Oreo931

I installed a new horn the other day and wanted to post a thread with my impressions. Before this horn I had a set of hella supertones. They sounded cool, and were very loud, but they are "hella" sensitive to water. One died after it was exposed to a little water (not sure how -- they were mounted high up inside my bumper). I did some research and there are tons of threads online about the hella supertones dying all the time due to water exposure. My buddy got me this horn for my birthday and I love it. It's the Nautilus horn by Stebel. I think they are used a lot on motorcycles, but the horns sounds great on my car. From what I read, they are a lot more durable as well. Certainly louder than the stock horn and the hella supertone horns.

Pros: loud. small in size, durable, relatively inexpensive
Cons: awkward mounting setup







I mounted the horn to my battery tray. All it required was a single screw and shaving off the last notch on the battery tray with a dremel.






Below is a video. Sorry for the crappy quality but it should give everyone a good idea of how the horns sound.

I've managed to completely confuse myself with wheel backspacing and offset when comparing between different width wheels. I'll explain what I want to do, and post some diagrams, and hopefully someone can help me figure out the end result.

My current wheels are OZ Record 17x7 ET42 (unsure of backspacing, maybe 5.7"?). In order to clear my brakes I am running a 10mm spacer. I also rolled both my front and rear fenders.

I want OZ Ultraleggeras, but NOT 18's. OZ no longer makes 17" ultraleggs in 5x108, so I have to buy another bolt pattern and use an adapter.

I found ultraleggeras in 17x8 ET48 (6.41" backspacing). I'd like to use 18mm adapters.

Tire size will remain the same (215/45/17)

I need to know a couple of things. First, will the ultraleggs clear my brakes with an 18mm adapter (by how many mm?). Second, how much further will the ultraleggs stick out compared to the current OZ record wheels (by how many mm?).


According to this diagram, the ultraleggs will stick out ~7mm more than my current wheels.




According to these diagrams, the wheel will only stick out ~2mm more???







Anyway, I'm clearly getting confused here. It's certainly possible my math is wrong. Are the calculations different between a 17x8 ET48 wheel using an 18mm adapter/spacer, and a 17x8 ET30 wheel?



Another option would be to buy an ultralegg in 17x8 ET35, 5x112, and have it redrilled - but that route is more expensive, and I still don't know if the wheel will clear my brakes w/o spacers.

I saw this posted on turbobricks, thought some of you might be interested. Wheels are 16" BBS RS. Not sure if the owner is using adapters or if the wheels were redrilled. I think it looks pretty good. Suspension = coilovers.

SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR THE HUGE PICTURES -- I didn't resize them so Chuck could use the pictures for the VS writeups page. I'll resize once the write up is posted.


Tools needed:

-Torx 25
-Torx 15
-Scissors/Knife/Wire Cutters
-Flathead screwdriver/Knife
-Wire Taps (or wire strippers + solder + electrical tape)

Parts:
-Window down relay, part #: 6848215 (costs $50-$70 new from dealership, but you can usually find an entire master window switch w/ relay included for ~$20 on the forums. Even cheaper at the junkyard)



Pictures of part below:








First step is removing your center console:




Pull up trim below ebrake handle:




Remove cig lighter and OBDII connector cover:




Remove the two T25 screws holding the panel on - there is one screw in front of the OBDII connector, and another screw in front of the cig lighter port:




Pull the panel up, slide the OBDII connector out, and unhook the connectors and lightbulb going to the cigarette lighter:








Next, unplug the two large connectors (one black, one gray) the arrows are pointing to, and remove the two T15 screws circled in red:




Open your arm rest compartment and using a knife/flathead lift off the panel. Remove the two T25 screws.






Next, CAREFULLY pry up the heated seat switches (this step is optional, really, because you can unplug the switches after lifting up the center console, but it can be annoying to reach your arm around, etc)




Remove your shift knob (and for manual cars, shift boot) -- (Note: for automatic cars, put the car into neutral and pull up hard on the shift knob -- be careful not to put your head through the sunroof glass when the knob lets go)




Next, slowly lift the entire center console up from the back, and once lifted diagonally, pull backwards and up -- be sure to look out for wires that may get caught, and manuever around the e-brake and shifter


Flip the center console upside down and locate the underside of the window switch:




CAREFULLY remove the two metal clips holding the window switch's wiring harness in place -






Below are the three wires we need to tap into:




Your relay should have the following colored wires coming out of it:
-Black
-Blue
-Yellow
-Green

Connect the wires as follows: (I used wire taps for this because they are quick and easy to use, but you can use whatever method you prefer)
-Connect the BLUE wire to the BLUE wire
-Connect the BLACK wire to the BLACK wire




Next, cut the WHITE wire -- Now connect the YELLOW wire from the RELAY to the WHITE wire that goes to the window switch. Then connect the GREEN wire from the RELAY to the end of the other the WHITE that goes to the main plug.






Tuck the wiring harness back into place, reinsert the clips, and find a safe place the the second relay that wont get in the way when you reinstall the center console. In cars with manual transmission, I found there was plenty of room right behind the passenger heated seat switch.







Enjoy your new dual automatic down function windows!

Na na na na na na na na volvo BATMOBILE!

Josh sent me these pics today -- too funny not to post. I can't believe someone actually drives this car around