The further adventures of #2613

[Farrar]

My reman starter would also clank repeatedly, started with once in a while to about 5-10 times turning the key until it would actually engage. Turned out to be a loose ground for me, maybe this is your issue as well.

Thanks, Dan! I'll look into that.

[Farrar]

Two out of three "legs" of the auto transmission wiring harness have now been repaired. I haven't had a lot of time for the car recently, so I just get a little bit done whenever I can.

For the damaged wires inside the harness, I ordered lengths of appropriate-colored wire from AutoSparks in the UK and double-crimp (one crimp on the insulation, one crimp on the wires, the kind of crimp seen all over these cars) splice terminals from Amazon. Once the damaged length was removed and replaced with fresh wire, I added solder to the splices' crimped connections and sealed each connection with adhesive-lined shrink tubing.

Once all of the individual wires were repaired in this way, I wrapped the bundle in asphalt-infused cloth wire loom, which is flexible and resistant to high temperatures. Unfortunately I could only find split loom, so every few inches I added a "collar" of electrical tape to stop the loom from re-splitting when flexed. This is the technique that Chrysler used when wrapping the harnesses in the engine compartment of my daily driver, but I was unable to find the type of tape they used, which seems to be cloth-based, rather like a fine gauze with adhesive on the bottom and a black plastic-like coating adhered to the top. I used 3M's "Super 33+" electrical tape instead, which only has a maximum listed operating temperature of 221°F/105°C -- this makes me nervous but it's the best I can do unless and until I find a more heat-resistant tape. Suggestions for a tape with a higher heat rating would be greatly appreciated!

#2613 actually still has a harness and controller installed. The one I am repairing on my bench, in preparation to be sent off to DMC for a new controller, is actually a spare. It had been removed by the previous owner after it was damaged by heat -- if memory serves, these harnesses, if they come loose, fall against the stock exhaust's crossover pipe -- some repairs were attempted but they were not good, and the harness was not reinstalled (or perhaps reinstalled, found not to be working, and removed again) resulting in it coming in a bag of spare parts when I bought the car 12 years ago. So why am I choosing this harness for the new controller, instead of the harness that's on the car? Two reasons: first, because the harness that is on the car has a broken mounting tab and this one doesn't, so when it's installed it will fit snugly against the firewall as it should; second, an aftermarket shift controller has been spliced into #2613's current harness, so regardless of which harness I used I would need to repair the wires inside.
Once installed, the chances of the repaired harness coming into contact with the crossover pipe are nil, since #2613 now has a crossover-pipe-free dual exhaust setup.

[Farrar]

I used 3M's "Super 33+" electrical tape instead, which only has a maximum listed operating temperature of 221°F/105°C -- this makes me nervous but it's the best I can do unless and until I find a more heat-resistant tape. Suggestions for a tape with a higher heat rating would be greatly appreciated!

I found a polyester cloth tape with a maximum operating temperature of 150°C/302°F so the 3M electrical tape is going bye-bye.

Best wishes to all as we close out 2019 and get another year underway.

[Farrar]

So is this forum essentially dead apart from engine swap and BTTF discussions? LOL

[JBaker4981]

So is this forum essentially dead apart from engine swap and BTTF discussions? LOL

Kinda been thinking the same lately and jumping over to the thug board for a while. I'm sure folks are just getting back into things from the Holidays.

[Tillsy]

So is this forum essentially dead apart from engine swap and BTTF discussions? LOL

Well, this thread is very moist 🤣😂

[Farrar]

I installed engine compartment lighting yesterday. Working back there is a lot less troublesome now.

I hate my iPhone because all of the photos it takes show up vertical on my PC but sideways on DMCTalk. Oh, well. Sorry.

Cheap LED lights:
LED lights.jpg


Pin switch:
pin switch.jpg

Mounting tape because the adhesive pads that came with the LEDs looked cheap and would probably not handle the heat of an engine compartment:
adhesive tape.jpg


Two-way connector (the wires from the LED units are so tiny that I had to solder them to these terminals):
connectors.jpg


LED units mounted. They are "hidden" behind the ribs of the engine cover:
L LED mounted.jpgR LED mounted.jpg


Switch and connector in situ:
wiring.jpg


Comparison, lights off and lights on:
lights off.jpglights on.jpg

I took the power for the lights from the purple wire that originally powered the OEM engine compartment light, thus saving me the hassle of having the new circuit on a different fuse. The switch is grounded to the engine.

[Farrar]

Decided to try adding foam insulation around the evaporator box to prevent the carpet from getting soaked, mold from growing in the car when parked, etc. South Florida is pretty tropical when it comes to weather, and that includes humidity. In over twelve years of DMC ownership I've never had such a problem with wet carpets as I have since moving here. Of course, since completely rebuilding the air conditioning it is producing colder air than I remember, which probably also contributed to the condensation problem.

Before anyone asks: YES, I CHECKED THE EVAPORATOR DRAIN AND IT IS NOT CLOGGED.

I bought some closed-cell foam tape from the hardware store. It's sold as "camper seal tape." Adhesive on one side only. It's pretty squishy, but also pretty dense, and it sticks pretty well once pressed into place. Unfortunately, it's only 3/16" thick. From what I recall, the foam that was installed in later cars was at least 1/4" thick. So I installed the tape in three layers, wrapping it as far back around the box as I could, plus on top and underneath, leaving gaps for the fasteners. I did two layers with the tape going left-to-right, overlapping the gaps and being sure to cover all of the corners, and then the third layer I did with the tape going top-to-bottom to cover any remaining gaps or thin spots.

I know that on later cars the factory simply installed foam pads, and what I'm doing is replicating that. But in my mind, the ultimate solution to this problem would be to have a piece of foam that is formed to the shape of the box, slips onto it, and is held on by friction. That would cover as much area as possible, but still allow for service because it could be pulled off when the box needs to be opened. I wonder why no vendor offers such a part. Perhaps it is too complex a shape to produce.

Anyway, where I live, "winter" consists of high temperatures in the low 80s and a heat index of at least 85, so I run the air conditioning year round. (I guess if my heater core ever starts to leak, I could simply bypass it ... It's not like I will ever use it.) I will be able to put my work to the test fairly soon.

[JBaker4981]

I'm highly interested to see if this works as we move into Spring and Summer as Tennessee Summers are prone to high humidity. My evaporator case also sweats as well

[Farrar]

I forgot to mention that with the addition of engine compartment lighting, my courtesy light modifications are nearly complete. Next on the list is "puddle lights" -- or whatever you call those little lights that some modern cars have on the bottom of the door so you can better see where you're stepping.

After that, I intend to upgrade the exterior lights for safety. 11 years ago I thought installing third brake lights underneath the louvres was a good idea, but (1) they cast a glare in the rear window and (2) taller vehicles can't see them anyway because of how far back the lights are positioned. So the cheap LED bars from JC Whitney have served their purpose and it's time to upgrade to something which looks slightly less DIY.

Once the third brake light (from a C4 Corvette) is installed and working I will upgrade the headlights to H4 housings (the ones Tom Neiland used) with LEDs inside (Hikari 9600s). I have already purchased ceramic headlamp sockets to replace the cracked OEM sockets and will likely replace the terminals as well with fresh brass.

I'm not sure whether I'll take the opportunity to straighten the fascia when I swap out the headlamps. The front fascia has what I call both "eyebrows" and "underbrows," and I'm not sure I can address both problems without removing the fascia, which seems like a tough job working without a helper. The fascia is already torn on one side from trying to stick a screwdriver in past where it has shrunk considerably. DMC's fiberglass one is $995 and not only does it come unpainted but also apparently requires some "make it fit" work, which I'm probably not qualified to do -- so that may be something I'll have to save up money for parts *and* labor and drive the car up to Orlando for a weekend.

Oh yes, speaking of driving, I forgot to mention that I will have the AT computer rebuilt at DPNW. My spare unit with repaired harness is already boxed and ready to go.

So much to do on this little old car!