Fitzy's GP is back!

[Fitzy]

Well, of course. I didn't think that the solenoid is one big relay. I saw someone else do it and thought it might be a good idea. That's only 3 relays then - sweet.

[64 kiwi boni]

2 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Well, of course. I didn't think that the solenoid is one big relay. I saw someone else do it and thought it might be a good idea. That's only 3 relays then - sweet.

You would certainly do it on a old school bendex starter 

or any that don’t have a separate control solenoid … mostly fords !!! And tractors ! 
gotta rember too mate 

I upgraded my 389 starter to a reduction after market road runner … and to date 

no complaints at all . I do have their product in 3 cars now caddy with the 429 

camaro with its 355 and pretty girls 389 

https://www.roadrunner-starters.com/pages/contact-us

These boys build them here in nz 

[Fitzy]

Yep, I remember your Road Runner. My starter (like everything else) is new and works fine, so I'll leave IT but will defo replace the thick wire that feeds into the car - 60 years of engine heat have probably done it no good at all.

I'm at work! That means I sit in an airconditioned bus waiting for the odd radio call whilst everyone else melts in the insane heat & humidity. A good time to do some relay research. 

You reckon 30A for the headlights & blower is good enough?

[Fitzy]

As a courtesy to any other electrical dummies out there, this link provides an excellent short easy to understand overview of automotive wiring. 

https://www.ogaled.com/how-to-select-the-right-wire-for-automotive-applications.html

[64 kiwi boni]

30 amp sounds good 👍 

[Fitzy]

I'm about to fly out later this morning but whilst 'at work' I ordered some relays, got some cabling size recommendations and thanks to Rick for embedding the new harness idea in my head. I had a look and there are some crazy cheap prices out there for generic harness replacements but Painless do a GM fullsize generic one for about US$250, which I think is a fair price. I have already downloaded the installation instructions and they'll make light reading on the flight back home. I will assess and decide once home. By the time you add up the cost of cables ($20 a 30m roll) & ancillaries, it might (MIGHT) be smarter to simply do the whole car at once and then it's done forever.

I'll be sure to bore the tits off you with what I decide. In any case, there'll be some amusing pics coming with me being strangled by miles of wire - like a cat playing with a ball of yarn.

[64 kiwi boni]

can’t wait for the next episode of fitzy the wire tamer 

[B52bombardier1]

Yes - using an all new harness from Painless or AAW is a great idea.  I brought my thirty one years parked and dead 70 Catalina convertible home the other day on a big Uhaul trailer and I'm also thinking about an all new harness.   

Brittle, old wires . . . . be gone!!

 

Rick

[Fitzy]

Thinking, thinking...I read through the installation instructions - 136 pages, thank you. They are well written, clear and cover just about every contingency you're likely to come up against. I am sorely tempted. Too busy quaffing beers right now to even think about it. 7 days without beer is good for the liver, but anathema for the soul.

I picked up the Frosty Memorial Tacho today and the dude had pulled it apart but was scared off by the sealed guts of it. He said they couldn't get a response from it, so now I'm wondering if I (or someone properly qualified) can retrofit a modern digital mech to the old skool needle & face. I'm going to email Lionel Otto Instruments in New South Wales. This guy is the Gauge God. If he can't get it to work, nobody can. The first attached pic is what is inside a 60's chrome shelled tach. The next ones are the sealed workings containing the black magic. Somewhere along the way, somebody has decreed that Pontiac blue engine paint is the correct hue for backlit gauges. Fortunately, I have one and a half cans of that stuff still laying about, so I'll zap it like I did the speedo.

Big day tomorrow, starting with bottling beer and then mowing, brushcutting and hacking down foliage. If I'm lucky, I MIGHT get to look at the car on Thursday.

[B52bombardier1]

Are you going to run an ammeter in your Grand Prix? Due to the possible fire hazard of bringing that many amps into the gauge cluster, I'd convert to a volt meter instead. That is, unless you need absolute originality in a no holds barred, Texas-style, fight-to-the-finish, concours car show vehicle.

Rick

[Fitzy]

Hi Rick, I have already decided to bypass the original ammeter. I have an aftermarket gauge cluster sitting under the dash that includes a voltmeter - that's good enough. I have read horror stories of old ammeters failing and of smoke emanating from under the dash - who needs THAT shit going on?

It's raining today so there goes mowing the property. I guess I will look at the car and try to figure out what route to take re wiring.

Oh, and my car is already slightly modified so even though it's matching numbers (should have done the LS thing, in retrospect) I'm quite okay with a little deviation from stock.

[Fitzy]

Wow - what a productive day it was today.

First up: the light switch decals for my Isuzu Pickup arrived so I superglued them in place and gave the switches a misting of clearcoat to spruce 'em up. The old switches had been sun damaged, so I filled the aperture in each switch with body filler first. I also gave the speedo surround a light coat of satin black and then a clearcoat. Some jerk on ebay tried to sell me a second hand set of binnacle switches for $300. I hope he goes hungry. This is Isuzu Forever, isn't it???

Next in line was El Poncho. I started to remove my old wobbly timber veneer from the interior bits & pieces. New kit arrived from Ames on Friday. For anyone who may remember, I made the fatal error of varnishing the new veneer bits prior to glueing them in place. Lordy - what a mess. The next morning they had all curled up and even though I clamped everything down when I attached them, it was a disaster.

GP stop light switch. Damn thing would never sit in place with the result of eternal brake lights. I did what the factory should have done and ripped out the useless little bracket that is captive in the pedal shaft, and sliced up a 1/2" UNF nyloc nut to keep it slim and now it's fixed - using a nut each side of the pedal shaft.

Whilst on a roll, I had a go at the dash top. It never sat right because of excessive padding, so I pulled the vinyl cover off just enough to slice enough padding away. It now snaps into place like a factory one.

Gonna take a break tomorrow. Will chuck the missus in the car and off we go to Port Douglas to swan around as if we're loaded. We'll go for a swim too. Thankfully, I will NOT be posting pics of me waddling around the beach scaring children.

 

[64 kiwi boni]

On 3/2/2024 at 8:33 PM, Fitzy said:

Thankfully, I will NOT be posting pics of me waddling around the beach scaring children.

Thank god 

Edited March 3 by 64 kiwi boni

[Fitzy]

Hilarious. If I wasn't so fat my sides would split.

Note: I am no fatter than the rest of you.

[64 kiwi boni]

Enjoy your day with the boss mate 

[Fitzy]

Had an awesome day yesterday AND Greenpeace did NOT attempt to roll me back into the ocean.

My last day off today so after much fluffing about I had some time spare so got stuck into the wood veneer trim. Kept scraping the old stuff off and reattached the new bits. They are all die cut and fit perfectly, although I had to trim the absolute tiniest few microns off a coupla pieces. I used 3M spray trim adhesive or Liquid Nails depending on the intricacy of the piece to be attached. And THIS time I'm gonna apply a light misting of clear AFTER the adhesive has set! I have included a pic of the supplied instructions. DO NOT lacquer prior to fitment. You have been warned. Everything was done slowly and all pieces clamped whilst setting - I don't want any screw ups this time.

Will have to look at wiring issues next R&R.

Has anyone replaced their indicators/stop lamps with LEDs? This is something I've always wanted to do and for less than $100 I can get 4 globes (nice bright red LEDs for the back) and a LED specific flasher can. I'm thinking of starting with that and a coupla headlight relays. Seems to me that the rest of the wiring just needs a good tidy up but am yet to do some resistance checks. Oh, and need to do something positive about the wires that transition through the firewall plug.

 

Edited March 4 by Fitzy

[64 kiwi boni]

35 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

Has anyone replaced their indicators/stop lamps with LEDs? This is something I've always wanted to do and for less than $100 I can get 4 globes (nice bright red LEDs for the back) and a LED specific flasher can. I'm thinking of starting with that and a coupla headlight relays. Seems to me that the rest of the wiring just needs a good tidy up but am yet to do some resistance checks. Oh, and need to do something positive about the wires that transition through the firewall plug

I am not sure mate 

but you may need a diffent flasher unit to drive the leds as they don’t load the flashing unit like standard bulbs do .. 

[Frosty]

I have replaced the interior lights with LEDs for the dash gauges. I have LEDs for the rear tail lights too. Kiwi is correct, you need to get one or two new flasher units that can manage LEDs and incandescent bulbs. They are around $15 US around here. Basically you replace your old flasher unit and emergency flasher unit with the new ones and you are good to go.

[Wrongway]

I guess I'm going need to switch that fuse also since I replaced all my interior bulbs to LEDs? 

[64 kiwi boni]

3 hours ago, Wrongway said:

I guess I'm going need to switch that fuse also since I replaced all my interior bulbs to LEDs? 

Not sure it’s worth changing mate . Only time it’s going to blow will be when a wire gets earthed .. and as long as it’s lower amperage than your wire size can take . It should be fine aye 

[JUSTA6]

3 hours ago, Wrongway said:

I guess I'm going need to switch that fuse also since I replaced all my interior bulbs to LEDs? 

Not sure about interior lights, but brake N turnsig's need help.

[Fitzy]

Got home from work yesterday, so after the usual domestic chores I had a look at my poor car. I have stripped the interior and whilst everything was out, tested the ribbon of wires that feed through to the trunk. All perfect. I then put down some of that silver lined floor insulation - that took a day of careful cutting & sticking down. Carpet is back in and I redid a coupla little things to the back seat that I was never happy with in the first place.

In order to ease my under dash contortions, the front seats will remain out. After I bashed my head on the steering wheel for the third time, I also removed that. Then I dug out my old original one. I have decided the car needs to have it reinstalled, so sanded it and gave it a blow over of primer to highlight any imperfections. Then, to my delight I figured out where the 2 extra bits of timber veneer included in the kit belong - on the horn ring centre piece. They had been missing from when I got the car and I didn't even know they were supposed to go there. They will be a permissible substitute for the woodgrain wheel I took off. Why did Grant decide that a thicker rim was going to look correct? There was no mention of that fact when I ordered it and it has irritated me ever since I fitted it. Never mind - it's only money. I will paint the wheel in gloss black and will coat it with clear resin to finish it off.

Hey, if anyone is at a swap meet and you see the clear lens centre piece, can you grab it? Mine is trashed but I think the GP logo underneath comes apart from the top.

[64 kiwi boni]

You know if you had hair you wouldn’t have that issue of bashing your brain all the time mate …

can you take a better pic of that centre section 

in case I come across one 🍻

[Fitzy]

Hair is for girls.

I'll get you a close up of the horn button tomorrow.

[JUSTA6]

7 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

You know if you had hair you wouldn’t have that issue of bashing your brain all the time mate …

So that's my problem...... Who knew. 

We can fix that!!!!