You've got this, Gene. I'd prop up the steering column and have your wife try it out before worrying about the bracket. It may need an adapter from the narrow dash mounting to the wider column mount to locate a bit lower, OR it might need to have the dash trimmed up to raise the column. Fit is the point, so long as it still connects to the shaft and works cleanly. As for the gauges, make sure they work and are part of the plan before doing mods to make them fit, unless replacements are going to be the same sizes and locations. Again, check that she buys off on location and angle. I'd try shining light front and rear to make sure they are legible at night with traffic or just drive it at night to confirm. As little as 10 degrees up or down may make a big difference.
Progress is good, right? Today felt like one step forward, two steps backward. I now this is getting serious new, there is a 'to do" list taped on the window! The forward movement was good. I managed to locate the two "O" ring package and stopped everything and installed them right away. That was the first thing I got to scratch off the "to do" list! I managed to bolt in the steering column, hanging just from the bracket I made yesterday, I got the steering column connected all the way to the rack. I even stuck the gauge panel into the dash with two mounting screws. The timing was great, me wife just happened to come out of the house, on he way to do something (?), while she was there I had he climb into the car (the front end is on jack stands and the front tires are off the car). She gave her stamp of approval on the smaller diameter steering wheel, and the position of the column. As it was, the bottom mounting flange on the column was about a 1/2" below the floor pan. That would make building the bottom column mount much more difficult. If I shifted the column back into the cabin that 1/2" so the bottom flange was inside of the car, I can just close off the enlarged hole right up against the bottom of the column housing and add a capture piece on the inside. I would have to modify my top bracket, but that shouldn't be too hard, right? The Dakota column had a couple lengths of DD steering shaft attached to it. The upper piece of DD shaft slides up into the column (its part of the column crash design). I ended up cutting about 3" off the end of that upper shaft, because it was bottoming out before I could compress it enough to connect the complete shaft set up. Once everything is completely determined, I will probably cut off any excess DD shaft length inside the crash zone. For now, its long enough I can adjust the column position and angle with out concern. So after I got the bottom of the column in the correct position, and have the enlarged hole covered, I can go back to that upper mount. While I was pondering my plan, I had a serious thought cross my mind. There is an ignition switch that mounts on the top of the steering column, and there is also a dimmer switch that mounts in about the same location as the ignition switch. I currently don't have an ignition switch (there is a faulty dimmer switch present). That ignition switch mounts at about the same location as my current upper column mount occupies. It has occurred to me that maybe I should have the switch, and have it mounted before I modified the upper column mount. Both switches will be in tomorrow morning. The temps in the shop reached the upper 80s, the fan is moving hot humid air. I called it a day and went in the house to **** up a little AC. Tomorrow is another day.
Good progress, Gene! I didn't do a darn thing. If you have the pigtail for those switches, snap it on too so you don't paint yourself into a corner. Gotta think servicing. I keep forgetting which year you are using, so look it up and check for that at the parts store too. Or do the JY march and look for other stuff.
Progress progress progress. I’m guessing you have the same temp and humidity we do, feels like a sauna Dan
I thought I had a pigtail for those plugs, but I couldn't find any in my search this afternoon. Some of those pigtails are now available, but I suspect this is going to end up with a whole bunch of insulated female spade terminals. If i remember correctly, the wiring comes in at 90 degrees on these switches, but i guess I'll know for sure once the switches are in hand in the morning. I have a 90 Dakota factory service manual with a very good wiring section, so determining which terminal does what function should be a big deal. The ch***is under the wagon is a 97, but the wire harness is a Hot Wire conversion with labeled wires. Once I realized the switches had to occupy the same air space as the mounting bracket, my mind told me to quit planning until I had the parts I needed. Yea, that pretty much defines the current weather. Tomorrow is suppose to be the hot one, then the temps are suppose to retreat for a few days. Years ago, shortly after I opened my welding shop, this one old black s****per guy used to stop by to haul off any s**** I didn't need. The old guy was pretty resourceful. one day I was melting down in front of a cheap box fan when the old guy came into my shop. He took one look at the box fan and told me he had something much better then that, then he took off and was back about 15 minutes later, and carried in a blower fan from a house furnace. It had a 6' extension cord wired into the fan motor. He didn't say a word, he just sat the furnace fan on the shop floor, pointed it towards me, and plugged it in. I'm telling you, I had never felt a fan move that much air that fast! The old guy told me he s****s old furnaces for the local furnace installer and he keeps all of these blower fans he can. He said they don't use much electric, and can run like that all day long, every day, without a problem for years, just unplug it when your not in the shop. He said they were designed to push air through duct works in houses, without the duct work, there is almost no drag on them. The older ones had an oilier on each bearing on the blower fan you filled once every summer (the bearings on the "new' blowers have sealed bearings, they last forever), and you might have to put a belt on it every few years. I think I bought two of them from the old guy (like $10 each) and I'm still using the last one. That means I have only used two blower fans in over 30 years. This one I using now should probably have a belt guard on it, and it probably should have a handle bolted on to make it easier to move around (the motor does get hot to touch after it runs a few hours but it has never had a problem). The old guy p***ed away a few years ago, but just before he retired from s****ping, he gave me a 3rd blower (it sitting in my lower garage waiting to be used). They don't help much in the sauna, they just move the hot air, but they still move a lot of that air very fast. I set it near the door, pointed about 1/2 way down the nearest wall, it will circulate the air through the entire shop (24' x 30')
Today was a short day on the wagon. I went and picked up my new switches and mounted them both onto the dropped column. The entire ignition switch stands about two and a half inches above the steering column. Picture explanation. Across the bottom of the picture is the steering column. The thing with the pretty bold green part is the new dimmer switch. The bracket towards the right of the dimmer is the Dakota upper steering column mount, the light green thing at the edge of the picture is where the steering column would bolt up, the bolt hole is just to the left of the downward pointing light green plastic piece. The shiney rectangle above the dimmer switch is back side of the ignition switch, as its all mounted on the column. All the ignition switch wiring plugs straight into the front side of the switch. The tube looking thing above the ignition switch is simply a bundle of wires that can simply be rerouted back out of the way (the light blue wire already clears everything), they present no issues. The angle cut metal bracket behind the ignition switch is the brake pedal mounting bracket. The back side of the ignition switch will slide right up on the other side of it, so it presents no problem. The blue piece with all the holes drilled into it is the bottom of the dash. That is the problem! From between the 3rd and the 4th hole (from the jagged cut, not one I made), about a 7" wide section (going away from the camera) needs to be removed and a new structure to support the column needs to be built that will clear the ignition switch. This is the view from the driver seat. That black square is the new ignition switch, the wiring plugs directly into the right hand side of the switch. Everything on the bottom of the dash, between both mounting ears on the column mount (a 7" measurement) will need to be removed and modified to clear the ignition switch. Those little light green plastic pieces need to be against where the bottom of the dash currently is. With the dash in its current form, the front edge of the green plastic pieces sit flush with the front bent edge of the dash. For those keeping track, that will equal about a 4" lift of the column from its current location. And this is the reason it all needs to come up about 4" from where it currently is. That switch hanging by the wires in the background is the current ignition switch, those 6 wires will have the ends changed over to female spade terminals and will plug into the new ignition switch, the wires are plenty long enough to reach their new destination (which is only about 2" from where they were in the old dash insert). No dash cutting today, it was already nearly 90 in the shop. They were calling for rain this afternoon and off & on all day tomorrow. I needed to get the lawn mowed before it turns into a hay field. I will be helping my son with the motor in his 57 Dodge tomorrow, so probably no report tomorrow at all. Friday is suppose to be much cooler, I'm planning to be back on the wagon then.
Guess you know why the seller didn't go this way! Looks like a bunch of effort, and some will prefer the old column, but it's nice to have all those switches up on the new one.
Yes, I agree, I think I have a pretty good understanding as to why the other guys built the car the way they did. Everything I'm seeing is making the original build process more clear. The original concept was a pretty good plan for a quick build, for a driver that is experienced with how the old cars operated. We are the people that have altered that concept. I have to make it a usable vehicle for a 70 year old lady that has never driven an original 1950 automobile, and has not driven a late 60s automobile for over 40 years. I have to bring this car at least into the 1990s era for her to safely enjoy driving the car. I would have figured out a way around the minor issues surrounding the switches, and it would have worked out OK with me driving the car. The car is being built for, and most likely will be driven mostly by my wife, and she doesn't adapt to different vehicles very well. She has driven the car 3 times that probably add up to nearly 1/2 the mileage we have put on the car at this point. Outside of the banging going on in the rear of the car (which I think is mostly the exhaust now), the next biggest comment is the large diameter steering wheel. It pretty much lines up with her field of vision and she has to stretch to see over the top of it (raising the seat height leads to a very long list of other issues). Her eyesight isn't that great anymore, she doesn't need that added problem. Something had to be done to reduce the size of the steering wheel. The large diameter steering wheel is original to the 52 Plymouth column, so it has the large diameter thin wall tube, the wheel attaches to. I don't have an old puller that works with that thin wall tubing, and honestly, the nut, threads, and wheel center doesn't look like its been apart since 52. Removing the steering wheel from the hollow steering shaft does not look like something that could happen without damaging the shaft. The only option I know of to reduce the diameter of the wheel would be to cut the current wheel apart and weld a smaller wheel onto the hub. That isn't a huge deal if the wheel is off of the column (I've done that a few times before), but its not a project to do when the wheel is still on the column. Nothing on this car takes place without weighing all the options, so you guys keep pointing them out. I've been known to miss a few possible options over the years.
Well, it isn't as 'ready to roll' as it initially seemed, but still a lot less than starting with that other one and doing a major frame swap. Have you figured out the mirror situation to everyone's liking?
Actually, its as ready to roll as I expected it was going to be (probably a bit better then I expected). I knew there were things I would have to change, but the new steering rack was unexpected. It is pretty much road ready, for someone used to driving old cars. Even at that, its at least a year (and maybe 2 years) closer to being on the road while still meeting my wife's expectations, then the other car would have been at this point in time, and probably around $8,000 closer money wise! Realistically, I probably don't have much more then a weeks time in this one so far. The mirror situation is not the highest priority right now (might be in a week or two though). I do have a larger rear view mirror on hand, if I can figure out a way to mount it other then the glue on the gl*** thing. I can buy a 4" clamp on side mirror brand new from Walmart for $15, delivered free to my local store. but Walmart isn't on my list of preferred shopping experiences. There is also an active plan to order and install a rear view camera like the one I have in my truck. The goal for tomorrow is steering column installation day, we will see how far I get...
Good to hear. I'm just making sure you aren't headed this way to 'discuss things' for pointing it out to you! Hope you get mirrors before it backs out of the garage!
I have the car backed into the garage, so I can drive it straight out. The back up camera and/or more/better mirrors will be on the car before it leaves the garage. The car has already used up its one forgivable ***ault on my truck. And, its still all your fault!
Finally a nice day to work on the car, cooler temps, a nice breeze coming through the open garage doors. It doesn't look like much progress, but figuring things like a column mount take some time. Hacking out the stuff that needed to go shouldn't be difficult, especially in a retired guy's welding shop, but since the entire floor, firewall, and kick panels of the car are covered with glued down jute carpet backing, making lots of sparks is probably not a great idea. The least spark producing cutting equipment that is here is my sawzall. The right side was easy. The left side presents a few problems. That bracket in the top left side of the picture is the brake pedal support. Its bolted to the firewall with the brake booster and master cylinder hanging on the same bolts that hold it onto the firewall. That bolt just below it on the left side of the picture attaches the lower dash support to the brake pedal bracket. The crooked cut piece the bolt p***es through is the dash support, it is made of two separate pieces tacked together at the forward most edge (towards the back of the picture), those two pieces have air space between them, except for the welded places. the lower piece is 18 G body sheet metal, and the other piece is about 14g sheet metal, neither cuts well with an 18 tooth saw blade (but is all I have). the cut out section is laying bottom side up on the steering column in the picture. That sheet metal section is about 3.5" wide, putting it at just about my max cutting width with my saw. The gap between the brake pedal bracket and the dash support is not wide enough for the blade to fit between. I had to make sure all the wires were out of harms way, then make the cut from the bottom up (18 gauge sheetmetal cut first) and cut from the front towards the back (my excuse for it not being a straight cut). I managed to get about 3/4 way through it before the angle of the cut made the blade length too short. I had to cut that last 1/2 inch with a hack saw, the double panel with an air bap between them made that a fun part of the project. It didn't take long to figure out I'm not used to manual cutting tools any more, but I finally got that part of the job done. This is the column up to nearly where it needs to be. With the ignition switch bolted to the column, the switch sits about a 1/4" to the right of the brake pedal bracket, the wiring to the switch comes into the switch on the right side of the switch. In this position, the column is nearly exactly in the same position the original column mounted in. Again, those green rectangles are the Dakota column mounting points. At this point, the plan was to add a short piece of 1/8" x 1.5" x 5" on top of the dash support on the left side. At that length, the piece I'm adding will fit under the bracket bolted to the brake pedal bracket and the lower dash support on the left, and will extend to just to the right edge of the left side column mount green plastic piece. It can't extend much past the green plastic piece because the ignition switch occupies the space to the right side of the green piece. The bracket on the right side of the column will be much like a mirror image of the left bracket. Its length will only be 3.5" long , because the dash support bends upward to the right side of where the new piece will end. I will have to drill a mounting hole to attach the new piece to the dash support. The volunteer metal piece for the new brackets is the remains of what was originally a length of 2" square tube. Its width was just a couple inches longer then I needed, and it had the advantage of still retaining about 3/8" height of one of its sides. Its almost like its been waiting all this time for just this job! That 3/8" high side wall sits about a 1/2" in front of where the ignition switch ends. With all the mounting holes drilled, and the 3/8" upward bend at the front, it provided me an excellent surface to weld a 1/2" square bar across the front of the two separate pieces, that allows the 2 piece bolt in dash support pieces to be welded together to make a solid lower dash piece. I should have taken a picture of the column bolted in with out the 1/2" square piece laying in front of everything, but i didn't think about that. So here you get to see it with the 1/2" square bar almost in the correct position. The square bar will be level, I did have it clamped into position. When it was all clamped into position, I inserted the gauge panel, so I know its all in the correct position. I'm going to have to slot the column mount bold holes side to side, and I'm probably going to have to enlarge the two bolt holes where the column bracket bolts to the dash support. The welding and slotting will take place tomorrow. The dash support mounting bolt hole on the left side of the new bracket also uses same bolt for the brake pedal bracket, and the bolt that connects the right side dash support to the new bracket will also use the same bolt for a dash support to a firewall brace. I'm slotting the column mounting holes so there is a little side to side adjustment. at this point, I'm pretty happy with the column mounting. The steering shaft rotates very nicely, once the motor runs again, I need to fill the PS. Then the plan shifts to the wiring for the ignition switch, the dimmer switch, and the turn signal, all that is a simple matter of installing the female spade terminal and connect the wires to the terminals. I also will be looking into how the speedometer is wired. It is suppose to be set up to connect to a speed sensor, but it appears there is no power coming into it. I believe I'm going to add turn signal indicators and a high beam indicator light to the instrument cluster, if I can find something locally. By mid next week, the car should be ready to roll again. The fuel gauge also came with a matching sending unit that is suppose to have an adjustable float height. There should be no reason for it to read backwards. While I'm investigating that, I will also correct the gas filling issue, I believe the vent hose was incorrectly mounted.
Gotta love under the dash work lol Makes you appreciate the more fun work. It’s going to be nice when done. Dan
I was lazy today. I got up late (couldn't shut down my mind last night). When I finally rolled out of bed and got moving, I spent the rest of the morning sitting on our porch swing and enjoyed the nice morning with my wife. Today was a bit bitter/sweet for me. We have made the dissension to give our 48 Plymouth to my oldest grandson. When he was just starting school, his mother and him were living at our house. He told me he remembers coming home from school while I was building the car, he said he was amazed to watch it get built. He has loved the car ever since. That car got him involved in cars, and they have become his lifestyle. When we first got the truck roadworthy, and put the coupe up for sale, he tried his best to come up with the money to put a down payment on it and offered to make payments he couldn't afford to make, because he wanted it so bad. The car didn't sell at that time, so we continued to drive it, but those drives have become less and less often the past couple of years. My wife and I have had the discussion concerning the coupe and our grandson several times during those last couple of years. Our conclusion was always the same, his life was too unstable at the time, and adding that car would not be helpful for him and his family. Since we have determined that the wagon is a permanent part of our life now, we are facing a future parking situation at our place (two vehicles parked outside on the gr***, and two vehicles parked in the garage). At the same time my grandson has gotten a much better job as a mechanic at a dealership, has bought a house, and his life has become much more stable (as stable as a 24 YO with a wife, two boys, and a mortgage). During my wife and my conversation on the swing this morning returned to our grandson and the coupe. My wife sent him a text for him to call me,which he did. We had a nice conversation concerning the over all condition of the coupe. At the end of that conversation he found out we were giving him the car. A couple hours later, he arrived to take the car home. At least its going to stay in the family and it will be used and taken care of. I hope they enjoy the car as much as we have. It feels kind of strange to look out at my side yard and not see the coupe sitting where it has sat the last 15 years. On the bright side, I have a parking space reserved for the wagon when it gets out of the garage.
Darn, this makes me all verklempt. Super good for him, super good for both you and your wife. Wow. Is this the son that has the 57 wagon mentioned on page 2? I sure hope he's able to handle all this. EDIT: this is grandson, not son. My confusion. Don't know if I can handle being responsible for this! That car is how I know you, Gene. Here and that mopar site. I'm still sitting on that 40 Plymouth business coupe from so long back. Darn.
This is my daughter's son, he is my oldest grandchild @ 25 years old (26 next month). He is her only biological child (she got married to a guy last year that has a 13 YO daughter). My son, with the 57, has 2 children, the oldest is a daughter that recently turned 20 and a son that will be 13 soon. The coupe was built in 2011, I have driven it 98,000 miles with this body on the ch***is (and 3 years around town before becoming the ch***is donor), I have driven it through 26 different states (my Avatar is the coupe at the summit of the Rocky Mountain National park in 2016). That is the longest I've ever owned a hot rod, and the 2nd longest time I've owned any vehicle (my wife's 04 turbo PT is the longest owned vehicle I've ever had, we bought it in 05). I won't blame you for any of this (unless you want to be attached to it too?) You don't get a p*** on anything else that has anything to do with the wagon.
Good on ya Gene! I did the same with my '65 Karmann Ghia drag racer a few years back. I had lost the compe***ive fire to go racing after my first wife p***ed, and the car had become a dust collector and taking up valuable space. He had helped at the races for years, and works at a VW hot rod shop here in central California. So he is in the scene. I couldn't bring myself to sell it since wife and I had covered a lot of territory racing it. My son was struggling with his own racing project and just breaking parts left and right. (Mostly transaxles). So I said, "Why don't you come get this thing and race it?" All the weak points had been worked out over 20+ plus of racing it. He agreed and came and got it. So now we go to the races as a three generation race team with my 10 year old grandson. You set your grandson on the right path (at least as far as us old hot rod guys are concerned) and the coupe stays in the family and you can continue to enjoy it as well!
That one made me laugh! The boy is a busy man. I needed that today, thanks! I got started on the wagon at around 10 AM this morning. I get the welding, hole slotting, and enlarged one of the dash lower support holes enlarged right off the bat. Then things slowed down a bit, I needed to wire the ignition switch. That proved to be a bit challenging, the diagram I have for the switch wiring is for the bottom of the pigtail, not on the switch itself. To make things more fun, the pigtail has two separate parts to it, a right side and a left side. One side has 5 terminals in two rows tall, 3 spaces wide, with a middle blank space on one row. The other block has 6 terminals 3 rows high, two spaces wide. All this with 6 used terminals, the rest are empty. Can't be that hard, I have to old round switch with a starter post, a battery post, and an ignition post. The battery post has 3 wires on it, the ignition post has 2 wires on it, and the starter only has one wire on it. For some stupid reason, the Dodge FSM decided it would be good to post one side facing one direction, and the other 1/2 facing 90 degrees. They didn't bother to have the two images on the same correct plane either. It was too much for my old mind to grasp very well this morning. I spent a couple hours trying to draw out the correct layout. At some point, a guy just powers one terminal, and move the switch through the positions to see what has power when the switch is off, what has power when the switch is in the on position, and what has power when the switch is in crank position. The look to see if that is close to the wiring diagram in the book. The first round at guessing where to start with the main power was not even close! The second round got me where I thought I wanted to be. In the off position, there were two terminals that were powered, that's good, the main power, and the battery accessories power. I had one wire labeled "Primary Power" on the wire and I had one wire labeled as "Battery Feed" In the on position, both of those terminals had power, and 3 other terminals had power. I had wires labeled "Ignition 1", and two wires labeled "Accessory Fuse". In the start position, all of the above had power, plus one terminal that only had power with the switch in the crank position. I had one wire labeled as "Starter Feed". At that point I was feeling pretty good, lets hook up some wires! I started with "Primary Power" and connected it to one of the always hot terminals. Then I connected the "Starter Feed" thinking that when I twisted the key to the start position, the starter should crank. But it didn't! The starter relay would click, but no starter cranking. Wasn't expecting that! Of course, lets double check everything. Sure enough, there is 12.45 volts to the switch, 12.45 volts to the starter feed wire, and 12.45 volts to the starter relay in the crank position, but no starter action. Thinking! OK, maybe it needs something else powered, lets hook up the other wires on the switch and see if anything happens. I did that, still nothing happening with the starter. Maybe the relay bit the big one, I have a couple of known good relays around here someplace... about 30 minutes later I found my bag of known good relays, and replace the one that was hanging there that worked when I backed the car in the shop. It didn't work either, neither did the second relay from the bag of known good relays. I put the original one back on, you know I had to try it again, nope, still didn't work. I just realized that the book shows there is a ground terminal on the switch, and that terminal never has any power. Maybe I should hook up a ground wire? This is the point where you say, what else can I do today? Lets look at the gauge set instructions to see if I can learn anything there. The speedometer has no function, and the fuel gauge reads backwards. The instructions clearly say someone either bought a speedometer that you program by setting pins that are located under a cover, OR someone bought a one ****on programmable speedometer for vehicles with electronic speed sensors. This speedometer has no cover for the pins, but it does have the 6 wire plug for the speed sensor, I just couldn't find the ****on for programing it. I had the time to follow the wires, sure enough, the ****on is mounted on the bottom of the dash. The instruction manual tells you the programing process (you need a registered 1 mile space to set it up), it also tells you that if it isn't done correctly, the speedometer will not function! I suspect I know why the speedometer doesn't work. That is very useful information. Lets look into the fuel gauge operation. It comes with an adjustable float, and provides info on how to set that up. Once the float set up is complete, you have to orientate the direction the float operates in compared to how the mounting tab is positioned. There are 4 options on the float arm direction, if the direction is incorrect, the float will read backwards! The directions for that setup is as clear as mud, but maybe when I'm looking at it, I can figure out how to change the direction. Because right now its reading backwards, so it must be 180 degrees off. There may be hope to use the gauge set until I can get a set of real gauges. In my search for the bag of relays, I also found a set of 2 green lights I can use for dash mounted turn indicators and a blue one for when the bright lights are on. I'm adding that to the to do list, after we see if the gauges will work. About that time I realized that the gauge cluster is out of the car, the gauge set has a volt meter in it, can the absence of the volt meter keep the starter from functioning? The last thing I did before calling it a day was to wire in the dimmer switch. I will have to make a rod for the dimmer switch on the column. The original is MIA, I've made them before, I just have to pull the cover off to get the correct length, put the bends on the 10" (or so) length of 1/8" rod in the correct positions, and install it before replacing the cover. The only thing on the goal list for today that I didn't get accomplished was wiring the 9 wires for the turn signals and horn. I was originally planning on using **** connectors, but I think I'm going to pick up 9 pairs of terminals so some day when I might need to replace the switch it will be easier to do. Before I kill the last dog on this mess, I might paint the red steering column and the panel the gauges are in, a dark blue, gray (seats carpet and interior panels will all be gray, but the current dash is dark blue), or a semi gloss black (my wife will pick out the color). I have a DR appointment tomorrow (he thinks I need to see him every 6 months). After that it will be the stop to pick up the wiring terminals before attacking the wagon again. Tomorrows goals, wire the turn signal switch. Add a ground to the starter switch(?) Install the dash. Make the car run. Fill up the PS and work the air out of the system. Put the tires back on the car, to make it movable under its own power. The fuel tank issues are next on the list (tank size, sending unit issue, address the slow to refuel), that may happen before this week ends. That will be followed by the tail pipe issue and programing the speedometer. Then hopefully miles of re-evaluation until the cold comes.
Neutral safety ground for relay? Speedo and fuel = RTFM wins! I'd check for the pigtail. might make things a lot easier, especially if it has instructions! Just looked and couldn't find a listing for one!
The car actually has a very old round headlight switch, it may even be original to the car. Everything on it works correctly. for a brief few seconds I thought about "upgrading" it to a more modern headlight switch, but then I remembered your challenge, and then I remembered the challenges I had with headlight switches years ago. I have decided that maybe replacing the old round switch with a modern one may not really be an upgrade, so I'm going to stick with the old switch. The thought of a neutral safety switch causing my problem has crossed my mind, but when I can hear the starter relay clicking, that tells me the starter should be cranking. Generally, when the relay clicks, all the other safety's have been met. At this point, I think I'm going to add the ground wire the switch has a position for, and the service manual implies is suppose to be there (the original style switch probably was grounded through its mounting in the dash), then install the dash, under the thought that maybe the volt meter circuit needs to be completed as well, and see where I am.
Can't come up with a good answer for the ground. I know following circuits on the factory wiring diagrams is an exercise, but it should answer this. You used to be able to find this stuff online, but that's all gone away in the past ten years.
Well, today was a day full of interruptions! The ten minutes I spent talking to the Dr in his room took over an hour of waiting. After all of that, it appears I'm still alive and doing OK. When I got home, I needed to pick up some more wire terminals. At some point in the near future, we are going to put some cheap carpet (automotive carpet @ 58 cents a square foot) in the car from Menard's (also the cheapest place to buy wire terminals in town). We picked up a few samples right after we got the car, and were considering a different possible color. We will also pickup some spray paint to paint the dash, so we were going to look at what colors are currently available. Getting my wife to move to go to Menard's killed off another hour (for 15 minutes in the store). Then of course it was lunch time.... Finally at about 1pm, I was able to walk into the garage to start the day. Then the phone started ringing, 4 different times, about 20 minutes apart (I was expecting a call, but it was none of those calls). Who knows that interruptions are not a good thing when you are trying to do wiring on a car? Around 3, I got the call I was expecting, which resulted in a face to face conversation in my shop. That was the first time the guy saw the wagon (he knew I had the coupe and the truck, then he realized the coupe was not there), so you know the intended conversation got delayed. After he left, I got about an hour, uninterrupted, before the neighbor wanted to talk with my wife and me about a fence he wants to put up. After he left, I finally got the remaining 2 wires from the turn signal switch connected to the car. Through the course of the day I did manage to take the gauge cluster apart, drilled a couple of holes for the turn indicators, and I painted the bright aluminum panel the gauges were mounted in a matte blue. I believe that will make the gauges easier to see. Though I intended to re***emble the gauge cluster, it didn't happen today. I also wired the dimmer switch and the horn. I did put the battery charger on the battery for an hour. All my jacking around yesterday, testing for power, pulled it down to 12.3 volts. I did add the ground wire to the ignition switch, reading the manual again, I did see that the ground wire was for the starter terminal ground (don't know how I missed that the first dozen times). I did not check the starter function. When I got those last two wires on the turn signal switch wired, I called it a day. Goals for tomorrow, ***emble the gauge cluster. Wire the two turn signal indicators, wire the dash, install the dash. See of the motor runs, the turn signals, and dimmer switch all function. When all that works, I need to fill the power steering and bleed the air from the rack. Then I can put the front tires back on the car and take it off the jack stands. The fuel tank area it next on the list. Then its rear view camera and mirrors time. Modify the tailpipes might slip in here. Program the speedometer, and put some miles on it. I'm hoping to be at the end of this list by the end of this week!
So, sometime through my day yesterday I thought I should add a couple of indicator lights for the turn signals. I knew I had some around here someplace, and I stumbled across them pretty quickly, given how the rest of that day was going. So I drilled the holes in the gauge panel for the indicator lights. Then I discovered they didn't work! Kind of fit in with the rest of the day. This morning I was plugging away at different things with the dash project, and decided maybe I should see if I could but a pair of small lights I could use as indicators. my wife and I went out for lunch, while we were out, I checked with 2 different parts stores. Neither stocked such things anymore, but as I was driving past the local Auto Zone, I though maybe there was a chance for the small lights to be there. There was exactly two small lights that would work, but one was red, and the other was amber, of course one of each was all they had in stock. I asked how long it would take them to get a second light of either color. The concept of me wanting two lights the same color (either color was OK) escaped the young lady. After the third round of explaining I wanted two lights the same color, and I didn't care which color, all I wanted was to get a match for either of the ones she already had in stock. I wanted the extra light as fast as possible. Once she got a grasp on the situation, she recovered quickly. She could have either color in the store by 4 or 4:30 today. I picked the amber light, and paid for both of them. She got my number and told me she would call as soon as the light was in the store. It wasn't in at 5pm, but did arrive by 5:30. The lights are here, wired, and installed, and the instrument cluster is back in the dash, and the column is bolted in place! That blue sure makes the gauges easier to see. I suspect all the rest of the metal inside of the car is going to end up that blue (it is a matte color). I hooked up the battery. The starter still doesn't crank. Something strange is going on here. With the switch in the off position, the gauges are still powered. That was enough for today! I'm reaching out for help. This is the terminal end of the ignition switch (an old one with the mounting brackets in the wrong position), its not a good picture, but should be good enough to do the job at hand. The old round switch had 6 wires on it. One wire was on the starter post. (3) heavy duty 12 gauge red wires were on the ignition post. (2) 14 gauge black wires were on the accessories post. I just need to figure out which terminals the wires should be put on. I have cut the ends off each wire and installed the female spade terminals that fit nicely on the new switch terminals. If my coupe was still here, I could just look at how I wired that switch!
The Jalopy Journal
