I noticed that the harness which comes off the main loom and goes down under the car to the rear near the starter had a bullet connector who’s wire had no sheath on it, just bare copper wire. I tried to pull the tape off but couldn’t because a wire was melted to it! It appears that a white wire in the loom had shorted out at some point and completely melted to the harness and to some of the other wires in the loom. I cut away about a foot of tape and every bit of the wire was melted. Apparently, the previous owner just put another layer of tape on the harness instead of actually replacing the bad wire. The scary thing is that I drove the car for ten years with it like that, not knowing that I was an inch away from an electrical fire.
So add one more thing to my repair list. I’m not going to pull the harness since the rest of the wiring actually seems in good shape. What I’ll do is test the wire and see where it goes (I think it is the power supply for the fuel pump) and then run a new wire along the length of the harness and then cover it with a quality blue electrical tape that matches the color of the original harness tape. That will seal it up and add further protection to the older wires in the original harness. I’ll do that when I am under the car cleaning and sealing up the underside of the car.
Unlike the rear harness, the front harness seems to be in remarkably good condition. Even the bullet connectors are relatively tight and corrosion-free so a thorough cleaning should be all that is required.
Tonight I’ll be cleaning out the metal fuel line by spraying a whole lot of brake cleaner down the line from the engine compartment and then blowing it out with compressed air. The brake cleaner spray should break up and dissolve any gas that was left in the line and turned into varnish.
I’ll be taking the Lucas alternator to the parts store tomorrow to get it tested. I want to do the Delco alternator conversion but right now, if a part works, it is getting reused. While I’m at the parts store I’ll also pick up a few feet of fuel injection hose to use as the rubber lines for the fuel system along with some new vacuum tubing.
I started calling around radiator repair shops in Greensboro and Winston Salem since the shop I used to use years ago has since gone bye-bye. The radiator needs flushed and pressure tested and I already know that the heater core has a leak in it. I’ll also need the gas tank dropped into the cleaning bath since there are probably 35 years of crud and rust in it. I have to get all of this done in the next few weeks since I can’t really get the car running until these parts are finished.
I got the radiator support panel installed along with the intake and exhaust manifolds. They aren’t torqued down yet but, since I still have to connect the exhaust to the manifold, it isn’t vital yet. The engine is slowly coming back together and once I get the carbs reassembled I’ll put those back on and work on getting the rest of the car ready to fire up in the next few weeks. I hope to do that in the second week of December so it gives me about 18 days and $400.00 to go.
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