Advice Request: WCLM Prep - Electrical, Cooling, Top

[sdaddy]

I'm planning to attend the West Coast Lotus Meet in October, about 400 miles round trip from home via a scenic rout

 

My '03 Birkin needs prep in at least three areas:

1) making the electrics bullet proof.

2) making sure the cooling system is functioning correctly and completely.

3) shopping for top and doors.

 

1) The electrics need work. There's a short somewhere, when the lights on the tac doesn't read correctly, the temp gauge fluctuates, etc. While the fix of course are matter of tracing the problem(s) down, I have seen others have "marine grade" electrics, i.e. protected from water, heat, and other elements. One thought is to "marine grade" my electrics while tracing the current problems.

 

Question: 1a) Please let me know your thoughts on what products and techniques would be needed for me to improve the protection (and reliability) of the electrics.

Question: 1b) Please let me know of a good resource in the SF Bay Area that could potentially do the electrical work for me (if I don't wind up doing it myself).

 

 

 

 

2) As noted above, the temperature gauge seems to fluctuate and, while the fan is set to switch on at 95C, the temp displayed on the dash gauge is well over 100C before the fan comes on. As the pictures below show, the routing from the "overflow" tube near the pressure cap leads to a tank. The tank also has a larger hose that goes right to the cooling system. Other closed systems I've seen separate the overflow tank from the main system.

 

Question: Does the hose routing seem correct?.

 

 

 

3) Finally, I'm thinking of buying a full weather top and doors.

 

If you know of anyone selling a set, please let me know. Also, I have a new, still in the package, Birkini top that I could trade.

 

Thanks for your help!

Edited May 27, 2014 by sdaddy

[MightyMike]

I opted to eliminate one of the radiator caps on my Birkin's cooling setup. Doing so completely resolved ongoing issues with overheating and coolant leakage due to air in the cooling system. Aside from that, my setup appears to be just like yours.

 

http://i58.tinypic.com/11945zt.jpg

[sdaddy]

I opted to eliminate one of the radiator caps on my Birkin's cooling setup. Doing so completely resolved ongoing issues with overheating and coolant leakage due to air in the cooling system. Aside from that, my setup appears to be just like yours.

 

Thanks. Great idea!

[xcarguy]

Some of the wiring and the majority of the terminals on my Stalker are marine grade with the terminals having built-in heat shrink. The are the folks I used:

 

http://www.genuinedealz.com/

 

 

. . . . . :cheers: