Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

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Rope-Pusher
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by Rope-Pusher »


M R Wangs on that Ram.
M R Knot!
M R Sew - C M Wangs on the side of the bed?
U R Rite. M R Wangs.
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by watkins »

Random shots of my car because I havent done anything to it worth posting a bunch of pictures. Just a few small cosmetic things, really. All of these shots were taken with my htc Inspire, if anyone cares.

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Heres one of those cosmetic updates. I painted the lower grille and taper of the bumper with PlastiDip as a way to tie it into the rest of the black and blue scheme I have going on. This is also one of the better views of the little Eurotrash/ricer eyebrow things I have on the headlights.
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by Jastreb »

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I wholeheartedly approve of your choice of wheel color.
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by bk7794 »

That car looks nice! Good job!

Also loving the grill color.
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by potownrob »

first and last pics look good for cell phone pics - always liked htc's cameras better than the other smartphones (even better than iPhone in many ways). what's with the new grill and thing below it??
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by watkins »

Thanks guys.

Rob, I just wanted to change it up.
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by AHTOXA »

I like as well.
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by watkins »

Its been a long-ass time since Ive posted anything in here, so heres a picture from the end of March. You can see some of the black roof. I need to take a clear picture of the car with a real camera

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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by watkins »

As you may know, my wife recently gave in to my incessant pleading and let me buy a trailer. Owning a project house means either a truck or a trailer is really a good thing to have. Since my friend's nearly 20-year-old truck just passed away, it was time to make the purchase.

I ordered a hitch and wiring from Amazon. The hitch also came with a drawbar and pin. Because my car monitors the lighting circuits for blown bulbs, there is no amperage to spare for a trailer. That said, I had to buy a powered trailer light converter which monitors the lights to see whats on and then uses battery power to light the trailer. My converter is currently run directly off the battery so there is a constant draw even with the car off. I need to put a switch in the trunk to avoid killing the car.
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Between the different exhaust placement on a Viggen versus a regular 9-3 and my custom exhaust, I needed to chop a bit of the corner off the hitch for clearance. This really shouldnt impact my towing capacity because the trailer itself was already the weakest link. I sprayed the bolts and cut parts of the hitch to try to minimize rust.
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The trailer came in about eight bazillion parts in two boxes that fit conveniently in my trunk. What else would you expect from a Harbor Freight kit?
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First you assemble the shit out of it.
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Then you bring your conveniently trained engineer friend in to do the wiring. I kid, we split most of the work on this damn thing.
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Test fit and bulb check. Aside from the aforementioned switch I want to put in my trunk, I also plan to run the hitch wiring through the car and out the bottom rather than having to close it in my hatch. Its more professional I think.
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The whole thing sitting in my driveway with decking on it. The 2x4s are for the low stake sides Im going to make. I also plan to buy a trailer jack and spare.
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I did unfortunately have to cut the bumper because Viggens have lower bumpers than base 9-3s.
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However, I did save the piece I cut out and crafted a plug that fits into the receiver so the whole isnt obvious unless you know its there.
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At this point Ive only made one light haul. Aside from an abysmal bounce while empty, the trailer is light and easy to maneuver. Very pleased overall.
Last edited by watkins on Mon May 27, 2013 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by potownrob »

Nice wagon...
White wheels?!?
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by theholycow »

I want to see a pic of the bumper hole cover installed.

Keep the wiring on the interior and tuck it in to the carpet or spare tire well or something. That way it will be out of the weather (except when towing, of course). Sure it'll last plenty of years outside, but a clean, unweathered connector is always nicer to work with and requires less maintenance.

Having a manual switch for that stinks. It should be possible to make it draw zero current when there's nothing hooked up to the connector using one of the lights as part of a detector circuit. For an easy solution, wire the tail/side marker light circuit in series with the unit; they will be on whenever the trailer is plugged in, even if your lights aren't on, but that should be fine. If you don't want that, at least power it only when the car is on. That will mean that when the car is off and you use the lights the trailer lights won't work but that should be acceptable, or you could do it with a few relays that will activate off each lighting circuit...anyway there are plenty of ways to do it without a manual switch. If you must use a switch, put it within the driver's reach.
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by noob5,000,000 »

watkins wrote:
However, I did save the piece I cut out and crafted a plug that fits into the receiver so the whole isnt obvious unless you know its there.
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by AHTOXA »

Good thinking on the bumper cover plug.
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by watkins »

theholycow wrote:I want to see a pic of the bumper hole cover installed.
That can be arranged. Once it stops raining, of course.
theholycow wrote:Keep the wiring on the interior and tuck it in to the carpet or spare tire well or something. That way it will be out of the weather (except when towing, of course). Sure it'll last plenty of years outside, but a clean, unweathered connector is always nicer to work with and requires less maintenance.
The problem is that I tend to bury things in my trunk. Its probably safer for the wiring in terms of pinches and chafing if its outside.
theholycow wrote:Having a manual switch for that stinks....
True, but at least its an easy solution. Flip switch, plug in trailer. Done. As for having it near the driver: Id rather it be in the trunk/back near the wiring so that I remember to shut it off when I uncouple the trailer. I could run some kind of crazy relay system, but thats too much work to hack in, considering how lazy I am. I do have a few sources of ignition on power up front though, If I do feel like it. The problem then becomes how cluttered its getting under the dash with all the wires I have.
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Re: Watkins' Viggen Pics and Projects

Post by watkins »

Per Moofasa, I added a picture of the plug installed to the original trailer thread. Here it is again:

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I also added the switch in the trunk. Just a simple rocker mounted through the trunk liner up high out of harms way. Not photo worthy.
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