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SaxMan's Winter 2016 Overhaul Thread

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Should be on the end opposite to the steering shaft, back side.

Kurt
 
Found it! I never noticed that before.

Decided to temporarily concede defeat on the generator. When I put everything back together, it wouldn't spin, so I must have screwed something up. Looking at the spare generator a bit more closely, I discovered it was in better shape internally than I thought. Hitting the inside with some contact cleaner and a couple of drops of oil in the rear and it was spinning very nicely with no noise. The pulley and the fan on the spare were not in good shape, so I swapped them with the ones off the original generator. Cleaned up the generator a bit -- and it seems to be a winning combination.
 
Some pics of the latest goings on:

The fuel line that runs from the float chamber to float chamber. Yup, it was pretty worn.
DSC_0095 by David Cohen, on Flickr

New line in place. Painting the heat shield is on the list for next year:
DSC_0096 by David Cohen, on Flickr

The right tie rod end after I broke the nut. I think the nut may have been cross threaded. Note all the rust where the TRE would be:
DSC_0097 by David Cohen, on Flickr

Looking inside the TRE:
DSC_0099 by David Cohen, on Flickr

The right (top) and left (bottom) rack boots. The right one looks intact, until you realize that it had completely torn itself from the front and rear.
DSC_0100 by David Cohen, on Flickr

New TRE, rack boot and trunnion bushings:
DSC_0102 by David Cohen, on Flickr

This is the new headlight harness -- so far, I've been unable to locate where this plugs into the existing harness. I looked in the grille -- saw a lot of connectors, but none like this.
DSC_0103 by David Cohen, on Flickr
 
Look's like you are almost ready for spring, David. That plug looks a lot like the prongs on the back of a head light. Would it plug into an existing headlight outlet? Is that a upgrade or a relay set up?

Kurt.
 
nomad said:
Look's like you are almost ready for spring, David. That plug looks a lot like the prongs on the back of a head light. Would it plug into an existing headlight outlet? Is that a upgrade or a relay set up?

Kurt.
Click to expand...
Yep, that relay upgrade plugs into the headlight plug the normally connects to the bulb. All those labels will tell you which one goes where...this one controls the on/off function from the light switch. The 2 red wires will go to the battery and the 2 female plugs go to the headlight bulbs. You can route it on either the left or right side and use the old headlight plug that's closest to that one.
Rut
 
Thanks guys! Yes, I am close. There's 70 degree weather coming this week, but I don't think I'm going to make that. I think having it ready for Jessica's spring break is definitely within the realm of possibility, though.
 
Valuable lesson learned tonight -- don't set your tools on the metal piece in front of the radiator. One bump and they fall behind the grille, and the only way to retrieve them is to remove the grille. Good thing I needed to pull the grille off to install the new headlight wiring harness. I haven't done that yet...should get that knocked out in the next couple of days. Slowly inching towards being road-ready.
 
SaxMan said:
Valuable lesson learned tonight -- don't set your tools on the metal piece in front of the radiator. One bump and they fall behind the grille, and the only way to retrieve them is to remove the grille. Good thing I needed to pull the grille off to install the new headlight wiring harness. I haven't done that yet...should get that knocked out in the next couple of days. Slowly inching towards being road-ready.
Click to expand...

Hey, I remember that lesson! Then I also learned about scraping the skin off the back of my hand trying to reach them before I learned the call my wife with the very small hands to help lesson. :cheers:
 
I have a little magnet wand and a remote gripper for that! You are not alone!:highly_amused:
 
nomad said:
I have a little magnet wand and a remote gripper for that! You are not alone!:highly_amused:
Click to expand...

BTW I cut the holes out to a slot on my grill's so that I don't have to unscrew the bolts all the way. For the bolt's at the top of the grill I tape the nuts in place so that I don't have to struggle with them. Removing the grill can become a fairly regular need to get at wiring or radiator bolts.
 
Here's the used spark plugs. Looks like I've been running the motor too rich. The oil is expected as the rings are worn. However, I got really strong compression numbers on a cold engine 165 / 162 / 165 / 180. That would probably translate to the numbers I got last year off a warm motor: 150 / 140 / 150 / 165. Some of the higher number may be from me doing a better job adjusting the valves -- I used a feeler gauge this year instead of taking a wild guess.
DSC_0105 by David Cohen, on Flickr

This is the spare generator off the '67 Sprite now installed. Larry (longbridgehealey) included it with the sale of the car. Once I hit it with contact cleaner, cleaned it up in general, and put a couple drops of lube in the rear, it spun freely and quietly. I used the pulley and fan off the original generator as the ones on the '67 were not in good shape.
DSC_0111 by David Cohen, on Flickr

I only have a few tasks left. The temps are going to be in the 70s this week. I'm going to miss that target...I'd rather miss out on a couple of warm sunny days than to try to force the car onto the road when it isn't ready. I am sure it will be good to go by the time my daughter is on spring break
 
Double check your alignment, David. It should be close but probably not spot on. I have a personal rule that I won't go out till the salt is washed off the road's. Today would have been great but for the salt. Projected rain isn't going to amount to much.

Kurt.
 
I'm still probably about a week away from getting on the road. I agree with you 100% on the salt...the car doesn't leave the garage until its gone (I have the same rule for my road bike). Fortunately, we had some extremely heavy rains last week that washed all the salt off the roads.

I have to admit, the temptation to slap it back together and drive is almost too great to bear: 70 degrees today, 75 tomorrow, 80 on Thursday.
 
Does anyone have photos of their wiring harness upgrade for the square Sprite or Midget? I'm definitely confused. The headlight body has a rubber plug where the headlight wire goes in. Even if I undo the rubber plug, there does not appear to be enough clearance for the connector to the headlight to pass through on the way out, which means I can't put the new harness wiring on the way in.

Also having a heck of a time replacing the rubber gaskets on the front turn signal lamps. I'm thinking I have to unbolt the lamp assembly to properly seat the gasket, because it's just not happening right now.
 
After unplugging it from the headlamp. the individual connectors can be removed from that plug. it requires a small thin screwdriver to press down the tang as you pull out the wire. Remember the location of each wire in the plug.
 
David, I got a couple of those kits from VB when they were on sale a few years ago. When I saw how they were supposed to work I took them apart and completely changed the wiring on them. I recommend that you fit bullet connectors and plug them into the loom instead of the headlight plug.

Kurt.
 
nomad said:
David, I got a couple of those kits from VB when they were on sale a few years ago. When I saw how they were supposed to work I took them apart and completely changed the wiring on them. I recommend that you fit bullet connectors and plug them into the loom instead of the headlight plug.

Kurt.
Click to expand...

Kurt, the more I look at this harness mechanism, the more your suggestion makes sense. It's going to take some deciphering of the snarl of cables in front of the grill, but ultimately, it seems like a more efficient and less invasive way of doing this. I don't do a heck of a lot of night driving. I'm thinking I may back burner the headlight upgrade while I do my homework and get all the necessary connectors.

I did discover that with the Moss gaskets for the front marker lights that if you leave them on the markers for 24 hours, they will eventually stretch out and conform to them nicely. Had no problems replacing the rear gaskets. I went under the dash tonight to fix the broken turn signal indicator -- it turned out to be a broken connector to the bulb holder. Easy fix! Just a few more items to go before we're back on the road!
 
I got rid of about 90% of the wiring and mounted the relays in front of and below the radiator. The hot leads I ran back to my alternator hot post. The only thing that is suspect is that the relays are up where they will catch all the weather. I'm risking that. You will really like how much brighter your lights are but if I was to do it again I would just buy some over the counter relays and make up my own conversion. Apparently the relays in VB harness are kind of odd ball's.

Kurt
 
So, buttoning things up as I'm getting close to the end. Fire the car up - starts easily, but the generator light is glowing. Look under the hood - it's not spinning and neither is the fan. In the process of reattaching the generator, the belt came off the drive pulley and I didn't realize it. Also went to turn on the headlights -- nothing! running lights ok. turn signals ok, but no headlights. Obviously, something must have become disconnected while I was poking around the headlight harness. Arrrrrgh. Frustration, thy name is Spridget!
 
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