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Driving all the old timers around this week... took #1 to pull #24 out of its container for an afternoon of tearing around! This car runs exceptionally well, having almost no miles from Rixters motor and tranny work from 15 years ago. Still looks like hell though.
Car #24 has become known as the warehouse potato. Every now and then i consider selling it, then don't, then it sits some more. This week I got motivated and do SOMETHING to pull it along in the correct direction.
It has bothered me for years that this car had a 1979 instrument panel in it, and one might not think that is that big of a deal for me since I have a number of 77-78 instrument panels around. Unfortunately the 79 instrument panel has three connectors, the 77-78 panel has two... yes, main under dash wiring harness had been changed to a 79 unit at some point. I fiddled and screwed with the various 79 instruments critical for driving (temp oil volts, etc) and they would work intermittently most of the time. This week while driving the car to its next warehouse potato address a multitude of electrical problems sidelined me.
When I got into reviewing the electrical problems I found that a number of modifications had been made to a 78 dated relay panel (also swapped at some point, this car was built in 77) in order to make various components work with a 79 harness:
I wish I saved all of the harnesses from all of the 77-78 cars I chopped up over the years, but in recent years I started keeping the harnesses out of every parts car. I have a crusty 77 relay panel retaining most of its 77 date coded relays (even one 76!) and a very nice dash harness out of another 78 car....
This harness starts at the relay panel and makes up about a third of the plugs on thee bottom. It goes toward the left and feeds everything in the front console, everything in the instrument panel, both doors, and goes through the firewall to feed wipers, heater, brake pressure switches, and cruise control. It's a chore to change out.
Have to do a major service on the relay panel before the install. So the goal is a date correct relay panel, loaded with date correct relays, with correct 77-78 instrument panel, correct harness, and everything in this harness group working. Someone, somewhere is going to restore this car at some point...they may as well have the right parts in it.
07-13-2021, 03:41 PM
