16v cruise control -- installed!

[treed2 at u.washington.edu (T. Reed)]

I took the final steps tonight in getting the cruise installed in my 16v
tonight. I'm still working the whole linkage thing.. trying to MIG weld
0.078" steel rod didn't work quite as well as I'd hoped. The lowest
voltage setting didn't have enough penetration (it made welds that just
cracked when I ground them down) but anything higher just melted and
cut right through the rod. So I used two stock pieces temporarily
zip-tied together to test it out.

I think I'll try oxy-acetylene later on and see if I can get more control
over the weld.

I fabbed a heat shield for the vacuum servo (since it's right over the
exhaust manifold; that can't be good for the rubber!) using (of all
things) an old ATX power supply case. It was aluminum and easy to cut
with tin snips. The shield turned out okay-looking given how much effort I
spent on it. It attaches to the lower mounting points of the bracket that
supports the back side of the upper intake manifold.

I tried the cruise at 25 mph first and it kept oscillating .. speeding up
and slowing down. No big surprise there; the speed sensor probably isn't
getting too many revolutions at such a low speed.

Then I got on the freeway and tried setting it at 60mph. I took my foot
off the pedal and it stayed at 60 mph for about 10 seconds then started
to slowly drift.. 59 mph, 58 mph. Then it let go completely about 20
seconds after I set it. Not sure what's going on; must be a vacuum leak
from one of the pedal vent valves being misadjusted or something. I'll
have to check it out in the daylight.

When all the bugs are worked out I'll take some pictures and make them
available for anyone else who wants to put cruise in their 16v.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help me!

-Toby