Hi,
I've succeeded in removing the sockets from the plug coming from the SRS harness. They are held in with a sprung barbed holder. The difficulty was the very close fitting inside the plug moulding. I had to modify some brass tubing to fit inside the moulding.
You need 3.5mm o.d. or 1/8th inch o.d. brass tubing. With both you need to increase the i.d. to 3mm. After several attempts and running rapidly out of the right size tubing, I ended up using 3.5mm tubing and increasing the i.d. by fitting a 3mm round needle file into a drill, and, with it running in reverse (to stop the file jamming in the tube) ran it in and out until I achieved the right i.d. Hold the tubing with some emery cloth or fine sandpaper in your hand. With the tubing jammed on the file and the drill running forwards you can safely "file" down the o.d to 1/8th inch. Do this before the 3mm i.d. If you use 1/8th o.d tubing then there is more material to remove from the bore but none from the o.d. The overall length needed is around the 20mm.
My first attempt caused the tube to jam while trying to remove the socket, and on removal I ended up with a small collar jammed inside the tubing. This fits on the end of the socket. You can see this in the photo. I then completely screwed up this first attempt by trying too hard to open up the bore over the entire length to the correct i.d. I was using a tapered reamer and 3mm drill at this time. The brass tubing became distorted and could no longer slide into the plastic moulding.
You don't need to remove the seat as I found that I could have enough working room when the seat was fully back.
Clean up the connector at the crimp and solder the lead back on, after tinning both, being careful that the finished job will fit back into the moulding. A bit of heatshrink tubing over the joint before inserting will make a tidy job of it. Use the shaft of the soldering iron to shrink the tubing. Just be very careful not to melt the insulation. Slide the tubing onto the wire before you solder it to the socket.
The brass tubing should be available at any model shop.
The technique to remove the socket is to push the brass tube all the way down and while holding it there push the connector from the rear to fully insert the barbs into the tubing. Now using a 7/64th (2.8mm) drill bit, push the socket from the moulding. You will find it quite firm to push out.
If you PM me your address, I can post you the brass tubing and some heatshrink tubing if this will help you.
Bill
aka willyphixitt
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