clearly I pulled the panel away slightly sideways, which allows the clip to slide out of its mounting..