My heart goes out to her.

 

Very sorry for the terrible news. Hang in there bro. -Regis

 

UPDATE: "It is finished".

Yesterday---the Funeral------ is over....

Today is Thursday, I think.....

Thanks for all the kind thoughts and prayers.

 

A few more packages arrived at my home--per my sister-in-law's phone call/collection of the packages (my wife and I are staying with my daughter in her home/city until she is well enough to function on her own)......

I've been working on my son-in-laws '86 Trans Am to get it back on the street----he was so sick that he couldn't finish the repairs that he started in order to sell it/buy an '82 T-top Vette near my home.

With all the sadness, I forgot what I ordered online....I won't bother checking purchase history, so I'll be surprised when I open the boxes....she told me to go home and get the packages today.

 

I installed the new tach cable....indexed the distributor to keep the cable from binding...got the engine chugging enough to set the timing....the lifters need adjusting, but it idles decently considering!!

That was as far as I got today....We're at my daughter's house again.

 

So.........I'm sitting on the floorboard of the car (no seats yet) in the garage.......

I turn on the key & shift into reverse......NO back-up lights reflecting off of garage door-----RATTTS!

The fuse is good....test light lites up at back-up switch at both terminals on A/T shifter.......

Wiring harness behind driver's seat---Light green wire----lights up test light.....

Frustration is arounf 99.8% by now...........

I get myself out of car......look carefully at P.O.'s 1970-something rear tail-light panel............................




NO BACKUP LIGHTS at all!




I'ma get a hat that says.................................... ...........



ROOKIE !

 

Check the bulbs. Also operate the switch manually. It took quite a bit of adjusting to get my 4 speed to work correctly.

If it does not light up when moving the switch manually I would check the grounds. The most important ground for the rear section is the same location where the ant. grounds to the frame. Ground is located on the driver's side frame rail on the inside. Make sure you have the star washers or the ground may not make solid connection. There is a second ground by the license plate light. Then the ground plain connections continue from light to light. on the studs of the light housings.

Hope this helps.

My condolences on your recent loss. My sister lost her husband this year and we lost our mom this year. 2014 is going to be a better year!

Bill

 

@ 1974ta.......thanks for the wiring help....I'll make sure to set it up per your description.......

When I install the back-up lights......Rookie-Me!

The previous owner did the ???rear-cap???? swap & never installed backup lights........

Since they weren't a hight priority on my list, I never realized they were missing (I'm just glad that it even had tail-lights!}

And I'm sorry to hear about your family....it makes the Thanksgiving & Christmas season rough to handle....my daughter said "No Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations!"--just a quiet day with family and close friends (I know exactly how she feels)


EDIT: After sulking for a while today, I decided to unwrap the aftermarket seat covers and let them "Stretch out"----undo a few dozen wrinkles from being ship....

Original torn/worn/hard black upper cover next to new "satin red" cover......






Upper new cover is pulled over upper seat foam to get a few kinks out of it...and...rear view of passenger's new upper cover.......






Lower seat cushion with new red cover pulled over it to remove a few wrinkles.......





I'll have to develop more "muscle" before fitting the new seat covers---they're some tight rascals.....


Well......time to buy a pair of "hog-nose" pliers/rings tomorrow....might as well try doing a little "something" to keep my mind busy.......

 

I lost interest in stretching the seat covers after chasing down a new pair of upholstery pliers.

So....Im back under the hood for a while...........

The previous owner removed the fan shroud/fan & clutch....... and installed a quality electric "puller" cooling fan.....I can live with that since the Vette is a rescue-car with about half of the OEM parts removed long ago.

I also had a spare pusher-fan hanging on the garage pegboard....so it's going on the front of the radiator....pay special attention to the "heavy-duty" radiator support.....(a new support is down on the to-UNDO-list....LOL



Since the P.O. never wired in the fan, I spent a couple hours chasing down a 185* coolant-fan-switch, a 30 amp relay, and 12 ga. wire, & wiring connectors.

Now I need to study pappawana's wiring diagram to find a good key-on 12V wire to feed the relay input, and a source for battery voltage to feed the electric fan. (The starter solenoid-to-horn relay connection looks like a good battery source for the constant 12V supply).

Now.......................Where's that wiring diagram ???

 

With my A.D.D......somehow I managed to get under the hood of my '34 pickup while intending to work on the Vette.

I removed the 130 amp alternator which was struggling to keep up with the loaded accessories/A-C/Amplifier/Coolant Fans/12V Air Pump.

The new 160 amp alternator went into the pickup...I turned everything on.....the new alternator didn't even blink!

The 130 amp is going into the project-car tonight when I return home. I'll have to swap the serpentine drive pulley with the V-belt pulley from the well-used '68 Vette alternator.....add a spacer to get the alternator pulley aligned...modify the alternator wiring....add a rear support bracket to the alternator....

But it will all be fun.....since it's raining for the next two days.


Pics of the swap tonight!

 

Photobucket is going bizerk! What's with the huge photos?!

The voltage regulator had 4 fried wires so I removed them and clipped the fried ends off...

The alternator harness was in a similar condition at the connections.......






The old alternator & the "new" 130 amp unit out of my '36 pickup....






I found a nice chrome alternator bracket under 4 different layers of paint once the old alternator was out of the car...






The pulleys have been swapped (I set the serpentine pulley on the old alternator just to keep track of it).....






The 160 (OOOPS.....EDIT: 130)amp Alt. is in place....I did flip the chrome bracket to move the alternator away from the tall valve covers and lower it about 4 inches because the bottom of the alternator was rubbing the corner of the valve cover---It also sat "too high" for my liking. It is now a safe distance above/away from the exhaust manifold.

I will wait until tomorrow to buy a new belt & re-do the wiring harness---That will be "lots of f-u-n" !

 

(Happy) Thanksgiving Everyone !

Happiness is sparse in our home right now...so everyone enjoy the holiday for us.

We're still in shock about our Son-in-law's passing away!

We'll bring their kids to Thanksgiving Dinner at my mother & father-in-laws to help them feel a little better----but my daughter wants some "Alone-Time" and will stay in her town at her home.

The convertible project gets the next few days Off....the A.D.D. had me under the car pulling the gas tank sending unit yesterday to put a filter on the suction pipe.....it helped get my mind off the bad things that happened to my Son-in-law last week (a great guy and Friend!).

A Build Thread...Who would have thought that Life would intervene?

 

We're still getting our daughter and the two grandkids settled into a leased house near our home (we moved them from their hometown since our son-in-law is interred next to our son a couple miles from us).

I may try to reinstall the tank unit today......maybe....then I'll be able to run the engine long enough to adjust the lifters/carb/test the "new" 130amp alternator install....

Later in the day we'll go see my daughter and the kids.....we'll take her to a local restaurant---she hasn't been eating much at all the last 17 days.

 

Do you know what happens when you re-use a 45 year old tank rubber seal?

Nothing happens.....................

until you pour 5 gallons of gasoline into the nice, clean tank!

I would have taken a pic of the "surprise", but I was too busy grabbing empty buckets.


EDIT: The lower support for the gas tank looked nasty....so it came out for cleaning....






The gas tank didn't look any better than the support.....so it came out and got a good scrubbing.....then a couple coats of "never paint a gas tank"........Here's the 20 foot---"it looks new"-----photo.....






The tanks support is rescued and will get new anti-rattle strips.....




Well....at least a little work was done on the car today.

 

My wife said something today that shocked me in a way.....

"You need a BIG garage for your old truck/the Vette/and the Harley..........

and I need a stable and land for a new Palomino colt that I've always wanted. Let's sell this (suburb) house....get a few acres and build a shop and a stable..........and downsize the new house!"

(I'm getting a "HOME FOR SALE" sign tomorrow.)

 

Put new seat foam on at the same time so the new covers will fit nicer.

I found an easier way to get the bottoms on. Put the new foam on and be sure to add some burlap or fabric of some kind under the foam on top of the metal wires so the wires don't cut into the foam. Put the cover on over the foam and pull it as tight and square as you can. Then turn it over and put it on the ground. Cut a piece of wood to go between the frame on the bottom of the seat. Then have someone stand on top of the seat on the wood so the foam compresses and it is easy to attach the cover fabric with your hog rings. Turn the completed bottom over and done nice and tight.

 

minitech......You've "bailed me out"......much thanks!!!!!!!

The state of mind that I am now in.....I can use all the tech-tips that I can get.....

(I actually had plans that the car would be roadworthy & State-Inspected (per Louisiana law) a month ago)

Now I'm not "afraid" of finishing those seats---they've been "started" for a month now....

the interior will finally be finished once the seats are re-installed!

 

In the meantime......a few pics of my "Heinz57" Corvette on jackstands for the last few months.

The interior is "almost finished"....the seat covers are still on the pegboard .....







The cleaned gas tank is still waiting to be re-installed.....






The paint is in need of a wet-sanding/clearcoat (along with replacing that wrong=clip) until summer arrives in '14......








Well.....there's plenty of room under that hood for an air cleaner.....



Don't be concerned about all the "gaps"...nothing is bolted in place (for easy removal to enable my A.D.D)

I'm just glad to be able to "rebuild it", even though it's a neglected car.


At least some photos were taken---even if nothing else was accomplished today!

 

did it used to be a 4 speed car? I saw it has the small brake pedal, also that thing is really coming along, great work!!

 

Bad news/Good news!

The leaking gas tank seals, rubber fuel lines, and in-line filter have been replaced and leak-tested/the sending unit works correctly....the tank is re-installed...the carb is no longer starving for fuel.

The starter was dragging/the solenoid was failing to engage---I found two bad splices in the yellow starter wire & one bad splice in the heavy purple starter wire in the harness under some re-taped areas.

I repaired both wires----the solenoid engages consistently now....however, the starter still drags badly.

I installed a heavy-duty frame-to-starter ground cable---the starter spins the engine perfectly now.

The coolant fan sensor works correctly at 185-190*.....now that I can run the engine for 10-15 minutes at a time without being concerned about overheating.

The alternator wiring is finally converted/the new fan belt is installed....the 130 amp alternator (from my '36 SBC truck) is working perfectly now. I left the voltage regulator on the inner fender for nostalgia...LOL.

That's enough for one day.