Hey Y'all. Flew home this morning from work and just in time too. We had a cyclone (hurricane in the US) heading our way (here in Cairns) but it changed tack and is now headed directly for Groote Eylandt which is where I work, about 1500km due west. I hope it flattens the joint - more Pontiac time!

Anyway, I came home to an unexpected treasure trove of purchases and gifts. All my  car crap turned up (wheel bearings, neutral safety switch, TH400 pan gasket, thermostat gasket, wiper switch) and there's more stuff coming BUT look what Frosty sent me. He sent me a coupla beautifully crafted emblems (courtesy of Gary aka Last Indian) which will adorn my GP one day - just gotta find a good spot! Look at the depth of material and the fine workmanship. I can only dream of doing things like that.

Frosty Man, once again thank you so much. Kiwi & I are defo coming over there once the politicians and big pharma have all taken their cut from this covid crap and we're going to buy you a beer. ONE beer, but it's gonna be a big one. Then we'll go to the nearest lobster shack and probably finish up at Hooters. That'll be Day One.

I have been trying to think of some suitable Aussie paraphernalia for your Garage Mahal but am struggling. I'm afraid when it comes to cool cars, the Yanks beat us to it, but I shall continue to ponder the conundrum.

Many thanks once again. I am not a man who openly weeps but came pretty close when I opened that satchel! Excuse me, there's something in my eye...

oh my god!!! THAT IS SO COOL to Last indian !!!.... that is such a nice thing for him to do!! hell we are complete strangers on the other side of the planet and you get treated like this!!!... stuff your 1 beer theory fitzy !!! lets shout them a pallet !!!!!!!..

 so cool !!!

 i bet you feel so humbled !! not many people give in this life! most justA take ! 

I'm doing some important research: there's a Hooters about 10 miles from Frosty's joint!

Those are justa amazing! 

2 hours ago, Fitzy said:

I'm doing some important research: there's a Hooters about 10 miles from Frosty's joint!

sweet mate your in charge of our itinerary... JustA make sure we can do bubba grumps too!! 

and the boss says we need a taco bells in there too !!... 

Itinerary?

Frosty's joint (V8 barbecue,) lobster shack, Hooters. Rinse and repeat. That's Day One. On Day Two, we'll steal Frosty's convertible and do donuts in the local country club grounds, then it's beer, Hooters..you get the picture.

What? Is the Boss coming? I'm leaving mine at home chained to the kitchen sink.

Oh - and WTF is Bubba Grump's?

1 minute ago, Fitzy said:

Itinerary?

Frosty's joint (V8 barbecue,) lobster shack, Hooters. Rinse and repeat. That's Day One. On Day Two, we'll steal Frosty's convertible and do donuts in the local country club grounds, then it's beer, Hooters..you get the picture.

What? Is the Boss coming? I'm leaving mine at home chained to the kitchen sink.

when mine finds out we are heading state side .... i expect her on the plane with the chain/ ball  AND kitchen sink in tow!!! haahhaha

3 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

we'll steal Frosty's convertible and do donuts in the local country club grounds,

we must fix his steering wheel first mate !

I've created PARTY monsters!!!! YES!!!! 

Today I put the 'F' in fun. Installed new correct 2 speed wiper/washer switch. I now have 2 speed wipers. I tried the wash function and it's trying to squirt water on the windscreen but there's just not enough pressure to push the water through effectively. There's a 'bellows' and a coupla little one way valves in there - I'm thinking after 56 years, those bellows are no longer bellowing and I won't be able to source replacements, so I'm gonna attach my new windscreen washer pump (from the kit that should be here soon) onto the factory washer bottle and that's another legal requirement taken care of.

I can't get the horns to work - I might do what Kiwi did and go aftermarket. I dearly want La Cucaracha ones, but that'll just incite road rage if I have to honk some jerk.

Then I looked at my cruddy old fuse box. I unbolted it from the firewall, took some pics, made some notes and then did the unthinkable: I cut the wires that feed into it. There's no other way to get that sucker out. Once out, I totally dismantled it and laboriously used the Dremel, emery cloth and a collection of wire brushes to get all that rust & crap off everything. I then tested every contact and every fuse with a multimeter and it's all good. All the bits are now fizzing away in a cup full of rust converter and by the time I reassemble everything and reattach all the wires (I'm gonna use spade connectors to make potential future removal simple) everything should work reliably and the heat issus might disappear.

Did someone say "sit down and have a beer?" Okay then.

Fitzy, I recommend mounting Last Indian's Indian Head through your grille, mate. You will note that there are provisions on the back to put threaded rod or bolts through it. So at a car show you can always point out you have a unique, hand made piece from your mate Last Indian in Ohio!

BTW - I am very familiar with the Hooters near my house. However, I much prefer the Hooters in Bay City - about 50 miles away, it's on the docks over looking the Saginaw Bay. Either one is fine - I like "wings" and beer mate! 

I might have to take you blokes to Vinsettas Garage for dinner if you show up. For two reasons, it's on legendary Woodward Avenue so it's an excuse to go cruise Woodward with you. Second Vinsettas was a working garage for 99 years before it was turned into a restaurant. I have pictures of Lucy in front of it before it was turned in the restaurant. So this will give us an excuse to perhaps catch up with Justa, Indyman Joe, and maybe even notallthere and his boss.

I like that - Frosty 'prefers' the other Hooters. How often is he there - every night by the sounds of it! Of course, the more FP members we meet (& others) the better. I can't possibly predict anyone's movements this year but here's hoping it will be this year. We are NOT coming in winter! And yes, I did take note of the threaded hole provision under that Indian head - I shall do you proud...once I sort the electrics and get the thing on the road. If it ever makes it to a car show (there's not many up here where I live) I will be sure to attach all relevant paraphernalia that you have sent me so that the car will be dripping with a tiger tail, various ornaments, stickers and I'll have to wear 3 hats.

I truly have create an Aussie monster, haven't I ?!?!!

I shall enjoy the wearing of the three hats the most. Pointing and ridiculing is what we do best mate! 

My point about Hooters was simply we have "choices" mate. We can sample different atmospheres! Ambiances! Yeah, that's the ticket!

2 hours ago, Frosty said:

My point about Hooters was simply we have "choices" mate. We can sample different atmospheres! Ambiances! Yeah, that's the ticket!

don't forget twin peaks, tilted kilt, some great ambiances out there

11 minutes ago, Ringo64 said:

don't forget twin peaks, tilted kilt, some great ambiances out there

Good point Ringo. Sadly the Tilted KIlt closed in 2018 here in Michigan.

Twin Peaks, however, is a possibility. In fact, one of them is near Toledo and Dix, where the old Detroit Dragway use to be. Unfortunately today the property is now a trucking warehouse.

Edited January 13, 20224 yr by Frosty

No worries, Frosty. We'll go to your, ahem 'preferred' Hooters.

At 2:30 this morning I had an epiphany, but she was asleep so instead I had a brainwave regarding the fuse box nightmare. In my bleary sleep deprived state I could finally see how I was going to fix everything. I used the guts of the original fuse box, bought a cheap nylon chopping board and cut myself a piece out of it and used it to marry the new modern fuse box onto the old one, thereby preserving it's original location and mounting points. I then added spade connectors to all wires and terminals and for the first time ever EVERYTHING works. No histrionics, no maybe, maybe not - it all works. No more hot wires either!

I also added a modern washer pump to the original Pontiac reservoir and voila! 2 speed wipers & washers now working.

I ground out the thermostat housing so that the thermostat now sits nicely inside it rather than just proud of it. No more coolant leak.

I have a horn on order complete with a wiring kit and have already discreetly mounted a momentary switch to activate it.

I'm kinda, pretty sure, maybe it might work, thinking the car could go for it's safety certificate quite soon. Once that's achieved, off to the Transport Department and on the road!

Interior lights work! They are SO cool. And I added a video of how she sounds.

 

Man its looking and sounding great bud! Awesome job Fitzy

Thanks Wrongway. I gotta admit, I'm sitting here chugging a beer and feeling pretty damn proud. I HEARTILY recommend anyone else to upgrade their fuse box as I have done, if you're having problems. The days I wasted on that old one trying to resurrect it... The new one (about $20 on ebay) uses blade fuses AND if a fuse blows, there's a little red LED indicator to tell you which one. It's a well made quality unit and unbeatable value. Shop around though, coz the same box is available thru many suppliers at wildly fluctuating prices.

Does anyone need spare glass fuses, coz all of sudden I got heaps!

Sounding very nice mate 👍👍👍👍

good move with the fuse board 👍👍

that solves all those little issues in one hit 👍

Whatever happened to blade fuses with legacy fuse ends? They sold them for a very brief period of time back in the 80s or 90s, but they weren't popular and they've disappeared completely. I wish I recall who sold them. We could certain use them instead of these cheap glass POS or having to re-wire the whole car with a new harness justa to get modern blade fuses.

Edited January 14, 20224 yr by Frosty

About 6 months ago I searched for them, Frosty. In my case they wouldn't have made any difference but what a great idea. Wiring in the new board wasn't that hard - just gotta be methodical and take your time. The worst aspect was being contorted under the dash with a head lamp & glasses and trying to crimp spades onto wires. I guess also the fact that my car will get by with only 7 fuses DID help.

6 hours ago, Fitzy said:

The worst aspect was being contorted under the dash with a head lamp & glasses and trying to crimp spades onto wires

sound like me mate!!! f--kin glasses p me off !! and need a head light justA to see 😡

Yup, that was one reason I rewired my whole car. It was a pain in the a$$ but it should be good till i'm gone lol. I love that your panel lights up to show which fuse is blown! Thats justa awesome bro!!!

You know, in retrospect I should have had the car rewired when it was a shell but I could see the black hole of money just getting bigger & bigger. The 'plan' was never going to encompass all these extra bits & pieces. Never mind - I'm still alive and the car seems happy.

Here's a curly one: the other day I was bragging about how everything is working and life is great. Well, not EVERYTHING was working. I knew I had a problem with the feed that powers the tail lights & number plate light. I had everything working months ago but now, I've got headlights (both beams) but no tail lights nor instrument lights. I already have the wires that supply those 2 circuits connected but I cannot get power to them. So, I pull my brand new GM replacement light switch and it turns out it's faulty. I hot wired those 2 circuits to 12 volts and hey presto - it's all there. I mention this as a public service: don't ever assume that those nice new electrical components are always gonna work. I spent hours contorted under the dash, sweating & swearing because I couldn't figure out why there was no power to that feed. I have given up and ordered a generic light switch that I will discreetly mount under the dash and that'll be that.

Brake lights. Yes. Back up lights. Yes. All headlights & tail lights. Yes. Wipers & washers. Yes. Oh, that reminds me - I had to make a slight adjustment to my 'clap hands' wipers to stop them from fighting each other when it came time to park. They seem happy now. Like Kiwi, I'm going to mount a coolant overflow bottle, but unlike him, because my car has a crossflow radiator, the available space (width) is limited to 100mm.

Nothing else to report, really. Bloody Kiwi is stealing the limelight with those magnificent looking wheels!

26 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

Here's a curly one: the other day I was bragging about how everything is working and life is great. Well, not EVERYTHING was working. I knew I had a problem with the feed that powers the tail lights & number plate light. I had everything working months ago but now, I've got headlights (both beams) but no tail lights nor instrument lights. I already have the wires that supply those 2 circuits connected but I cannot get power to them. So, I pull my brand new GM replacement light switch and it turns out it's faulty. I hot wired those 2 circuits to 12 volts and hey presto - it's all there. I mention this as a public service: don't ever assume that those nice new electrical components are always gonna work. I spent hours contorted under the dash, sweating & swearing because I couldn't figure out why there was no power to that feed. I have given up and ordered a generic light switch that I will discreetly mount under the dash and that'll be that.

mate its a slide switch... there is really nothing to them. pull your factory one apart , clean all the contacts . and i bet its like new !

29 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

Nothing else to report, really. Bloody Kiwi is stealing the limelight with those magnificent looking wheels!

gota love bling mate .... having said that, they are a pita as it was lots of work and i am totally over it !!!

and like two lane said way back... check all your earths!!! 99.9% of issues are with poor earths ..... i found that with my girl. on the tail lights, the front park lights and even the head lights !!

i really like your upgraded fuse board.... i should to the same with my girl.