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After all that: It was a bad alternator. I had the first clue when I dropped it: The plastic base for the battery terminal was melted. That didn't seem right. It turns out it wasn't. I took it to a local auto electrics place and the guy bench checked it, then came back and said he didn't need to, because he could see the heat damage. He said these alternators are great as alternators, not so great as battery chargers. If they're trying to charge a bad battery, they'll run continuously, overheat, and burn out. My battery was bad.
He sold me a new alternator, shifted the rear plate so the connections were in the same place as they were on my old alternator, and swapped the pulley, all for $60. I put it back in and it worked; 14 volts on the dial. A quick drive confirmed that the car is running better than ever (since I've had it, anyway).
Now I have to get the stereo wired up and the interior put back into some semblance of 'together'.
On the stereo front: I have the speakers and crossovers mounted in the door cards and I dragged them into the house to hook up to the living room receiver to make sure sound was coming out. And, indeed, it was. I also ordered the last couple things I needed to complete the install, which were a 10gauge amp wiring kit, the head unit, and a 6-channel RCA cable. All that should be here early next week.
I restarted (again) the reskinning of the rear interior quarter. When I made the pattern, the buther block paper wasn't wide enough, so the lower section is in two sections with a seam in the middle. The inevitable guess work in trying to figure out how a badly-shrunk piece of leather used to look along with operator error on assembly led to having about an extra half-inch of material in the bottom (measured fore and aft). This made it impossible to get the wrinkles out. The newly-revised plan is to work from the ends in toward the middle, cut out the actual seam, and glue the two edges down where they meet in some semblance of a seam. We'll see how it looks.
I had the car out for a drive last night of about 50 miles, it ran great (well, great for Stitch). If I' make Frenzy (there's a slight chance the Army might get in the way), I expect it will be in my Shark.
Also: I think I'm still leaking oil. Cam covers might be the next repair. I'm not sure, but I think at that point it might be worth it to pull the motor. That will be a fun first for me!
Those don't have cam 'covers', they have cam towers or housings.
Different animal, and a whole different ballgame to pull them.
Most folks are of the opinion that pulling the motor is easier if you are doing both of them.
Every year at this time, Facebook's 'memories' feature starts showing me pictures from the devastating Susquehanna River flood of 2011. Moby, my first 928, took water up to about the interior rear view mirror and was given away to a fellow Rennlister.
Here he is on the trailer. You can see the waterline on the driver's window.
I got the driver's side door card back on and everything is in place and the mirrors are working. The bottom row of plastic pegs needs to be replaced, so I'm going to have to buy a set, peel back the carpeting and put in new ones. I shouldn't have to demount the card to do it.
I pulled the card off the passenger side in just a few minutes, wired the speaker wire to the new crossover and went to mount it back on and - what the hell? The speaker divot isn't the same on the passenger door! There's plenty of room on the driver's side, but on the passenger side the 4" speaker is completely out of range of the divot.
Oh! Dammit! The car was in a wreck at one point. The driver's door is newer. Obviously significantly newer.
So, rather than cut the door, I'm going to get or create a surface mount speaker pod. It will extend into the passenger area by a couple inches, but I don't think that will be a problem.
And the final parts for the stereo are here, just in time.
I can't believe it's only two weeks until Frenzy...
Okay, so, in the latest iteration of "Things I Should Probably Take To My Grave"...
I'm working on installing new audio equipment. I have a 5-channel amp, a spare-tire sub, new speakers in the doors, speakers for the back seats, and a new all-digital head unit. I'm trying to get everything test fitted up front before turning screws and I can't get the head unit to turn on. I'm talking to my brother, who installed car electronics for years, and I say, "I have 12 volt switched and ground, but I can't get the unit to turn on."
He says, "The unit draws power from the 12 volt unswitched. The switched is just an indicator that it should turn on."
"I don't have 12 volt unswitched right now. I have a wire marked, so I must have had it at one point a couple years ago when I started messing with the audio."
"Bad fuse," he says.
"Well, I'll take a look, but I was in there a couple weeks ago and didn't see any bad fuses."
So, while on the phone, I open up the foot panel and take a close look and, sure enough, I've got a bad fuse. I open the glove box, pull out a baggie of fuses and put one in. Then, when I open the glove box to return the baggie, the glove box light is on!
"Oh my god! My glove box light! It's working!"
I flight the switch on the door light, and it comes on!
"Sweet Jesus! My door light is on!"
I flip the center dome light and - you guessed it - it comes on!
"It a Christmas miracle!" I yell into the phone.
My brother is nearly in tears laughing. "How long have you not had interior lights?"
"I don't remember ever having interior lights," I say. "I've had the car for three years!"
In related news: The rear quarter is recovered in a completely half-assed fashion. It seriously looks like hell, but I'm out of time and patience. Maybe if they stars align someday I'll have Rob or someone do me a proper rear end, although frankly I'd rather have something made out of rigid plastic with covered cloth or mouse-hair, like a modern cargo area. This leather/vinyl covered cardboard is bullsh!t.
I know it doesn't sound like it here, but this is all actually Good News! I'll see everyone in a week.
One of the immediate disadvantages to having that fuse in there is that a buzzer is alarming when I turn the key. The turn signal indicator is solid on, as well.
Also: I think my voltmeter is dead. It shows 10v when the car is running and no alternator light, but the system shows 14v at the jump post with the car running and the battery is holding 12v+ with the car off.
Progress last night. Really good stuff, actually...
I started by looking for the seatbelt switch wire, and I can't find it. I even pulled the driver's seatbelt receiver completely out, in case it was hidden under the seatbelt receiver somewhere. No dice. So, I pulled the relay from the center console and called it done.
I then moved on to the stereo. Eearlier in the day I decided that I wanted and had room for bigger speakers in the back, so I ordered a pair of 6x9s in lieu of the 4x6s I already ordered.
I plugged the new head unit in and it powered up. I then wired up the amp (which will live on the 'ledge' over the driver's fenderwell) and ran the 'turn on' wire and the amp powered up. Then I ran the six-channel RCA from the head unit to the amp and ran wire to a pair of speakers laying in the cargo area and I got actual music! Then ran the wire from the amp to the front and hooked up to the front speakers and it's still all working!
So, at this point I need to find a light to tap for the dimmer circuit on the head unit. I'm planning on using the cigarette lighter light, but I can also tap the gearshift selector light. I need to finish the wire runs and hide the wires. I need to wire the subwoofer and mount the rear speakers (they won't be here until Monday). The rear speakers will surface mount, but I still need to pull the old speaker from the passenger side.
I also need to run power to the USB chargers I have mounted in a small pod on the passenger side of the center console. And I think I should get some sort of voltmeter, since the one in the dash seems to be dead. I'll swing by the auto parts store later today and get something chrome with hot rod flames.
With a little luck, by the end of the day I should have the stereo largely installed. I'm hoping to have the center console buttoned up and everything electrical ready by the end of the day tomorrow.
09-06-2017, 09:43 PM
