A round of beer for everyone... drinks on me. THANK YOU Must read (LONG)
10-31-2003, 05:48 AM
#1
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Member Since: Oct 2003
Location: Charlotte NC
Posts: 4,761
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
St. Jude Donor '05
CI VI Veteran
A round of beer for everyone... drinks on me. THANK YOU Must read (LONG)
As I may have mentioned, I've had my father's 35th anniv. Corvette in my shop getting painted for the last 3-4 months. I made him pay for the parts he wanted replaced (at my cost, over 4K, seat covers, carpet, all weatherstrippings, door panels, etc, etc..) The paint job (which I would have normally charged about 7K for) was free.
I told him that the car would be ready this weekend and we would make arrangements to swap cars (I loaned him my elcamino, he lives in Fla. and I live in NC)
Apparently he and my mother got into a squabble and in a haste, he got pissed and drove to NC Tues. night. (I guess to cool down, get away and get his car.) The problem is he had to return to Fla. by 9am Friday morning (today) to sign a contract.
Sooooo, we're just about done and once he arrived, at some point while we were all working on the car, the dash lights went out. I tapped on the gauge cluster and they reappeared. We were almost done when I realize no one cut the holes in the new trim panels for the speakers. (by this time, it's 8pm Thursday... it takes about 11 hours from my place to his)
OH poopie. Okay, so we undo it, slide a piece of metal behind the panel and I start to measure and trim.... great, got it done, works fine....
So we clean up a few things, say our goodbyes and he's off.... He backs the car up out of the shop, turns on his headlights and pulls back in. It's pitch black outside and he says he has no gauges...
Damn, that gauge cluster again. I tap on it with no success. We weigh our options, he could take a penlight with him and once he gets to highway speeds, he'd have the cruise on.. he'd just have to periodically check the gas tank. Not a good idea but it would allow him to get home on time and fix it later... OR (God, I hate or) I could pull the cluster out and see if my brothers on Corvette forum were right... they said a bad connection on the board.
Well of course being too **** to just leave it, I pull the cluster. Take the whole thing apart and found a burned out connection. I tried to clean it but it had heated up and made the plastic holder brittle so it broke immediately when I touched it. I opted to just solder the pin and holder together.
We half assed put it together and plugged it in... IT WORKS... my family on Corvette Forum was right, it worked... great, now let's hurry and get this together. So, I put it all back together, click the ignition and watch the computer display it's light show on the dash.
Great... done, finished, he's outta here.
But wait, I start the car and the dash isn't shining any more. Damn, what gives, now it's almost 11pm, he's gonna be late and we're no further ahead than we were an hour ago. Well, I guess it's back to the penlight trick.
I wipe the dash down and bing, bada, boom, the lights are on... WTF, I ask. And then, I realize that when I was wiping the dash, I spun the dim control down... LOL, ROFLMAO.
Of course, he didn't think it was funny. I just wanted to say thanks for the responses to my problem the other night.
A :cheers: to you all.
Mark
PS. (and yes, I had tried the dimmer to make sure that wasn't the problem originally... :eek:
[Modified by C4 Newbie, 5:51 AM 10/31/2003]
I told him that the car would be ready this weekend and we would make arrangements to swap cars (I loaned him my elcamino, he lives in Fla. and I live in NC)
Apparently he and my mother got into a squabble and in a haste, he got pissed and drove to NC Tues. night. (I guess to cool down, get away and get his car.) The problem is he had to return to Fla. by 9am Friday morning (today) to sign a contract.
Sooooo, we're just about done and once he arrived, at some point while we were all working on the car, the dash lights went out. I tapped on the gauge cluster and they reappeared. We were almost done when I realize no one cut the holes in the new trim panels for the speakers. (by this time, it's 8pm Thursday... it takes about 11 hours from my place to his)
OH poopie. Okay, so we undo it, slide a piece of metal behind the panel and I start to measure and trim.... great, got it done, works fine....
So we clean up a few things, say our goodbyes and he's off.... He backs the car up out of the shop, turns on his headlights and pulls back in. It's pitch black outside and he says he has no gauges...
Damn, that gauge cluster again. I tap on it with no success. We weigh our options, he could take a penlight with him and once he gets to highway speeds, he'd have the cruise on.. he'd just have to periodically check the gas tank. Not a good idea but it would allow him to get home on time and fix it later... OR (God, I hate or) I could pull the cluster out and see if my brothers on Corvette forum were right... they said a bad connection on the board.
Well of course being too **** to just leave it, I pull the cluster. Take the whole thing apart and found a burned out connection. I tried to clean it but it had heated up and made the plastic holder brittle so it broke immediately when I touched it. I opted to just solder the pin and holder together.
We half assed put it together and plugged it in... IT WORKS... my family on Corvette Forum was right, it worked... great, now let's hurry and get this together. So, I put it all back together, click the ignition and watch the computer display it's light show on the dash.
Great... done, finished, he's outta here.
But wait, I start the car and the dash isn't shining any more. Damn, what gives, now it's almost 11pm, he's gonna be late and we're no further ahead than we were an hour ago. Well, I guess it's back to the penlight trick.
I wipe the dash down and bing, bada, boom, the lights are on... WTF, I ask. And then, I realize that when I was wiping the dash, I spun the dim control down... LOL, ROFLMAO.
Of course, he didn't think it was funny. I just wanted to say thanks for the responses to my problem the other night.
A :cheers: to you all.
Mark
PS. (and yes, I had tried the dimmer to make sure that wasn't the problem originally... :eek:
[Modified by C4 Newbie, 5:51 AM 10/31/2003]
10-31-2003, 07:09 AM
#2
Drifting
Re: A round of beer for everyone... drinks on me. THANK YOU Must read (C4 Newbie)
:thumbs:
This forum is better than chocolate.
"Spun the dimmer control down..." Yea, I flipped on my metric readout switch . When I started the vette, I thought GREAT!! 400lbs of oil pressure?! What did I screw up now?! :lolg:
This forum is better than chocolate.
"Spun the dimmer control down..." Yea, I flipped on my metric readout switch . When I started the vette, I thought GREAT!! 400lbs of oil pressure?! What did I screw up now?! :lolg:
10-31-2003, 10:35 AM
#7
Le Mans Master
Re: A round of beer for everyone... drinks on me. THANK YOU Must read (ductape)
Hey, I'd like to buy you a beer.I'am having the same problems on my cluster
lights.Rocky Ellingson suggested the same thing.Now all I have to do is figure
how to unplug the cluster-it's really tight in there-I mean no space to grab hold of the plug ins.
Thanks
Rick Lambert
10-31-2003, 11:49 AM
#8
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Member Since: Oct 2003
Location: Charlotte NC
Posts: 4,761
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
St. Jude Donor '05
CI VI Veteran
Re: A round of beer for everyone... drinks on me. THANK YOU Must read (rick lambert)
Rick,
Grab the cluster with your left hand. Take a long blade screwdriver and pry the plug up against the cluster, gently.
It takes a couple of minutes but with a little finesse, it's not too bad. It was harder pulling the cluster out than actually unplugging it. (stupid blinking alarm light was in the way)
It is so nice to see that thing gone. Unfortunately, by the time we got it done, it was dark but I'll see if I can get him to send some pics.
Mark
Grab the cluster with your left hand. Take a long blade screwdriver and pry the plug up against the cluster, gently.
It takes a couple of minutes but with a little finesse, it's not too bad. It was harder pulling the cluster out than actually unplugging it. (stupid blinking alarm light was in the way)
It is so nice to see that thing gone. Unfortunately, by the time we got it done, it was dark but I'll see if I can get him to send some pics.
Mark
10-31-2003, 11:52 AM
#9
Melting Slicks
Re: A round of beer for everyone... drinks on me. THANK YOU Must read (C4 Newbie)
Congrats!! I know what it's like to feel a good fix in at the last minute. :party:
10-31-2003, 09:17 PM
#11
Race Director
Re: A round of beer for everyone... drinks on me. THANK YOU Must read (edsalinas)
:lolg: great story, thanks for sharing
10-31-2003, 10:27 PM
#12
Team Owner
Member Since: May 2002
Location: San Diego , CA Double Yellow DirtBags 1985..Z51..6-speed
Posts: 24,337
Likes: 0
Received 17 Likes
on
16 Posts
Re: A round of beer for everyone... drinks on me. THANK YOU Must read (bizaro1234)
Cool! :cool:
Please ship beer to:
1022 Del Rio
San Luis Obispo, CA
93405 :D
Please ship beer to:
1022 Del Rio
San Luis Obispo, CA
93405 :D
11-01-2003, 08:15 AM
#13
Race Director
Member Since: Mar 1999
Location: I live in my own little world
Posts: 18,226
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
NC Events Coordinator
Re: A round of beer for everyone... drinks on me. THANK YOU Must read (C4 Newbie)
...I realize that when I was wiping the dash, I spun the dim control down... LOL, ROFLMAO.
11-01-2003, 09:05 AM
#14
Drifting
Re: A round of beer for everyone... drinks on me. THANK YOU Must read (C4 Newbie)
Great story! This forum has also helped me out a few times! I'd be lost without it.
:cheers:
:cheers:
11-01-2003, 09:36 AM
#15
Team Owner
Member Since: Sep 2002
Location: OBAMA IS HITLER
Posts: 22,209
Likes: 0
Received 11 Likes
on
10 Posts
Re: A round of beer for everyone... drinks on me. THANK YOU Must read (KY Vette)
Great story! This forum has also helped me out a few times! I'd be lost without it. :cheers:
