I decided to install a cruise control system motel 6 california in my car near the end of a complete restoration. The engine was in place, but the front shroud, wings and doors were yet to be installed. It seemed like the perfect time to add cruise control. Having seen the Audiovox unit installed in several cars at some recent Conclaves and Encounters, I knew it was the one for me simply because I love my modifications to be discreet when possible (my car has many "personalizations"). The Audiovox control module fits inside the gearbox cover chrome ash tray, and can be completely concealed. Knowing that other Healey motel 6 california owners had reported that the Audiovox unit performed in a satisfactory manner, I placed my order from J. C. Whitney and started thinking about how I would install it on my car.
I have prepared motel 6 california this "tutorial" to try to be of help to those who might be interested in adding cruise to their Healeys, but a word of caution is appropriate. My notes are no substitute for the very comprehensive instructions provided in the kit, especially when it comes to the wiring. As I mentioned, my car has a number of modifications and that means that your experience may well be different than my own.
First, I want to thank a few people who provided responses to my enquiries concerning the addition of cruise control. Alan Teague and Carl Brown were both particularly helpful, motel 6 california as were Len Hartnet and Bob Slater. Al Malin shared some images of installations he had seen at the Vermont 2007 Conclave. They are included below; however, I am afraid I don't know the owners motel 6 california of the cars so I cannot give proper attribution. The October 2002 issue of Healey Marque contains an article entitled Healey Cruise Control, by Dick Lunney and John Jones that I also found of great assistance. I definitely recommend reviewing the article before you undertake adding cruise control. Dick installed motel 6 california the cruise on his BN2 and John on his BN7. Everyone I consulted used the Audiovox system with the exception of Bob Slater, although I do not know what brand he used. All of my commentary is in reference to the Audiovox CCS-100 only.
As one will quickly deduct from a preliminary review of the instructions, this unit is designed for a multitude of vehicles, but as you might guess Austin Healeys are not listed in the various brands and models of cars identified in the packaging. Because of the somewhat motel 6 california universal application, the kit comes with quite an array of fittings, brackets and linkages that are of no use with our car and they can therefore be set aside.
The primary components of the system are: 1. The vacuum canister and vacuum connection; 2. The magnet and sensor for the propshaft; 3. The throttle linkage; 4. The control module; and 5. The wiring of the system.
I began my installation with the magnet and sensor for the propshaft. This necessitates the removal of the gearbox cover. I aligned the magnet and the sensor motel 6 california with the propshaft in the car, but after locating both components, I actually found that I could do a much better job of wiring the magnet in place with the provided safety wire if the propshaft was on my workbench. The Healey requires the use of only one magnet (two are supplied).
If you want to do a nice job, I highly recommend using safety wire twisting pliers. They make the job much easier and result in higher quality work. I got my pliers from Aircraft motel 6 california Spruce , but I am sure they are readily available from other suppliers as well.
Note that when you secure the magnet to the shaft that you have the two "ears" in the proper position to be wired in place. The wire "snaps" into the ears and you can hear it "click." Pulling motel 6 california the wire apart at the joint helps to tighten the assembly on the propshaft, and really does function much better than I ever would have suspected. You may have noticed I am using a propshaft yoke for a Toyota gearbox as I have installed the Smitty 5 speed conversion in my BT7.
Your installation may be different, but in my case I was able to simply drill a hole into the side of the gearbox tunnel and fasten the magnet sensor with the nut and washer provided. Depending upon your situation you may need to use one of the brackets provided in the kit for the sensor. The sensor must be pointed directly at the center-line motel 6 california of the propshaft with a 3/8" gap between the sensor and the magnet.
My next step was to install the cruise control module or panel in the ash tray. You may elect to place it on your dash fascia, console or a custom panel. The routing of the wiring needs to be considered in determining the best location motel 6 california for you and your car. I decided that I wanted to run all of the wiring associated with cruise control under the gearbox cover and the gearbox extension. Others motel 6 california have simply motel 6 california run the wiring under the carpet.
I drilled a ½" hole in the center of the bottom of the ash tray and in the ash tray bracket that is part of the gearbox cover. I carefully smoothed the edges of both holes with a file. You will note that my ash tray is mounted backwards and the bracket has a couple of extra holes (that is a long story, unrelated to the cruise control installation). The control module can then be inserted into the ash tray with the wiring connected to the module pulled through the two holes.
You will need to form some type of spacer to sit in the ash tray below the control module motel 6 california otherwise it will "float" in the space. Styrofoam, or a small block of wood will work. The module has a two-sided sticky adhesive pad on its rear side for location on a flat panel. The size of the module does make for a very neat installation. motel 6 california My BT7 installation ended up looking like this:
This is the next task. On the back of the vacuum canister there is a small plastic cover that is removed to reveal motel 6 california seven dip switches. The instructions provide more detail on the dip switch settings, but for the six cylinder Big Healey three switches are set to the "on" position and four are set to the "off" position.
Those that are set to the "on" position are numbers 1, 3 and 7. For all manual transmission cars, the small black jumper connector located on the left side of dip switch #1 is removed. The 10-pin plastic wiring harness connector is then plugged into (snapped) place on the dip switch panel, and the wires are folded motel 6 california back. The plastic cover is then replaced with two small self-tapping screws.
Locating the canister in the vehicle was the most challenging part of the project for me. As I mentioned previously, I have a number of modifications on my car that meant places that were used by others who have installed this unit were not available to me because something was already located in the spot where the canister might go.
Al Malin took the photo to the above at the Vermont Conclave that shows the canister mounted to the right firewall brace. That didn't work for me because I already had placed a radiator overflow tank there. This location might work for you, but then again you might wish to make the canister less visible.
Several people have reported motel 6 california mounting the canister on the fresh air box beside the steering column. Carl Brown and Alan Teague selected that location. It might also be mounted below the left wing, but you cannot get too low due to heat from the exhaust.
Alan Hendrix of Hendrix Wire Wheel installed the cruise control on Devin William's car. He chose to mount the canister along the LH frame rail and then routed the cable up into the engine bay. In my case I wanted the canister hidden as much as possible (of course, this means it will be harder to get to if you need to access the canister again!), and I was somewhat restricted as I have mentioned. I ended up removing the curved metal bracket on the canister and used plastic ties to mount the canister to the dash fascia brace to the right of the steering column.
This was easy for me since the front shroud was not on the car at the time, but I could still get to it from under the dash if needed. Pardon the wiring mess in the image above, I had not yet "cleaned-up" the wiring when I took the photo.
In the end, inside the engine bay, inside the cockpit, or along the frame is a matter of personal preference. The instructions emphatically state not to mount the vacuum canister on the engine itself. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Inside motel 6 california the cockpit means it is probably easier motel 6 california to hide the 10-pin connector and the wiring harness, but it also means that you must route the throttle control cable and the vacuum line from the canister through grommets on the firewall. motel 6 california Inside the cockpit the canister is more easily hidden, but you also can hear the unit working (not objectionable levels motel 6 california to me) since you don't benefit from getting the unit on the other side of the firewall. You just need to experiment. Let me know if you come up with another location and send me an image and I will include it in this little write-up!
Once the location motel 6 california of the canister is determined, the vacuum line needs to be installed. In their Healey Marque article, motel 6 california Dick Lunney and John Jones described using copper tubing for the vacuum line rather than the rubber hose included in the kit. Whatever you choose to use, the tubing or hose needs to get connected to the intake manifold. Depending upon what you have connected to the manifold already (brake servo, pcv valve and etc.) will determine whether you can use a fitting already motel 6 california available on the manifold, whether you will us a "T" splitter provided in the kit, to take advantage of a vacuum line already in place, or whether you might even drill and tap another hole in the manifold for a fitting as Dick and John did.
In my case, I am using the small original motel 6 california fitting on the manifold for a pcv valve, the vacuum line to the distributor is routed from the rear carb (I am using HD8 BJ8 carbs on my BT7), so that left the original large blanking plug (7/8" I believe) on the manifold to be used. I drilled a hole through the center of the plug. Tapped it, installed a radiator drain valve I had la
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