John S's Journal

Got the last of the perimeter glued up this morning and then bonded around all of the gauges and switches with some of the 3M adhesive as the Gorilla Glue application was a failure. Clamped up with the plywood jig that I made and let it set for a couple hours. After that it was time to get the Exacto knife out and cut out all of the vinyl for the gauges and switches.
Unplugged them all from the harness after getting some reference photos for reinstall and got most of them installed. The oil pressure gauge was the trickiest of the bunch because of all of the foam and the way the bezel tabs get folded over the metal frame. Had to use an awl to pick away at the foam under the vinyl in order to compress the bezel enough to get the tabs folded over. Not happy with the way the bezel looks after brutalized it getting it in place. Hoping to find a decent replacement before I install the dash.

Still need to fit the small stuff. Alt. Light, turn indicator lights, high beam indicator, fan switch, choke handle, the heater & vent controls and the little metal buttons above those control knobs. Looking good so far though.

Started last night but got frustrated with the DAP Wellwood contact cement. The brush applicator kept falling apart and I wasn’t thrilled with the bond either. Started along the top around the stud locations and learned a thing or two. Definitely need to work in small sections both for ease of shaping the vinyl over the edge and also a paper punch is a good thing to use around the stud areas. I couldn’t find ours initially but it was much better when my wife came home and found it in her sewing kit and not in the desk where it used to reside. Helps to punch a hole in the area on the back where the stud locations are and then cut the slit from there that allows you to wrap the tag ends around behind the studs.

Decided to go in search of some 3M adhesive and found some black Super Weather Strip and Gasket adhesive in a tube. Bought some small acid brushes to spread the cement. Game changer. Dries quickly and bonds great. Working around the bottom edge in the center to start. Again, in small sections and then using the washers and new 1/8” short aluminum rivets to hold down the vinyl tabs. Ends are a little tricky but manageable. Saving the steering column area for last. Also, the fascia glue up with the plywood jig worked well as far as aligning the pad but the Gorilla Glue wasn’t as strong as I was hoping. Directions said spray one surface for workability or both surfaces for a quicker bond. I just sprayed the metal fascia thinking the jig glue up would secure it until dry and that it would be messy spraying the back of the pad and then lining up the bolts. Next time I’d spray both surfaces with emphasis around the gauge holes. I’ll need to use some of the 3M adhesive to bond around the edges but that should be ok. I’ll do that last and then clamp it to the jig again overnight.

After discovering that I needed to fix a toasted brown wire that ran from behind the console up into the main loom behind the dash, I knew it was time to remove the dash. It came with one of those plastic dash caps and it was loose so it obviously had a badly cracked dash beneath so I figured I couldn’t make it any worse. After some geriatric gymnastics, I managed to get it pulled up and off the studs to get at the various gauges and discovered some very crispy white wires on the tach so all in all it was a blessing in disguise. Removed gauges one at a time after taking some pics for reference and then plugged the wires back onto the gauges.

With the dash out now I could assess the state of affairs in the loom. Decided to tackle the burnt brown wire first so started removing the dried out blue tape at the console and on up to the brown wire cluster on the right side behind the pillow part of the dash. Dead wire had fused to some of the other wires but was able to separate individual wires to see that no other wires needed repair. A little electrical tape on a few where the insulation was thin just to play it safe.Clipped the soldered end where the brown wires were joined and replaced the burnt one. Soldered, heat shrink and a big wire nut for added measure. Wrapped new blue tape over all of the wire from console to the firewall end behind the wiper motor.

On to the crispy tach wires next. Peeled back the blue tape to sort out how far back and where the two individual wires ran. One to the coil across the dash and out through the firewall to passenger side. The other to a multiple bullet connection on the driver side. Fished a couple spare white wires out of my stash and soldered in a couple of repair sections, heat shrink, and re-wrapped the rest of the loom from the other repair area all the way to the driver side. Done.

This stuff was done a week or so ago and the thought was that I’d re-glue the cap back on and be done but it was such a gooey mess to try to clean up just to put a half-ass fix on so the thought process changed to sourcing a new pad and a few other goodies to put the dash pad to it’s former glory. Pillow dash detractors will argue it was never considered glorious but I rather like the fact it was only used for four production years. That in addition to it being a one year only split bumper car kind of makes it a little more unique. Next journal entry will detail the dash pad replacement learnings and installation.

Now that I know that the clutch work and all that followed was a success and after a couple of short test drives, I figured it was time to see if I could get it smoothed out. Checked and adjusted valves first and then re-checked. I had done a quick check with a timing light after the initial test drive but thought I’d have another look. Disconnected vacuum line at the dizzy and plugged, fired it up and had the idle about 850 rpm’s but noticed the timing was too far retarded. Set it at 20 degs. BTDC. Got the caliper out and used the end gauge to check jet levels. Rear carb was quite a bit low, .530 below the bridge vs. .750 on the front. Set them both to .700 to start and went for a longer ride since it is insured and registration renewal sent in to DMV. Filled the tank but now shows around 3/4 full so that needs a look.

Running much better now so decided to focus on putting the console back in and wiring switches and lights up. Hazards weren’t working when I bought the car and had it towed home. At the time, I put a battery in and confirmed it was going to be a worthwhile project so it went right into the garage for a clutchectomy and lots of might as well jobs. Got the hazard switch wired up but fused brown wire to the switch was dead. Further investigation and the wire is toast up into the loom behind the dash. The PO had a cobbled up stereo installation in the console. Now I know why the radio didn’t work and the hazards as well. So it’s dash removal time.

Now that I know that the clutch work and all that followed was a success and after a couple of short test drives, I figured it was time to see if I could get it smoothed out. Checked and adjusted valves first and then re-checked. I had done a quick check with a timing light after the initial test drive but thought I’d have another look. Disconnected vacuum line at the dizzy and plugged, fired it up and had the idle about 850 rpm’s but noticed the timing was too far retarded. Set it at 20 digs. BTDC. Got the vernier caliper out and used the end gauge to check jet levels. Rear carb was quite a bit low, .530 below the bridge vs. .750 on the front. Set them both to .700 to start and went for a longer ride since it is insured and registration renewal sent in to DMV. Filled the tank but now shows around 3/4 full so that needs a look.

Running much better now so decided to focus on putting the console back in and wiring switches and lights up. Hazards weren’t working when I bought the car and had it towed home. At the time, I put a battery in and confirmed it was going to be a worthwhile project so it went right into the garage for a clutchectomy and lots of might as well jobs. Got the hazard switch wired up but fused brown wire to the switch was dead. Further investigation and the wire is toast up into the loom behind the dash. The PO had a cobbled up stereo installation in the console. Now I know why the radio didn’t work and the hazards as well. So it’s dash removal time.

Got the engine and gearbox back in a couple of weeks ago. New slave cylinder mounted and bled. Tried to bleed it the conventional way but couldn’t get all of the air out. Purchased a couple of 60 ml syringes at the local hardware store and reverse bled them. Bingo! Got the brakes bled with the help of my wife. New positive battery cable made up at Interstate battery and installed. Moved the battery from the driver's side over to the passenger side and installed a battery disconnect on the parcel shelf. Drained about 3 gallons of old gas from the tank and inspected the tank with a boroscope. Looked pretty clean so the plan is to give it a go and order new if I start having problems with contaminants. Everything underneath the car all buttoned up so i moved on to the engine bay. All electrics hooked up, cleaned up carbs installed, radiator suport installed, oil cooler lines run through new grommets, new radiator, hoses and clamps installed and water added to check for leaks. New bottom hose was leaking and had to double clamp to get it to stop. Added a couple gallons of fresh gas, new plugs,
oil and filter. With the car still up on jacks it was time to see if the car was going to run. The engine ran when I had it towed home almost 3 years ago so with the distributor unchanged and the engine wasn't touched, in theory it should fire. And it did but carburettors need some fine tuning.Time to check the clutch work that I did which was how I purchased the car. The owner needed his garage space and the clutch was gone so with the engine running I was able to run it through a couple of gears while it was still up in the air. All good so one step closer.
Last week it was time to put together some headlight and horns relays since the grill and bumper are still off. I had some aluminum c-channel laying around that was a perfect fit over the radiator support on the passenger side. Gathered up some correct color wire from an old harness, bought some cube relays and worked my way through the process of checking all lights with the help of a battery charger and some jumpers. Got all of them working except the high beams and flash to pass. One horn was dead. Opened up the column to get at the switches and discovered a mess. Wiper switch is beyond saving and the directional switch was better but couldn't get the high beams and the horn push was non-existent so it might be from the wrong model year. New switches ordered. High tone horn dissected and after much cleaning and a new gasket made, reassembled and got it working. Painted and installed.
This weekend it was time to check the valves and the timing. Adjusted the valves and timing and tweaked the HS4's a little and smoothed out the idle quite a bit. Still not great but good enough to take it for my first ever drive in this car. Off the stands, aired up the tires and cautiously checked the brakes and first and reverse gear. Decided to get it out in the sun and since we have a steep driveway, positioned it so that I could drive it forwards down the driveway. Quiet streets because of the shelter at home order so without a hood, expired plates and no turn signal switches it was time to see how it would do. Finally! I have a running, driving and stopping car. But it's not done. Stay tuned.