Dash Wiring in Place

The wire bundles behind the dash are terminated and installed out of sight. The only bundles remaining are in the area where the console circuits and tach panel join.

Before I can consider the main wiring complete, I have to conduct a manual continuity and shorts test and that will be a tedious job working alone! I'm also waiting for the park lights I ordered and still have to hook up the tail lights, turn signals and backup lights. All the little wire clips around the trunk were rotted off, so I'll have to find some self-adhesive clamps to replace them

I think I'll take on a few mechanical tasks while waiting for my remaining electrical parts to arrive. All the linkages have to be designed and fabricated and also the emergency brake cables. No shortage of things to do, but at least some progress is visible!

New Plaything

My DIY wheel alignment tool arrived and while it looks reasonably simple to assemble and operate, the website for the video location is incorrect, so for now all I can do is look at the shiny new toys. Everything looks high quality, so I hope looks aren't deceiving.

Their brief instruction sheet makes it clear they want you to first visit the instruction website and watch the video, but the only video I can find about the tool is a brief description of the alignment method on youtube, not details of how to assemble the little loose parts and set up. 

Maybe by the time the weather warms up enough to crawl around on cold, concrete floors the website info will be corrected. In the meantime I have plenty of other things to do.

I did get a start on connecting the dash bundle to the firewall connector, but the first thing found was a wiring error, and of course I now have to track down a splice hidden in a mass of wires that I can hardly see.  Situation normal! 

Progress!

A few pieces that had been taking up shelf space for months are finally finding a home. The dash is in place and the next job will be hooking up the mating wires behind the dash while standing on my head, but at least the progress is becoming visible.

Too bad the weather makes a big change tonight. It was comfortably warm and breezy today, but a cold front moves in tonight with near freezing temps and 40 mph NW winds. Guess I'll spend a couple of days cleaning up the new wiring diagrams until the weather gets better again.

One thing I've been putting off is finalizing the rear shock mounting. I used the stock 1970 B-body shock plate, and I'm concerned about the length and angle of the installation. I no longer have the OEM setup to measure, so once again I'm flying blind, but I think the shock length could become a problem. If anyone has made a similar rear end swap, I'd like to see a picture of what you did, or hear comments and opinions. Did you use longer shocks, or make a custom mount, or did the later shock plate work out okay?

Almost Back to Normal

The wife and dog returned from their Las Vegas trip, so things are starting to get back to normal. More projects on her list, but I'm still glad to have them back.

Normal also means I have unexpected problems to eat up my free time. My computer decided to act up again, so I've been haunting HP tech support. Last year, my months-old HP Envy desktop breathed it's last. Tech support decided it was a hardware problem and wanted me to send it to the HP repair facility under warranty but the time to fix would be a month or more. I wasn't about to wait that long, so I visited the Best Buy Geek Squad for an estimate. They quoted $200 to troubleshoot, but suspected the mother board needed to be replaced. That would be another $350 and about two weeks to get the board! That was within a couple hundred dollars of getting a new computer, so naturally, being old and stupid...and since I had an almost new monitor, a new tower was the way to go. I bought the same model with the idea that I could cannibalize parts and have extra memory cards to upgrade. Now, eight months later, the new computer is giving me fits and tech support is stumped again. The worse part is they suspect another mother board. I know that if they want me to send it out again, I've bought my last HP computer! I've had Gateways since '92 and never had one go bad.

My dear wife has lots of projects for me to work on, but I put them aside so I could spend time on the car while the weather cooperated, but that only lasted two days before winter returned.

 At least all the console wiring is routed and tied into place, and I'm incorporating a few changes into the dash bundle. When the next nice day arrives, I'll try to get the dash installed.

Before I install any more sheet metal on the front, I'll have to make some rough alignment tweaks while all the adjustment points are readily accessible. Instead of taking a wild-ass guess with a level and a tape measure, at the recommendation of a Forward Look member, I ordered a simple tool that claims to measure all the adjustments.from one setup. It should arrive within a week, so we will see if their claims are truth or the usual BS! At least it's US made.

Getting There...a little Faster!

It hasn't been often that I felt I had made much progress, but the past two days I have. Still working on wiring, but I'm down to about a dozen wires to route so I can soon begin terminating everything inside the console.

I also have the dash wiring nearly complete so if I can find time in the next week or so, I should be at the point where I can check for shorts, grounds and continuity, and then install the dash.

I figured out how to wire the seat belt module and will be able to install the fuse panel as soon as those dozen or so wires are in place. Then the progress should be a little more obvious.

I got to reading about trunk mounted batteries and the experts suggested high amperage protection as close to the battery as possible, so I ordered a 50 amp circuit breaker  and it's on the way.  One unpleasant surprise was a nearly $5 tariff on the breaker. That's the first time I've seen that on the invoice and I'm curious to see the country of origin. It might be just another fool-the-buyer fee like inflated shipping charges.

I ordered some parts recently that fit in a 3X5 envelope and weighed a couple of ounces but they charged almost $10 for postage. I know they need to charge for handling, but I wish they would just be honest about what they are charging for.

More Than Just a Poet

Just a few weeks ago I dared predict that when my wife left to visit family over the holidays that I’d have loads of time and energy to commit to my project. Since that time, I’ve been flooded with unexpected demands on my time. Plumbing problems, heating problems, insurance problems, pool problems, and unexpected honey-do expectations, to say nothing about rain storms, cold, and high winds.

As I sit here sapped of energy but needing to post something, I decided to research the accuracy of a quote by poet Robert Burns that I vaguely recalled from my high school Literature class.

                 “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”

It described my situation and seemed the appropriate way to begin my post. Like so many things I attempt lately, I become too easily distracted, and while reading the best 150 Burns quotes, I was amazed how little our human frailties have changed since the 1790’s!

In my case he had an even better quote for my Plymouth project, though it better describes highway construction today:

                      “The best laid plans take 40 years to complete.”

Or another reality for those of us brazen enough to make predictions:

                       “There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.”

Then there is one for the followers of my blog who faithfully log on expecting more progress on my part:

                      “Suspense is worse than disappointment.”

Yet another describes my less-than-precise method of engineering and fabrication…the Burns Hog-Weighing Method:

             “(1) Get a perfectly symmetrical plank and balance it across a sawhorse"             

               (2) Put the hog on one end of the plank.

             (3) Pile rocks on the other end until the plank is again perfectly balanced

               (4) Carefully guess the weight of the rocks.”

If that doesn’t work, just remember this:

“When matters are desperate, we must put on a desperate face.”

While I wasted time reading Burns, I could have routed and terminated a few console wires, but then I decided I might have more energy to work on the car if I eat lunch first. Maybe I’ll get a little more done in the remaining days of 2018…or maybe not. If not, Burns had something to say about year's end too, and in a couple of days we’ll be reminded:

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

                         And never brought to mind?

   Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

                        And auld lang syne!”

                              Chorus: 

                             For auld lang syne, my dear,

                             For auld lang syne.

                             We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,

                              For auld lang syne.”

As for you, dear readers, I have only one comment about what you claim is my procrastination:

                “Critics! Those cutthroat bandits standing in the path of fame!”

Console Wiring

The console is fastened in place again, and now I’m installing the last fuse and ground terminal strips. To isolate a new fused circuit for the LED lights, I removed one of the larger fuse blocks and replaced it with a smaller 2-fuse block with 1-amp fuses per the instrument manufacturer’s instructions. Two of the other circuits are original ’56 and are breaker protected to 15 amps, while additional added circuits require 5 and 10 amp fuses.

I routed nearly all the wires to and through the console, so the next step is terminating inside the console, but the seat control module wiring could be another headache. The seats used in my Valiant were from a 1999 Sebring and those in the ’56 are from a 2001. I still have the wiring info for my Valiant, but the new module has more and different colored wires. I hope it will be as simple as cross-checking functions to terminals. The important ones are those that control the seat belt locks from the inertia switch. I don’t need the time-delay relays and door activated switches the Sebring used, and the power seats are easy to identify. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

I’ll have to locate a schematic for the 2001 Sebring convertible, but the Google and Microsoft search engines gives priority to Ford, GM and Toyota, so it’s a tedious search. If anyone has a 2001 wiring manual handy, I’d love to have a scanned copy of the seat wiring pages, or a link to a source online.

It's the Dog, Ray, the DOG!

You are almost right Ray about slacking, but it’s not me, it’s the dog that’s holding up progress! I waste my time trying to teach her some smarts, and that eats into my car building time. All she does is follow me like a shadow, stopping occasionally to scratch an ear or lick her butt. She won’t get out of my way when I’m working and always sticks her nose into whatever I have in front of me, or she hops around on her back legs hoping to look cute enough to talk me into giving her something tasty to chew on. She is far too annoying to look cute!

Gracie took it upon herself to claim the hierarchal position held by Bonnie, my Shar Pei that died this past July. She doesn’t realize that her dumb looks with the underbite, too long nose, bulging eyes, and bad breath can never replace the wrinkled face, graceful style and lady-like dog manners of Bonnie. 

My wife’s Maltese, Cricket, is sweet, photogenic and smart and she favors my wife. Unfortunately, Gracie looks and acts like my side of the family.  I think she picked me because she’s more my style too…untrainable and ugly! She got her name by being so clumsy that she’d fall over just walking along.

She turns three-years-old this month, so I guess its been long enough that I’m stuck with her. Now that she thinks she's my dog, she wants to ride in the car all the time, but I’m embarrassed to take her anywhere with me. People think I should have a big working dog sitting in the seat beside me, and then the break into laughter when they see her sitting in my lap like a damn princess!

Ah well, I’m getting to old to worry about trying to look cool anymore, so I guess I’ll have to put up with the little white monster for a while.

Oh yeah…my car progress. Still working on wiring, but mostly Christmas shopping and fighting with insurance companies.

Update 12-1-18

I took my wife to the airport today, so with her gone for a month I should be able to spend more time on the car, but it's a mixed blessing as I sort of like having her around.

With the weather so nice the past few days, I actually accomplished a few car things, but no pictures to show yet.

Most obvious is the right side fender bolted in place, and roughly adjusted. I misplaced the original body spacers, so had to order more. I imagine I'll find the misplaced parts right after I install the left fender, but I'll wait a while to do that as it's much easier to work in the engine compartment with it off.

Not so obvious is the wiring. As I mentioned several times, it has been a hair-pulling,  confusing mess trying to electrically merge three different vehicles and at the same time upgrade things like lights, charging, and ignition circuits.

I'm finally at the point of routing wires to the console bus and to the back of the car. The more I'm able to install, terminate and tie in bundles, the less time I waste on research.

White Christmas - I Wish I was Back in the Army

With the serious observation of Veterans Day behind, and Christmas not far ahead, I'll post a  scene from my favorite Christmas movie. It sort of reminds me of myself in the mid-late sixties.

I left active duty in May of 1963, before any serious fighting began in Southeast Asia. When the shooting began, I tried to reenlist, but the Air Force recruiters were swamped with draft-avoiding applicants who had no desire to serve in the infantry. With all those eager-beavers hoping to get into Air Force and Navy technical jobs, the AF wasn't taking prior service vets unless they were already qualified in the combat career fields. To top it off,  they weren't even letting those guys retain the rank they held previously. I had been on a tactical  missile combat crew, but my missile was being phased out, so I couldn't even get my old job back.

Since I was married with two kids, there was no way I could afford losing a stripe in any situation. Military pay really sucked in those days, and promotions were very slow. I even considered joining the Army, but would have had to start all over by going through basic training again as a private E-2! Despite being on the AF recruiter's list in two states, it was 1972 before I was able to reenlist as an Active Reservist, but I retained my old rank. It all worked out well in the long run, and I spent another nineteen years having a job I loved.

Getting things  around here ready for winter has brought car restoration to a screeching  halt. When I do get a few minutes of my own, I work on wiring hook-up charts, but have hardly picked up a tool recently.

Winter has already arrived with a blast. From hot and rainy a few days ago, to heavy-coat weather the last week. Tonight we are expecting our first snow flakes to arrive, but nothing serious...with the exception of a cold north wind! My remaining tomato plants survived the first freeze when I covered them last week, but I doubt they will make it when the temps hit the low twenties tonight.

It looks like it will be early December before I can get back to the Plymouth, as my wife will be traveling to Las Vegas to spend the holidays with her son and his family. One dog and I will take care of things around here while she's gone, and the dog won't have a list of things she wants done every day! Besides, she only weighs ten pounds, so I'm still her boss.