12/3/99 Wiring all day

Not many pictures this week to show my progress wiring the car because it’s pretty mundane stuff. It’s a time consuming process that took all day today, and probably more days in the future. The good news is that I’ve gotten 99% of the console wiring identified, and hooked up. This process involves finding the circuit in question on the fuse panel, checking it’s path to the device on the schematic, and testing the wiring with a continuity tester. I made up a long jumper cable with alligator clips on each end, so I could check the circuit from one side of the car to the other, like the fuel pump. Hooking up the test lead to the fuel pump wire, I could see if I had the right wire at the switch. Then it was a matter of finding the correct supply wire from the fuse panel and hooking that up to the appropriate switch. As you can imagine, it’s a slow methodical process.

Last week I was stuck on the blower motor switches, but I discovered the reason why I couldn’t find the rear motor wiring was because they were cut on the driver’s side door sill. After some solder, and shrink tube, the rear heater motor was back. I am tempted at times to simply hook up wires together that have obviously been cut, but my experience has taught me to double check everything. Having checked each circuit, I’ll be more confident when I actually install a battery to test everything out. I still have fears, however, of the wiring harness frying up the second I add power! (knock on wood!)

The knobs are slowly getting polished. Whenever the wiring project got to me, I stepped away to polish the knobs (so to speak). It was good to do a brain dead job to clear my mind of the wiring mess. Sometimes you need a break from thinking to make sense of a complicated matter. After sanding down the knobs with 1200 grit sand paper, they buffed up very nicely. I wet sanded the knobs to keep the paper from loading up, and to wash away the grit from gouging up the plastic. After polishing the knobs to a mirror shine, I cleaned the polishing compound from the buffing wheel with “Clear Plastic Cleaner.” After that, a quick polish with a soft cloth and “Clear Plastic Polish,” and the knobs look almost new.

It’s coming up on 5 months since I got this car, and I’m still having a great time restoring it. In fact, I think I’m having more fun than I originally anticipated! It’s extremely therapeutic for me to make this weekly trip to my car, and put in a long day of work unrelated to what I do for a living. I’m slowly watching this car come together while learning all sorts of skills in the the car restoration craft. I’ve done partial restorations on all my other cars, but this is the first car where I’m doing most of the work, and I can really feel the responsibility of its outcome. I’ve been doing the best I can in keeping the craftsmanship of my work at a high level because I know one day, this car may outlast me, and my legacy will live on in my work. Too many times have I fixed something on one of my other cars where I’ve found evidence of the previous owner butchering the car. It’s too easy to take short cuts when fixing cars, but it takes dedication, and pride to do things right. Hopefully I can manage to do this car right!
 

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