Hinge Preparation

And now for something completely different.

With the body panels approaching completion, I need to start getting ready to affix them to each other. Hinges are used for this, but I need to run some wire to them. The electronics in the door do not have their own power supply. They take juice from the batteries located in the top half. In order for that power to get there, I need wires.

Here are the hinges I'll be using. These came with the kit.



The first thing I need to do is rough up the surface on the hinges that I'll be soldering to. This not only gives it a bit of a tooth, but it will also scrape off any protective coating that the manufacturer may have put on the hinges to protect the finish. I used a file with a weird tip to scrape them up.



Next, I used my wire clippers to cut a few lenghts of wire, and strip off the ends. Notice that I'm now working on top of a piece of plywood. This is because of the heat that the soldering iron will generate. If I am working straight on my cutting mat or desk, it will melt them. Trust me, I know from experience.



I use a pair of tweezers to hold the wire in place while I'm working. I've only got two hands. One of them will hold the iron, the other will hold the solder. So I need a helper to hold the wire.



Here's the finished product. Both hinges all soldered up wth positive and negative leads coming off them.



That's it! Back to the body work.