1968 Coronet 500 Project

[JimKueneman]

One end routes down the driver kick panel to connect to the harness heading back to the blower motor.

The other connects to the AC fuse clip for power

Whats next for accessory harnesses?

Pink and the orange clip into the fuse box

The flying leads off the bulk head connector harness get the connector shell that was in the Year One harness bag installed and plug into this accessory harness.

Finally the other end just routes down the kick panel area, any guesses? This is the wiring to the neutral safety switch and console lighting!

Now what do we have for an accessory harness? This is the harness that has the timer for the ignition switch light that is tied into the door switches so the ignition light comes on when the door is opened I think. The larger bulb socket with the dual wire yellow connector and round 90 degree brown connector go to the under dash map light and its switch.

Few simple harnesses, the pink runs from the fuse box to the glove box light and the orange are the ashtray light and clock light.

 

[JimKueneman]

And the final solution (minus the radio which Billccm is working on)...

These guys route up and over to the map light and switch under the passengers dash lip.

 

[JimKueneman]

When I started this adventure it was because I decided the chance of finding a Blue and White '69 Sport Satellite was too low. Well guess what. A guy in Denver just found one with 32k miles on it and I am on the list to be called when he wants to sell it? Ready to sell it yet Dan? He is my new best-est Facebook Friend!!!!

 

[JimKueneman]

S/M Electro-Tech speakers came today. Front one is installed and the dash is buttoned up. All I need is a radio.. wink, wink

http://www.turnswitch.com/speakers.htm

My daughter left the charger for my camera at school so the photos may be light this weekend.....

I will be getting some bulbs tomorrow and it is time to install the dash, hook up the wires, install a battery, and turn on the switch to let the smoke out of some part!

I had an epiphany about running my fuel pump wiring through the firewall. There are 2 empty connector in the bulk head connector. I plan to salvage the Packard #56 sockets and blades from the old harness and actually have the fuel pump power pass through the factory bulk head connector. These connectors are rated for a whopping 56A but as we know that assumes a clean, clean, clean connection. The infamous melting of the bulk head connector with the ammeter current in the old Chryslers is proof of that. I do not plan on installing the parallel wire with the ammeter connection pins. Chrysler added dielectric grease to keep the moisture out of the connector and stop the pin corrosion in the early 70's or so then started running a redundant wire on some trucks before they finally switched over to volt meters. I rarely plan on taking her out of her glass display case let alone get it wet!

 

[threewood]

Darned right! You need to keep that girl clean

I ran my ammeter wire straight through (drilled a hole in the bulkhead side) and soldered it to the wire in the harness. May be a pain if I ever have to take it out but the connection will remain solid. I also ran my 2 thin tach wires through the bulkhead (straight through.)

 

[JimKueneman]

Went to town (the oldest daughter first drive in town on her 1 week old permit....I survived...) and needed to go to 2 places to get all the bulbs I needed (I replaced them all). Thought about going all LED but could not swallow the $300 for bulbs right now. Bought all the bulbs for the car for under $50. They are name brand but as everything is made in China. We will see.

All the bulbs are replaced in the car. All under dash harnessing is finished as wire tied cleanly including the fuel pump power that passes through the only 2 free pins in the bulk head connector. It mimics the factory harness by running from the bulk head connector through the wire loops and terminates where the harnesses head for the rear of the car for the console, rear lights, rear speaker and rear window defogger. I will install the Delco Weatherloc connector here at the kick panel to be just like the way the factory broke up the wiring.

Under the hood I have run the FiTech harnesses along the firewall and have a plan to get them tied it to the car. Just need to scan the schematic to find the best place for an ignition switching power point.

Billccm stayed up late last night and replace the caps in the Radio. He has a video of it worked like new (better than?) on his workbench in both AM and FM with great sensitivity! He was running it all day to see if anything gives up the ghost since it has not been operated in 38 years. I should get it back Monday.

Tomorrow I plan to have my helper schedule to stop by and help me lift the dash back in the car! Exciting times in Sonoita!

Lastly I finally got the steering collar to fully engage into the steering gear shaft. A rubber mallet and a punch in the roll pin hole to jiggle it while smacking with the rubber mallet got it on.

 

[Billccm]

For those interested here are the videos of Jim's radio on the bench. It played 10 hours yesterday. Pushbuttons set fine. The dial clutch slips oh so slightly, but I soaked in in rubber revitalizer and it will be fine. I assume Jim will find some method to polish the pushbuttons to better than new condition (then I will use that trick on my next radio resto).

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AsCEaRUOIFqIoDfvPS9wDyEuMTUL

 

[JimKueneman]

All the wiring is done and nicely routed and tied. All except for the Radio. Since the daughter lost my camera charger at school I went to town to buy a new charger and stopped by Billccm's house to pick up the Radio.

Bill was having some problems with the station selector dial as it seemed like it was slipping. I took it home anyway and pulled off the plate. The bevel gear was made of what looked like Delron and had split so it was slipping on the shaft. It is hard to see but here is a crack in the gear.

I took some phosphor bronze wire, which is very brittle but very strong and I twisted two strands around it. I twisted it tight to pull the split closed. Before I did this I had took my Dremel and dug out the split a bit so I could fill the groove some 2 part epoxy. The plastic is brittle so I knew it would split somewhere else eventually so that is why I wrapped it with the wire. I mixed up some JB Weld and wrapped the gear collar with it, burying the wire and making complete circle around the gear. I then slipped it back on the knurled shaft. Note I did not glue the gear to the shaft I just reinforced the gear collar that engages the shaft. By installing it before the JB Weld dried it puts just enough pressure to hold the shaft but not a lot of pressure that can stress the plastic any more than necessary.

While it was apart I used a Dremel and brass brush with chrome polish to clean and polish the face of the radio and buttons and reinstalled it in the dash.

 

[JimKueneman]

The fader for the front and rear speaker was factory parts but clearly is dealer installed and was horrible. I rewired it with heat shrink tubing and added a connector so I could remove the radio without cutting the wire or removing the fader potentiometer from the dash.

All the harnesses that plug into the car are nicely bundled ready for install.

 

[JimKueneman]

The moment of truth. The wife helped my guide the dash into the car. Getting the bulkhead connector into the firewall is a BUGGER with AC. It is better to not install a few of the braces that crisscross the mounting structure for the column. Also leaving the wiper mechanism loose so you can move it would help a lot. I finally found a way to get my arm in the dash and the wife held a mirror under the hood so I could see what I was doing from the engine side of the firewall and I finally popped the sucker in.

I really roasted my buns when I cracked the defroster vent duct with my arm under the dash. I used some water pipe wrap tape to repair the duct. This stuff is really sticky and seemed to work well. Notice how I hold the dash with wire to keep it from flopping into the car.

All the wiring, cables and hoses are wired up. Just need to get the wire chase and connections behind the parking brake for the rearward going harnesses to connect to the dash and I am ready to test the wiring inside the car!!!!!! It is really dark inside the car again (with everything black) so I will wait until I have some daylight to finish that up. Now just need a few hours of work under the hood and I am going to hook up a battery and see what catches fire!

The garage is getting really empty! Finally!

 

[Billccm]

I will sleep better tonight knowing the radio is fixed. Definitely don't like letting one leave my bench with a problem.

The broken gear seems to be a somewhat common problem when I search around the web, but never had one fail in the many that I have repaired. Learn something new everyday.

 

[Billccm]

Do both of those Tekronix scopes work? Do you have the spectrum analyzer plug in?

 

[JimKueneman]

Do both of those Tekronix scopes work? Do you have the spectrum analyzer plug in?

One does the other is for parts. No I don't have the SA for it.

 

[JimKueneman]

Just pulled the trigger on a NOS antenna kit.... Ouch.... but I need to get it in before I button up the dash...

 

[threewood]

Looking great!

For the ducting, they make repo duct hoses. But this is what I used on my 62 and it is better quality....https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=3620

 

[JimKueneman]

Looking great!

For the ducting, they make repo duct hoses. But this is what I used on my 62 and it is better quality....https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=3620

Thanks for showing me another avenue to spend my money......

 

[JimKueneman]

I will sleep better tonight knowing the radio is fixed. Definitely don't like letting one leave my bench with a problem.

The broken gear seems to be a somewhat common problem when I search around the web, but never had one fail in the many that I have repaired. Learn something new everyday.

What is the recommended fix?

 

[BeeKool]

Just pulled the trigger on a NOS antenna kit.... Ouch.... but I need to get it in before I button up the dash...

What type of antenna?
I saw they make ones that come up every time you turn the key on and down when you shut the car off.

 

[JimKueneman]

What type of antenna?
I saw they make ones that come up every time you turn the key on and down when you shut the car off.

OEM new old stock Chrysler telescoping (manual) antenna.

 

[Billccm]

What is the recommended fix?

There is a member 'BigMoneyLewis' on board.moparts.org that says send him the radio and he can fix it. Does not describe his fix.
The antique radio forum guys were not familiar with the failure, but I showed them your fix and they were impressed.