Dateline - Feb 28 - Mar 3, 2013 - I had planned to take two days off of work to go fishing with my buddy Cal starting Wednesday night the 27th, but weather being what it is here in the Pacific Northwest, we ended up holding off until Thursday night. So I was able to work on the car on Thursday all day. We left Thrusday night and got rained out, so I was back home on Friday around 3:00 pm and got time on the car then too. I also worked all day Saturday and part of Sunday. So I got a lot done.
So, what was on the agenda? Finishing off the wiring, of course. So over the three days, I finished:
- Interior lights under back seats and switch on the control panel
- Rear window defroster. I got the wires ran but they are not going to work unless I replace the rear window. The defroster in the window is shot. I still wanted to wire everything though, just in case.
- Fuel tank selection switch
- New rear view mirror with map lights
- Washer pump
- Hazard lights
The last two were the trickiest. The washer pump required some finesse. I wanted to use the "Wash" tab that is already on the GM Wiper/Cruse Control stock. I knew that I could not activate the wipers like the GM version does, but I wanted to use the wash tab to power the wash pump. Unfortunately, I could not use any of the existing wiring on the GM component because of the way the modern systems multiplex signals across the wires. So, how to fix the problem? This is where a little ingenuity came into play. When you push on the washer tab, it rotates the outer housing of the stock. So, I mounted a small toggle switch at the base of the stock that is activated by a raised section I added to the housing. Turn the housing, the raised area moves up and activates the switch. Let go and the housing goes back to neutral and the switch shuts off! And it all fits below the nice fiberglass housing I created last spring, almost like I planned it that way!
The other tricky part was the hazard lights. In the original car, the hazard lights have their own circuit including their own flasher unit, that is controlled by a switch on the dash. I wanted to use the hazard light switch that is part of the GM Turn Signal control that I grafted to the car. Well, I thought this would work pretty easily with the wiring that I had already grafted to the original wiring harness. But, when I hooked everything up, including two turn signal lights, I found out that the hazard lights worked fine when I pressed the switch, but when I used the turn signals, both turn signals came on! I was getting crossover through the hazard circuit! So, I made a run to Radio Shack and got two high power diodes and soldered then to the left and right legs of the hazard lights so that the current would not move back through the circuit. Voila! It works like a champ!
What's left? Wire for NOX system, C-pillar lights, On/Off and Starter Switches, Center Indicator stack (still need to etch circuit boards, solder LED's and set up in car), full system check, wire bundle clean-up, radio Installation (need to do after all the cleanup and center console face is done) and final switch wiring (need to do once I have the center console face is done), then another full system check. I know I keep saying this, but I'm getting close to running out of wiring to do!
After working on the car all day, I needed to take a break in the evenings, so I decided to work on the center console face mold (yes, a "break" to me means I'm not physically working ON THE CAR and can sit in my living room and watch TV while working!). Late last year I poured the plaster mold for the center console from a foam and plasticine buck (see picture of foam buck here: http://www.leapingv8s.blogspot.com/2011/12/great-movement-forward.html). The plaster cast needed some work to get it smooth enough for casting, so I spend a couple of evenings (about four hours) sanding and filling to get it smooth. I have a couple of changes I need to make because I didn't originally plan to have a +12 volt power plug (e.g. cigar lighter), a USB port and the On/Off and Start buttons. So I'm modeling those in plasticine adding those to the mold. So, I figure in a couple of weeks I will be ready to lay down the fiberglass!
So, a couple of extra days has lead to a lot getting done!
