A good friend had a favorite saying..."The harder I work, the behinder I get!" That pretty much describes my recent progress. Though I've been spending a lot of time on car related work, I have little or nothing to show for it.
I got tired of limited workspace, messy standard parts storage, and misplaced parts, so I built the low workbench and bought three new parts bins. That required several hours of sorting and organizing all the nuts, bolts, screws, clips, clamps, electrical terminals and miscellaneous other parts.
Once that was done. I decided to sort and store the bigger parts in some semblance of order. That took another few hours adjusting shelving and re-boxing parts to gain more space.
Between housekeeping tasks, I searched for the parts and materials I'll need next. Some things have been ordered, and some are still to be located. A couple of so-called universal light sockets will not fit as hoped, so I'll have to find some used parts in better shape than the ones I have, or design a work-around with what I have.
I finally decided which products I need to finish the headliner shell, and should be able to pick up the fiberglass materials on Monday. The counter guy at the retailer obviously didn't want to take the time over the phone to verify he everything was available, so I'll be heading there on Monday to see how much they have in stock. I never expected it would be so difficult to find fiberglass materials without taking a trip to Dallas or Fort Worth.
I made a trip to the machine shop to check progress on my custom steering shaft. It's now been there over two months and doesn't look like anything will happen soon. I was informed that the owner... the one who does most of their custom jobs...suffered a heart attack and wasn't expected back for several weeks.
Our first freeze arrives tonight, so I have patio plants to move inside and green tomatoes to pick, or cover so I better get busy!
Friday, October 27, 2017
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Courtesy Lights
I'm making some small progress with wiring. The 18 gauge pink wire, LED courtesy light bulbs, sockets and new door jamb switches have all arrived. The courtesy light wiring is installed, but I learned that the Dorman universal door jamb switches are not quite universal when it comes to Mopars, but that's no surprise. A search for switches with a better fit turned up nothing, and a dozen different supplier part numbers that are supposed to replace the Mopar number show the Dorman part. I can modify the ones I got, but I can't locate the 90 degree terminals needed to provide clearance for the shaft to move inside the jamb. I'm trying to de-rust and salvage the old terminals, but they are in bad shape and may crack when I try to re-crimp them on the non-conductive post, and I'm sure they are far too rusty to make a decent solder joint.
I also had to devise a non-stock method to mount the courtesy light sockets in the housing, as the OEM method is unique and there are no similar replacements available. Since the LED bulbs will be much cooler than the stock bulbs and should not damage a good epoxy, I used J-B Weld and a
homemade bracket to secure the socket.
Finding decently priced replacement lenses is another challenge. Apparently no one makes reproductions, and NOS parts are priced from $35-$45 apiece. Nearly every used lens I can find is cracked, and all of them have been scorched where the bulb comes close to the plastic. LED bulbs should not generate enough heat to be a problem, but I'm not even positive the slightly larger and different profile LED will clear the lens and I might have to use incandescent.
I'm watching lots of youtube videos and educating myself on the newest fiber-glassing methods before I order any materials for the headliner shell. It's been over 40 years since I did much work with fiberglass, and I've already discovered lots of new products that should make the job easier. The buck is painted and ready to use as soon as I get the appropriate glassing materials.
Another garage project is underway to make organizing parts and pieces easier. The temporary bench setup I had was much too small and was too low for my bad back. I had been wondering what to do with a homemade twin bed platform I kept from our other house, so I decided to re-purpose it for a low work bench. I also had a 24" X 72" heavy piece of glass that fit almost perfectly for a work surface. Three new parts bins will hold more nuts, bolts, washer and electrical parts stock, as well as more drawers for small car parts that tend to get lost. I didn't even take time to paint it, but so far, it looks like a big improvement over what I had. The bins are US made and much higher quality than the Chinese crap I had before.
One other non-car job that got finished was hooking up the 20kw generator that has been serving as nothing more than a lawn ornament for the past three years. The price about put me into cardiac arrest, but it's an improvement over the way it was installed at the other house. It now has dual, smart transfer switches so it will sense the total demands and power the entire house. not just selected circuits. Lots of junk hanging on the house, so it looks like I'll have to plant some shrubs to hide it.
I also had to devise a non-stock method to mount the courtesy light sockets in the housing, as the OEM method is unique and there are no similar replacements available. Since the LED bulbs will be much cooler than the stock bulbs and should not damage a good epoxy, I used J-B Weld and a
homemade bracket to secure the socket.
Finding decently priced replacement lenses is another challenge. Apparently no one makes reproductions, and NOS parts are priced from $35-$45 apiece. Nearly every used lens I can find is cracked, and all of them have been scorched where the bulb comes close to the plastic. LED bulbs should not generate enough heat to be a problem, but I'm not even positive the slightly larger and different profile LED will clear the lens and I might have to use incandescent.
I'm watching lots of youtube videos and educating myself on the newest fiber-glassing methods before I order any materials for the headliner shell. It's been over 40 years since I did much work with fiberglass, and I've already discovered lots of new products that should make the job easier. The buck is painted and ready to use as soon as I get the appropriate glassing materials.
Another garage project is underway to make organizing parts and pieces easier. The temporary bench setup I had was much too small and was too low for my bad back. I had been wondering what to do with a homemade twin bed platform I kept from our other house, so I decided to re-purpose it for a low work bench. I also had a 24" X 72" heavy piece of glass that fit almost perfectly for a work surface. Three new parts bins will hold more nuts, bolts, washer and electrical parts stock, as well as more drawers for small car parts that tend to get lost. I didn't even take time to paint it, but so far, it looks like a big improvement over what I had. The bins are US made and much higher quality than the Chinese crap I had before.
One other non-car job that got finished was hooking up the 20kw generator that has been serving as nothing more than a lawn ornament for the past three years. The price about put me into cardiac arrest, but it's an improvement over the way it was installed at the other house. It now has dual, smart transfer switches so it will sense the total demands and power the entire house. not just selected circuits. Lots of junk hanging on the house, so it looks like I'll have to plant some shrubs to hide it.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Mowers and Headliners
Just spent the better part of two days repairing my John Deere lawn tractor and didn't get much time for the car, but in between mower fixing in the hot side of the workshop, I did take a few minutes to cool off in the air conditioned side while working on a few small Plymouth tasks. At least the mower is finally back together. While it was disassembled I had access to everything, so I gave it a complete lube and oil change, a tune-up, and adjusted the mower deck, so it should be good for another year.
The headliner buck is down to the final shaping and leveling phase. After one more sanding, it will get a coat of paint to seal the dusty, plaster surface before attempting the first shot at making a fiberglass shell. I'm still not confident the project will work, but if not I can always fall back on the OEM method with bows, tacks, and windlace.
More electrical wire arrived, so I can begin stringing the bundles that go from front to back. I have yet to find sockets for the courtesy lights, so they may require a custom setup if I can't locate good stock replacements or a similar aftermarket design.
The headliner buck is down to the final shaping and leveling phase. After one more sanding, it will get a coat of paint to seal the dusty, plaster surface before attempting the first shot at making a fiberglass shell. I'm still not confident the project will work, but if not I can always fall back on the OEM method with bows, tacks, and windlace.
More electrical wire arrived, so I can begin stringing the bundles that go from front to back. I have yet to find sockets for the courtesy lights, so they may require a custom setup if I can't locate good stock replacements or a similar aftermarket design.
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