Having fitted the instruments, I came across a small problem when wiring everything up. There are two wires that come from the indicator switch to the scuttle - one from the nearside circuit, one from the offside - to feed the indicator warning light. Connecting both of these wires to the positive terminal of the warning light would have the effect of joining the nearside and offside circuits together, meaning that whenever I tried to signal left or right, all 6 indicator lights would flash! As I wanted to use only one warning light, in the uppermost mounting position, I made a small extension loom, incorporating two diodes. The final job under the scuttle was to fix Quantum's multi-plug and connectors to the original wiring and plug for the wiper motor.
Update - 25/05/00: Another Quantum builder has contacted me about the wiring for the indicator warning light (thanks Martin!). It appears that my addition of diodes was unnecessary. The warning light should be "strapped across" the left and right indicator circuits, by connecting one feed, i.e. from the right indicators, to one terminal of the warning light and the other feed to the other terminal, which would normally be used for the earth connection. This circuit works by earthing the warning light through the indicator bulbs - when the left indicators are being used, the warning light earths through the right hand indicators and vice versa. The warning light will not work when the hazard warning lights are used, but the hazard warning switch has its own warning light, which will keep Mr. SVA man happy. Although my modified circuit works fine, if the diodes should fail, then the indicators will not work properly. With the original wiring layout, as clarified by Martin, if the warning light fails, the indicators will still be fully functional. I'll remove the diodes and change the wiring, next time I have the scuttle off. End.
Before actually fitting any bodywork, I thought I had better do something about the roll bar, which was gradually rusting away. For some reason, it's one of the few metal parts on the car that isn't made from stainless steel. Most Xtremes that I have seen have black-painted roll bars, to match the black windscreen surround and supports. As my kit contains a silver surround and brackets, I thought a silver roll bar would look good. The rust was removed with 120 grit wet and dry paper, then I masked the car with masking tape, newspaper and old sheets. Two coats of red oxide primer were applied first from an aerosol, then lightly sanded to take the topcoats of Halford's "Chrome Finish Paint". The first silver coat went on well, but the second contained a lot of spatter and small blobs, despite cleaning the aerosol's nozzle in thinners and shaking the can well between coats. I left it to dry overnight, then sanded down all the bits and blobs, before applying a third silver coat from a new can of paint. This proved more successful and although I won't be giving up my day job, I was pleased with the final result.
Update - 22/05/00: After 3 weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to polish the roll bar. Unfortunately, the polish I used (Autogylm) simply removed the top layer of paint, together with all the shine. I masked the car again and applied another silver coat. This was rather thin and patchy, so I allowed it to dry and tried again. This time, in an attempt to apply a slightly thicker coat, I ended up with 2 large runs in the paint. I wish I'd left the damn thing alone! I'll give up for now, and come back to it later. End.
The completed scuttle was much easier to fit than I had imagined. I had visions of having to lie on my back in the footwells to make all the connections. However, by tilting the scuttle panel backwards and propping the front up with a block of wood, there was plenty of room between the scuttle and the top of the metal bulkhead to reach the multi-plugs, demister hoses, speedo cable and repeater lamps. With everything connected, I tested the dash switches, warning lights and instrument illumination. As usual, nearly everything worked. The exception this time was the heater motor, which operated at high speed on both the high and low switch positions. Off came the scuttle, and after checking the circuits, the culprit was found to be one of the connectors for the heater motor - it had been inserted in the wrong position in its multi-plug. Another easy fix, but it's obvious that Quantum's supplier doesn't carry out any tests on the completed looms before despatch.
The next job was to adjust the position of the steering column, as it was not central or level in its surround. So it was a case of scuttle off, move column, scuttle back on, etc, etc. After the fifth attempt, the column was central, level and securely clamped top and bottom. I then glued some U-shaped rubber along the lower side edges of the scuttle, fitted it back on and drilled the four holes for the mounting bolts and screws. The windscreen can be fitted later, as the mounting bolts screw in to the threaded bars I've bonded inside the scuttle, although I'll have to tilt the scuttle back to allow me to bolt on the mirrors. I've been warned by another Xtreme builder (thanks Richard!) that the mirrors have to be very accurately mounted in order to pass the SVA rear vision test. I think part of the problem could be that the standard mirrors (from a Honda Fireblade motorcycle) are rather small and have almost flat glass. I'll keep my eyes open for possible replacements that have larger, convex lenses.
