Farrar's car blog

[Farrar]

Pump has to go against the firewall. Mounted against the lip it would protrude into the spare tire well.

I was thinking of installing the bracket backwards -- flat side toward the spare tire well.

Farrar

On another note, I know now why the thermostatic switch in our cooling system is called an "Otter-stat" or "Otter switch." It's named after the company that made it -- which is evidently still in business!

Farrar

[Farrar]

Today, I went and bought an AutoZone Made In China fuel pump and installed it. Then I went to O'Reilly and returned my Made In U.S.A. fuel pump. The Made in China pump fits and runs. Now all I have to do is charge the battery and see if the car will start. (Currently, the battery reads less than 10v and the starter won't fire.)

It was so hot outside today that my foot felt like it was on fire after a few minutes. When I wondered what was happening, I realized that I was wearing a black shoe and standing in direct sunlight. My tools were almost too hot to touch after about thirty minutes. Now I know why people who can't afford a garage at least have a carport -- your tools won't blister your fingers if they're in the shade.

I have to take the car to a music video filming next Sunday. Looks like I will drive there sweating all the way!

Farrar

[content22207]

On another note, I know now why the thermostatic switch in our cooling system is called an "Otter-stat" or "Otter switch." It's named after the company that made it -- which is evidently still in business!

I was chastised once by one of the supposed gurus of our community for calling that switch an "otterstat" instead of a "thermal switch," but as you can clearly see on Page M:18:10 of the Workshop Manual, that is what DMC itself called it.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[stevedmc]

The Made in China pump fits and runs.

Awesome. I still haven't installed my made in china pump yet. Perhaps I should wait and let you be the guinea pig.

[Farrar]

I was chastised once by one of the supposed gurus of our community for calling that switch an "otterstat" instead of a "thermal switch," but as you can clearly see on Page M:18:10 of the Workshop Manual, that is what DMC itself called it.

So do Jaguar and Lotus. In fact, some Lotus vehicles of similar vintage to ours have both an "Otter switch" and a "fan fail" light and module.

Awesome. I still haven't installed my made in china pump yet. Perhaps I should wait and let you be the guinea pig.

My car is a guinea pig in many ways -- most notably, the first carbureted automatic DeLorean (June of 200.

The Spectra pump has a 1/4" hose barb right on the top of the unit. No brass fitting required. I plan on making a fuel pump cover out of an appropriately-sized plastic lid, with a hole drilled in the middle for the fuel hose. Now the question is, which has a big enough lid: a giant tub of mayonnaise, perhaps? I don't eat mayonnaise...

Booster battery is inside now, charging. Should be able to fire up the vehicle tomorrow morning.

In other news, it's time for me to go to the hardware store and buy a bunch of stainless metric nuts. The rocker panels on my passenger side are all letting go, and I should probably replace the (seven!) seat nuts, too.

Farrar

The Home Depot's supply of metric stainless hardware evidently varies from location to location. The one near me had barely any, whereas I am sure that the one I went to on the Northshore had much more. Well, anyway ... I bought some nuts of varying size -- M5 and M6 -- in the hopes that I will be able to secure the rocker panels to the car. The right-hand rocker panel under the door seems to have only one place where it's held on with a stud and nut; the other places it is evidently suppose to clip on, and it's not holding to those clips. What's more, the plastic around which the stud is supposed to go is broken. I am hoping that I will be able to hold it on with a washer in place where the plastic is broken, but what am I supposed to do about those clips that no longer hold?

My door sills are the early style, and therefore held on with screws. Perhaps I will remove them and see if the top of those rocker panel clips are visible. If I can replace them with something more permanent, I'll gladly do it. Anyone else secured their rocker panels in some other fashion?

Farrar

[Farrar]

Also, here is what I plan to do with my cooling fan circuit.

coolingfans.jpg

Farrar

Murphy's Law strikes again: now I have a 9mm socket in between the right-hand fender and the body.



Farrar

[sean]

Murphy's Law strikes again: now I have a 9mm socket in between the right-hand fender and the body.



Farrar

Ha! Damn you's Murphy!

[Ron]

Also, here is what I plan to do with my cooling fan circuit.

Murphy's Law strikes again: now I have a 9mm socket in between the right-hand fender and the body.

Mr. Murphy changed his schematic , so if you don't want your light to work backwards, change the wire feeding the light to 87a.

[Farrar]

Mr. Murphy changed his schematic , so if you don't want your light to work backwards, change the wire feeding the light to 87a.

Got it!

coolingfansA.jpg

Farrar

In other news, I think the greasy film on my windshield was definitely caused by some sort of Armor-All-type, petroleum-based product on the vinyl. A week or so ago I removed the glove box lid and it was so hot that I couldn't replace it. So the car sat for a while with a lot less vinyl on the passenger's side under the windshield versus the driver's side. And when I went outside today to clean the car a bit, I noticed a huge amount of greasy film on the driver's side and almost none on the passenger's side, except right by the A-pillar.

I bought a product from Meguiar's which is supposed to clean vinyl, as opposed to simply making it shiny, and used it liberally along with some microfiber towels to clean all of the vinyl inside the car, with the exception of the doors because -- have I mentioned this? -- it's hot outside. Then I was in cleaning mode, and I went ahead and cleaned and conditioned the seats as well. Then the glass. By the time I was done cleaning, there was no time left to try to start the car. And I didn't even get around to vacuuming...

While cleaning the dashboard, I noticed the crack at the corner of the glove box has grown. I have planned on buying a Houston replacement dash in the future, but it's not in my budget right now, so on goes the dash mat, even though it won't stay in place worth a damn.

More bad news for my wallet: the passenger-side rocker panel is barely hanging on at the front. That screw is rusted solid and the plastic which it is supposed to grip is broken. After that, going from front to back, the first clip is broken and the next few grip but allow the panel to sag. It looks like a Houston rocker panel is in my future, because with my luck if I remove the rocker panel it will break.

The car is also missing a nut which does not appear to be metric! -- While under the car, I noticed that the bolt that holds the "front fender stay" together with its two other companion pieces is missing its nut. I'd take it out to look at it but it is, of course, rusted in place. All I know is that a 5mm nut is too small and a 6mm nut is too big. So I am off to the hardware store again later this week, this time to find stainless SAE nuts, which I hope are in more plentiful supply than metric nuts.

Just for fun I bought every stainless M5 and M6 screw of less than 20mm in length that I could find at my local Home Depot; the access cover under the spare tire now has five new stainless screws holding it in place. Now I just have to source the remaining ones... by the way, whose idea was it to mix up 5mm and 6mm screws to hold that panel on? I would have picked one or the other; mixing the two just seems idiotic at that point.

New fuel pump has a hose barb built in to the top. Will have to think of a different idea for pump cover.

I've started wiring my new relay sockets. Although they are of similar design, their grooves and tongues don't fit the stock sockets, so I will have to replace every single relay socket in the compartment. I figured this, given my luck, which is why I ordered twelve of them. Also, I ordered 100 terminals along with a crimp tool, figuring it would take me a few tries to get my crimping technique down. It only took me four tries.

Farrar

[Farrar]

Speaking of relays...

I will be adding three sockets to the relay compartment, in a space that was only designed to have one more. (A previous owner removed the blue "Fan Fail Module" socket before I bought the car.) However, there are a few relays/modules that I am not using, which I can remove and use their space for a new socket:

- HVAC Panel Resistor (red socket) - bypassed with a jumper wire
- Lambda relay - unused
- HVAC Panel Lights - bypassed with a jumper wire

The reason I don't need the Lambda relay socket is, of course, because I don't need a Lambda relay -- my car is carbureted. The reason I don't need the other two is because I am running LEDs in the HVAC panel. So it looks like all is well, space-wise. However, since I will be replacing all of the relay sockets, adding new ones while subtracting others, I am going to label them all.

More problematic is the fact that I have subtracted one circuit breaker from the cooling fan circuit, and will be replacing it with two circuit breakers. There are only two spots for circuit breakers back there, so I will have to think of some other way of mounting the two new ones for the fan circuit. Since the bracket behind the passenger's seat is not grounded like the one behind the driver's seat is, that gives me the option to, perhaps, simply put them where the old door lock module used to be. Ah, decisions, decisions...!

It will be a busy week: I have to do this electrical work before Sunday morning when the car is due for a video shoot!

Farrar

On another note, does anyone happen to know the size of size the screws that hold on the glove box lid? I appear to have misplaced those screws. :doh:

Farrar

New scheme for relay compartment, posted here in case I lose the piece of paper I wrote it on this morning.

Top row:
Fan Fail Bulb Relay 1 / Fan Fail Bulb Relay 2 / Starter Relay / Power Window Relay / Power Window Delay Module

Bottom row:
Cooling Fan Relay 1 / Cooling Fan Relay 2 / Courtesy Light Module / Blower Speed 4 Relay / Blower Speed 3 Relay / Hi Beam Relay / Low Beam Relay

Frustrated with the lack of stainless, metric, or stainless metric, hardware at the Home Depot and Lowe's, and the fact that the local Ace Hardware is never open when I am able to go there, I have ordered a whole bunch of hardware from McMaster-Carr.

Also some nylon hardware. Because it's hard to find ... and it gets humid down here, you know...

Farrar