My baby turned 300 at last (pic heavy)

[hawlass]

+1 for the paint markings being temp related.If you look close there is a green mark close to the caliper.

I have these pads too, quoted from the dba site-

Thermographic Temperature Monitoring Heat paint markings change colour at specific temperature thresholds

Offers the driver a clear indication of peak braking temperatures When temperature thresholds are exceeded paint markings will permanently change colours

Allows the driver to monitor rotor fatigue and decide on rotor replacement and to assist resellers with warranty claims

As to the speaker polarity, in the past I have used a bit of wire to power the speaker ( once disconnected from the stereo) with a 'aa' battery.

If you have the polarity right the speaker cone will move out- towards you when veiwed from the front. From here you can compare the speaker plug with the factory wiring to find the negative and positive wire colours.

[arronm]

You guys are all SOFT. Yous will never change the colour. Except maybe to PINK. Ha Ha

[hawlass]

Getting them past 630C would be track work me thinks..

http://www.dba.com.au/thermal-heat-paint-markings/

[discostig]

I have these pads too, quoted from the dba site-

As to the speaker polarity, in the past I have used a bit of wire to power the speaker ( once disconnected from the stereo) with a 'aa' battery.

If you have the polarity right the speaker cone will move out- towards you when veiwed from the front. From here you can compare the speaker plug with the factory wiring to find the negative and positive wire colours.

Your pads have thermographic markings?

Also good tip on the battery, running the stock speaker from it. It was the car wiring I was unsure about despite the black trace=negative since I've changed it over to my aftermarket headunit. Not like I'd have swapped the polarity when fitting the headunit anyway, was just being paranoid.

I can honestly say I've checked the paint temp markings on previous 2 set of DBA exactly zero times. Gave them a belting on the way home in the hills today though, just high speed almost stops to try and get rid of some squealing. Didn't reapply my pink goo this time due to wanting to get to bed ASAP.

[Lennox]

Ahhhh man your car adventures remind me so much of me. Does your mrs say "why didn't you just take it to a mechanic?!" When you screw up as well?

[discostig]

Nah she knows I like to work on the thing.

You should have seen how awesome my $35 cordless Ikea drill got those nuts off and on, phwoooar!

[hawlass]

Your pads have thermographic markings?

Yes they do! , that way they match the thermographic marking paint on my rocket cover..

[Panda Eyes]

you mean break pads?

[discostig]

I've gone green and no longer use polluting metal brake pads. I use naturally occurring bark pads...just gotta keep it under 40kmh or they ignite from a firm stop.

[discostig]

Had a busy weekend just past, spent half of Saturday and all of Sunday on the car. Only began as an oil and filter change.

Sump plug out, Fumoto drain valve in! F107N (nipple model) matches for me (ordered both to be sure, they said they'd refund the unused one.

For slightly easier changes later but also to reduce wear on the sump threads.

Also comes with a handy magnetic oil change due chart which fits nicely inside the tool chest lid

Took off the engine bay piping, cleaned/oiled the K&N air filter...once Sunday morning arrived I got more adventurous and decided now was the time to fit the bonnet cable I previously ordered.

Car was already on a stand on the driver's side so getting the wheel well inner liner/guard out was easy...just had to snip off a couple of those annoying scrivets along the way. The liner sort of just pulls out from behind the folded metal edge of the guard (once you get all the plugs/scrivets out).

I had other things I wanted to look at so I ended up pulling off the front bumper. It was at this exact stage with this bolt coming out I realised a grave oversight on my part

I was using a spinner handle to undo bolts...like a sucker.

Grabbed out my $35 Ikea cordless drill and $20 drill bit kit with these special adaptors (it also came with a sweet magnetic mounted case plus mini belt container thing that fits snugly inside)

Now I can fit sockets of various driven sizes and WHIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRR off and on all the nuts and bolts (nipping up by hand). It performed flawlessly all day. Variable torque settings and bi directional. Thanks Sweden for your cheap crap which was exactly what I was looking for.

Anyway!

This is the path the cable takes:

Latch - leading off to the top of frame

it dives through a hole (not visible) and runs across the front of the radiator, through to the engine bay proper...

Held in by a clip in front of battery

Behind the battery (smooth cable at back, not the tape wrapped one)

Then it leads to this hole, as seen from inside the wheel well (inner cover removed remember)

And then along the top of the wheel arch, attached with another clip

Then past the side repeater cords to the smaller rubber grommet on top here

Which pops out inside near the accelerator pedal, in this pic the rubber is half popped out into the cabin

I popped the lever out of the fuse box bottom clip inside the cabin (pushes toward front of car to free the front clip, then pull it to slip the two black rear tabs out) to give slack in case I needed it at the lever end, which is where I read you need to remove it as it pulls through into the cabin to remove.

That's the new one, not that it matters, just trying to show the tabs.

Gaining access to the latch mechanism mounting bolts required taking the front garnishes off, I'm not listing those steps here but it's only a couple of those push plugs and a couple small bolts. Here we see it with one bolt removed and the other on its way out

Also you might notice my cooler mounts are missing the nuts, and the cold side pipe is gone. I was trying to move the cooler a little (unrelated).

Once the latch is free you can inspect it and easily figure out how to free the cable/ball from it by giving it a little slack. Needle nose pliers were handy here I think.

Once it's free, remove cable from clips and pull it back into the cabin. Here's the end of the cable disappearing into the small hole in the guard, where the small rubber grommet was

Oh I also had to undo the top locating "tab" of the radiator in order to allow me to slightly push the thing back and slip the cable collar thing (that locks the black outer sheath into the latch separately from the inner cable) past

So with the old one out, I grabbed the newy and simply pushed it up the reverse path, nothing exciting there.

Oddly enough despite being in a genuine Ford bag it does not have the Ford logo like the old one. Hard to see in this pic but it's at the top of the one on the left

Clip in to factory clips as you go. Also I cable tied it to the thicker cable inside the guard to prevent it knocking around, that could be very annoying later.

New cable threaded back up! Easy to slip back in to the latching mechanism.