I FIGURED AS MUCH . . . . .

After the battery issues last fortnight, I was expecting the battery would need to be replaced in the near future.

I just didn't expect it to be this morning.

Got in the car to go to work at 7.20ish and it gave half a crank then nothing. The battery had so little ompf that the clock reset itself back to zip.

AARRRRRRGGGGGG.

Got out the battery charger I have borrowed, and juiced it up for an hour or so.

After I called to work to let them know I would be late, I jumped on the internet and went hunting for batteries. I recalled seeing some on special in one of the Auto Store catalogues and a few minutes searching found a bunch of batteries going cheap at Autobarn, and a $10 discount for the old battery. Store opens at 9am.

Walked out to the Wagon at 8.50 and with fingers crossed tried to start her. A slow crank or two later and we have a winner.

Got a battery with 600CCA and a 3 year warranty for $149, and I hope that is the last of any electrical gremlins for a while.

Cheers
BenJ

I have had the same happen twice with batteries. one day fine then next morning dead as a dodo. I had to ride a few kays on the bicycle one time trying to find a servo with a suitable battery. That damn thing cost me $135 and only lasted 2 years. K-mart used to have 20% off weekends now and then and I got a battery a few years ago which is still good. They don't seem to do this anymore. I find that I have to put it on the charger every couple of months as the car does not drive enough klm for the battery to be fully charged. I just got a new battery in the 2.3 year old FG work ute as it was starting to go soft. I will use the old one in the project car for the moment but it is not likely to last much longer.

i pay $60 for cheap ones from bigW lol.. more then 6 months and still not a single issue with it. still got the same warranty as the others. its only a 360-380 cca but starts the ltd no worries. i even crank the music hard core some days and still going great. if it dies in 6 months im not worried as ill only be out 60 and now 180 like the last one before that i bought

Hey if the $60 big W battery does the job then I am all for it. Batteries are way over priced if you ask me.

Far out BenJ, you have been a busy man haven't you? I can't wait to see the new work on the bonnet. In regards to batteries, sounds like you got a good buy for that price! Batteries are expensive these days as the price of lead is very high in comparison to the past.

That's why I jump for joy when I find a near new battery in a car I'm about to strip, I always find a use for it somewhere lol.

Pitty about your ecu issues, at least you had a spare I guess. Thought about cracking it open to see if it's just some dodgy caps & possibly an easy fix?

Cheers

ToranaGuy

Hi BenJ
My name is Geoff. Iam a new member of fordmods I have been reading your builds with
great interest But I am stuck on page 111. You seem to have dropped of the page.
How can I get an update? Hope to be able to read your next installment soon.
By the way exellent work on the car.

111 is the last page at the moment

no more posts yet,

by posting a comment you automatically subscribe to this topic and you will be notified by email of any updates,

and just to be double sure you can scroll to the top of this page and it will say subscribe, or in this case unsubscribe topic,

We're all here on pg 111 waiting for Ben to do or fix or break something!

Gidday Geoff

Ignore those funny buggers above.

I am honoured that your first post on Fordmods was in my build thread. Many thanks for your kind words.



In the upcoming installment I am happy to report that nothing broke or needed fixing (this week anyway). LOL

Back soon.
BenJ

Remote Paging Alarm

Firstly, many thanks once again to snap0964 for kindly donated the alarm system.

This alarm system is pretty cool. The remote fob has built in paging to indicate the alarm status and in the event of the car being tampered with if you are within the 600m odd range you receive visual, audible and vibrating notification.

This photo shows all of the icons on the screen.



The standard use icons when the car is locked are shown below.



At a glance you can see that the car is locked on silent arm.

Other cool functions, yet to be hooked up are, remote start and a built in turbo timer.

The bright silver button is the trunk release button. As the Wagon doesn't require this function, I hooked the alarm up so that this button now closes the sunroof if left open. Sweet.

I have hooked up the immobiliser and shock sensor. I mounted the siren inside the car to make it rather uncomfortable to any unwanted guests.

Very happy with the results.


Subwoofer - No Doof Doof Thanks

Some time ago I was given this small box with 10" sub. Also included was a factory ford amp used in bridged mode to power the sub.

I only wanted to fill out the bottom range and this setup fits the bill nicely. The only thing I do wish the amp had is a crossover and gain control. I will be keeping an eye out for a cheap amp with these functions. Donations welcome of course.

Being in the wagon I wanted to be able to remove the sub box quickly and easily. To accommodate this I built a plug in connection using microphone/audio plugs for the power, earth and amp trigger wires. I also picked up a 15" speaker grill to keep out odds and ends (dogs noses and paws mainly).

The amp is mounted to the sub box for convenience.

The sub in the back.


The quick connect plug.


Cheers
BenJ

What are you using to stop the sub box sliding around?

throttle control

I have used velcro to stop things sliding around on the carpet, saves screwing into the floor etc, won't save you in a roll over etc but if it is below the seat height and against it, it won't come flying through in most accidents.

Lol Good answer!!

i actually have a twin sub box in my LTD it sits infront of the lpg tank and it hasnt moved at all. but i had them in my laser with rubber boot matt and i couldnt keep them still