Underhood Wiring Done!

All the underhood wiring is complete unless I run into something that needs to be repaired or modified, or if I decide to add another circuit. It was a slow process, but I'm pleased with the results so far.

I also got a start on the interior wiring. I'm laying out the wire bundle routing and making hook-up charts and plug maps. Most of this part of the wiring should be a bit easier, but then I've said that before and regretted it!

This phase will require installing the console and dashboard, so I'll have some design problems to resolve during installation. I've been putting that part off until I was confident the basic structure would work out, and I think it will with minor tweaks.

Got a few photos, but had the usual camera issues.

Glacier Speed!

I keep thinking that I will be able to work on the car if I just finish one more thing for my wife, but she always seems to find more projects to replace what I finish.

Last week it was storage shelves in her studio for hundreds of bottles of resin colors and inks. She also ordered two unassembled drawer cabinets and asked for more lights in her work area, so those things got done, but little was accomplished in my car wiring. Add 100*F heat and the weekly yard work, and...well, you get the idea.

I did get a couple more small bundles routed and I actually began terminating wires at the bulkhead connector, though you can't really tell much from the pictures. The horns finally arrived, so I got them installed. Won't be long before I can install the fenders!

Good intentions are cheap, but I seriously intend to accomplish more next week! 

So What's New?

I received the following message from BlogSpot this morning. At the time of this posting, I don't see a BlogSpot notice posted on my page, nor do I know anything more than what it says in the message.

I don't intend to do  more than  post this, so if my blog disappears you will know that I some way violated their rules and that I don't intend to do anything more to placate them. I'm sure all of my readers already know that Google, all world governments, millions of hackers, and every spammer on the planet, have already learned everything there is to know about us, so what's new?


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Quarterly Bitch Session

Anybody love DHL as much as I do? 

It’s a miracle any service based company can survive in an age when survival is so dependent on good service. 

On may 14^th, I ordered new horns for the Plymouth from good old reliable Rockauto. As usual, they filled the order within hours and I got an email saying it was shipped. The following day DHL notified me that it was on the way from Illinois. Taking it's time, the order arrived in their Grand Prairie, TX warehouse on the 18^th and has been sitting there since that time, with no further communication as to status. 

When ordered, the standard shipping information stated that it would arrive no later than the 23^rd, but as of this morning it still sits gathering cobwebs thirty miles from my house. A call to DHL gets an answering machine saying to contact the sender if I have a problem.

It’s not that the order is critical for me to proceed, but they are the last parts I need to finish installing wiring forward of the radiator and I’ve been holding off so I can wire the bulkhead connector before moving on to the next step. I had a similar DHL problem with an order last year when it took ten days to arrive from Georgia.

Another thought with mixed emotions on this day is that fifty-nine years ago I was a seventeen-year-old kid raising my right hand and swearing an oath to defend my country from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Before I took off my uniform, I had sworn it five more times. From starry-eyed kid to tired and cynical old Master Sergeant in twenty-three years of service. Starry-eyed kid..back row, on the left in 1960.

I’m proud of my service, but disappointed that I, and others who swore that oath, were unsuccessful in keeping our promise. Though no foreign troops have landed on our soil, we have been unable to keep those who would subvert our constitution from gaining power. No, that’s not a one-sided slam at any political party, it covers the political spectrum. 

Everyone who chooses to partake in American government does so only after taking a similar oath to the one we made when we enlisted in the military. Most who served in uniform still proudly honor that oath, but it’s sad to say that too many who chose civilian service ignore duty and honor in favor of personal wealth and power. They ignore our wonderfully crafted constitution whenever it suits their desires as long as the party is served, and their bank accounts grow. Their efforts are focused on those two goals, and their success is assured by convincing ignorant people with voting rights to ignore the past and to replace it with continued ignorance and belief in a lie about the future. To hell with the constitution as long as I get what suits me.

Oh, well...bitch session off.

P.S.....Just returned from the post office. As I was mailing some boxes, I heard a customer complain about DHL to one of the clerks. The clerk said they are horrible about delivering packages regularly and that minutes before they had dumped off two big boxes of packages, some of which they had been holding for two weeks! Prior to that, I had contacted Rockauto to complain about DHL, but the answer I got was that I had to wait until May 30th before the sender could get involved. 
If the two-week comment was correct, my parts are probably in one of the boxes, but since my mail was already delivered today, I guess I won't know until tomorrow.

Good News...Sad News

More wiring accomplished and now I have enough installed to show a little progress in pictures.

Along with the total rewiring, I'm also upgrading the headlight circuits to the more efficient configuration recommended by lighting engineer and Mopar expert, Dan Stern.

The relays for that part of the job arrived today, so now I can complete the under-hood modifications. Wiring between relays and lights has been upgraded from the stock AWG 16 to AWG 14, and the power source is now a direct line to the battery bus. Combined with better quality sealed beams, the headlights should do a much better job than the stock setup.

This photo shows where the relays will be mounted next to the circuit board. I'll make a single cover to protect the board and the lighting relays.

On an aside note, even our little town of about 1200 people is not immune from the lunatic fringe. We made the national news when a local woman's ex-husband killed his three young kids and the ex-wife's boyfriend. He shot her in the back, but she survived. She had told the judge that the husband was mentally unstable, but once again nothing was done before he snapped. At least the state won't have to spend money to convict him and keep him alive for the rest of his life. It happened about a mile from my house.

My wife's art studio had the mini-split AC installed yesterday, so all that's left is to assemble the shower stall, and then install a bathroom door and some trim. I already moved most of her tools and materials in so she can now work out there.

She'll be visiting outside the US for two weeks in June, so maybe I can forget honey-do projects for a while and get more work done on the car!

Elvira

Still routing wires, nothing to write about or show pictures, but I stole this video from a facebook link so I could post something entertaining...if this brand of music interests you.

Still Wiring

Totally rewiring the car by comparing and combining three different wiring diagrams, has been unexpectedly slow. With thirty years of experience wiring commercial aircraft, I should be progressing faster, but I retired eleven years ago and seem to have lost my instinctive skills. Once again old age wins the battle and I have really slowed down.

I finally finished the under-hood engine wiring, less terminating the wires at the firewall connector. I won't finish that task until the inside wires to the firewall are all in place and I can verify that both sides are compatible.

The remaining interior wiring will have to wait until the forward lights and horn circuits are in place. I'm anxious to reach that point as then I can install the dash board.

Not enough visible progress to take pictures.

Fuse/Relay Board

Underhood wiring is underway again. I replaced the bad aftermarket ignition harness with one I salvaged years ago and now at least the connectors fit properly. Summit didn’t even ask for the defective parts to be returned.

I increased the size of the alternator output wire from AWG12 to AWG10, since I now have an 80 amp alternator. Other wiring has been upgraded too. Probably not needed, but where wiring is concerned I’m from the belt and suspenders crowd.  

The Fuse/Relay block I received a couple of weeks ago is mounted in the original battery location with a custom-made bracket. The metal below the battery was quite pitted from acid, so I cleaned it well, rust-proofed it and cut a piece of neoprene to cover the area as well as add a bit of shock damping for the circuit board.

It feels great to be back to work on the car!

Jason Colacino and Katie Boyle - Honky Tonk

Since nothing is happening on the Plymouth, I offer you something to raise your temperature during this cold spring weather. Even at my age, my jaws dropped when this young woman began to dance. Whew!

One more day working on the new shed, but maybe back to the car by the end of the week!

Lost in Cyberspace

I haven't been able to post anything as I experienced the second computer crash in 7 months. I lost some info when the hard drive destructed on the first one, but my backup was relatively current and the biggest problem was reloading all the programs.

My latest failure began with several irritating graphics problems. The computer was still under warranty so I was working with HP tech support and they suggested a bios update that killed the computer. The wanted me to return the computer and said it would take two weeks to a month to repair! A conversation with the local Geek Squad suggested it was a fried mother board caused by the bios update. They quoted two days plus time to obtain parts, and possibly up to $500 to repair, so instead,  I got another new HP.

This time, despite backing up every few days, the last files I could salvage were over a month old. Everything supposedly stored in the cloud could not be found, or at least I haven't found a way to recover them yet.

I learned one thing about having files stored online by Windows...the security sucks! One file I downloaded was not one of mine, and I have no idea who wrote it. Some poor soul might be looking all over the Internet for his five-thousand-word essay, just as I'm trying to recover my missing MS Word files!

To make matters even worse, the little laptop that I've been using for travel and emergencies locked up when Microsoft  tried to upgrade Windows 10 automatically and there wasn't enough storage space for the ridiculously huge 8Gig security update! It took hours getting rid of enough files to make it fit, and the next update will cause a problem again. I think there is a way to remove all the patches and do a clean install to save space, so I'll have to check that out.

I figure one more computer problem will convince me to drop out and retire from everything requiring high-tech equipment to play the game. Sitting on the patio with a pot of coffee and a good book would be far less stressful...or maybe I can get back to working on my old low-tech Plymouth.