Oh that was TOO dang easy!

[Jayrz]

Well I do not know how I am supposed to feel. See I have had nothing but good luck on my GAN1 wiring problems. Replaced the headlight pigtail and traced a bad dimmer switch, replaced it and they all work. Replaced the flasher unit and installed a new switch in the dash,,,,, they work great. Now I replaced the brake light switch and,,,,, they work great.

I should be overjoyed right?

So how come i feel like I have just used up all my good karma and something dark and ominous is about to happen?

 

[racingenglishcars]

Lots of people complain about Lucas being the prince of darkness and all that. Really the stuff is quite good /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif but mostly I think they are just easy to work with. Usually the only real problem is corosion on the wires.

 

[jlaird]

Corosion at connections and age of components is the only real problem. Keep in mind that most of the components can be rebuild/restored with a bit of fussing.

 

[Jayrz]

Well I am just too happy to have all my wiring problems be simple fixes. Found all the grounds and cleaned them with a dab of de-electric grease before tightening and pulled and did same with all the bullet connectors and only had to replace-resoder two.

Will have to address the lack of horn though as the car doesn't have one.

Seat bases came in today (double ouch) so my new pans and newly painted backs will be off to the upholsterer within the next two days. Hard to beleive I am going to have almost a grand in these seats!

Now if my red interior panel kit would ever show up I'll be in business.

Boy I am spending a friggin fortune but I sure am having fun! Of course having ten grand in a Mark1 Midget is probably not the wisest idea, but who cares right?

 

[Glen_B]

You will soon discover that keeping records and making parts cost tallies is a vary bad idea. When you don't keep records, its amazing how cheap everything becomes in ones memory. People with full records actually expect to get some large portion of the documented cost back when they sell. Not the real world!
I approach it more like gambling in Vegas, I think about how much fun it is to drive the car, how I love getting greasy every weekend, and how cool the new exhaust sounds. That way, I can pretend I'm getting value for dollar. Don't think about the cost of the condom, think about the fun you'll have with it.
Only the wife who sees the Mastercard statement knows the full truth, and with her 24/7 knitting/fancy yarn habit, she never says a word.

Glen

 

[RonMacPherson]

JE, I'm not sure I'm reading your post right.

Did you say you "cleaned your ground terminals with dielectric grease BEFORE tightening them"?

If so, you may find problems down the road.

in that dielectric grease is a great water resistant insulator. If you are trying to IMPROVE electrical connections. There is available a fingernail polish bottle size liquid. Can't remember the name of it right now, and my bottle is over in my storage garage about 16 miles away. You can get it at Radio Shack and any other electronic store, I presume. Not cheap the bottle was around 18, and this was about 6 years ago when I got it.

Recommend you clean the metal connections good, even to the point of scraping them with a sharp instrument. Use the radio shack connection improver for connections you can't get a good access to, only takes a drop per connection. Then tighten, THEN insulate with dielectric grease.

 

[Jayrz]

Ron,

You are correct as I mis-spoke, errr typed. What I did was to dis-assemble all the grounds and clean them with a small brass rotary brush head on my dremel tool and then re-assembled them tight and put a dab of the grease over the top to prevent them from corroding again. Of course i could have just as well used axle grease...

Dremel tools are awsome, I use mine for absolutely everything imaginable.

 

[tosoutherncars]

Jay,

I just installed a dual (high / low) set of horns from my local generic parts store. Came with a relay (to reduce the current running through the switch) and used much of the stock wiring. All of $30 or so, a couple of hours' work and some electrical tape. Mounted on the original horn mounts, looks relatively stock, and (most importantly) nice and LOUD! I'll post pics if it's useful.

 

[kcbugeye1275]

Pride comes before the fall, double check everything. Nice to have a project go well though, isn't it. Enjoy....