The electronics on this car are part of the reason I love it so much. There are some little quirks of the taxi which make it fun to drive – a working taximeter, doors which lock when the car moves or the brake is pressed (in order to stop passengers walking off without paying), a coffee machine (for those long road trips) and a fairly antiquated intercom! However, whilst the design of this car hasn’t changed much over the last 60 years, the wiring and electronics have been squeezed in periodically without much thought. For example, the fusebox and all the relays are located directly below the windscreen, which is very prone to leaking. Unfortunately this means the electronics are very susceptible to water ingress. Fundamentally, with more corrosion than an old chemistry lab, the electronics are on the unreliable side of crap. There are a couple of tricks here and there and you’ll find some information about the taxi-tronics below!
Electronics
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I've recently undertaken a project to redo a significant amount of the electronics and wiring in the taxi, partly because a lot of it wasn't working due to water ingress (see how I solved that here) and partly because the wiring has turned into somewhat of a spaghetti mess...
The electric windows were installed before I purchased the taxi, in both the front and rear (which is slightly less common). I believe these were installed as an aftermarket extra, because the wiring doesn't utilise some of the existing loom, and the switches are in badly cut out holes...
In...
The Fairway wasn't fitted with an intercom as standard, so many were retrofitted with the Wolf kit (or similar) enabling drivers to easily communicate with passengers either side of the glass partition.
A taxi intercom will usually consist of a control box, a speaker and microphone for the drivers compartment,...
In keeping with some of the magnificent design elements of the Fairway, the fusebox is mounted right below the windscreen which seems to leak on even the driest days. In turn, this means the majority of the electronics are unreliable and the fusebox terminals become corroded very quickly.
If you...
During my electronics overhaul, it was a priority of mine to get my headlights working reliably. You maybe thinking 'if this guy can't even get his headlights working reliably, he's got no hope', however I'll point out that they are retrofitted HID Xenon bulbs with a ballast kit.
For this...