Gramma's Car: the new project!

[njsteve]

Figured out the high speed fan problem.

I checked the relay connection and it is the melted wire syndrome. 20 years ago I put an inline fuse in the power feed for the high speed circuit, where it enters the relay. You can actually see the orange wired, white plastic inline fuse holder in the upper left corner by the passenger side hood hinge, in the first photo above. I think I did this because the original wire melted, so I thought a fuse would protect the wire in the future.

In actuality, all it does is heat up the inline fuse carrier enough that it softens the plastic and then the metal connectors no longer contact the inline fuse, cutting off the 12 volts feed.

I jumped the two ends of the melted fuse holder and high speed then functioned perfectly.

I guess I forgot that the relay is the thing that is supposed to be protecting the circuit from heat damage but it doesn't do too good of a job at it.

I guess I will go back to the original 12 gauge wire and forget the fuse.

This seems to be a common problem on the F-bodies.

[njsteve]

I rechecked the wiring diagram and it is supposed to have the fuse up there. Most other F-bodies have the fuse right behind the alternator. Since this car has the optional 80-amp alternator, the fuse is in a different location. I bought a modern fuse holder and replaced the inline fuse holder with it. The wires are long enough to allow the non-stock looking fuse holder to be hidden. It worked great - I have high speed back again and the fuse holder no longer heats up and loses contact.

[njsteve]

I was going throught the pile of original paperwork the other day and found the old Midas Muffler paperwork. Gramma bought the lifetime warranty shocks way back when. My brother got them replaced under the lifetime warranty back in 1984 and again in 1991. I figured after 20 years it was time again so I paid a little visit to the local Midas shop that is run by a friend of my mechanic buddy. The owner had a good laugh and ordered the shocks up for me.

The kids working there (who were not born when the original set...or the second...or third set was put on) could not figure out how to read the original paper warranty certficate and do the paperwork. All they kept saying was, "It's not on my computer. I don't know how to do this?"

The kid tried to convince me that I owed $198 for installation, and I referred him back to the certificate that states, "free parts and free labor." He couldn't believe they used to have that deal (it's only free parts nowadays).

The owner got a kick out of watching the young'ens squirm under this incrediblely arduous paperwork task, so he assigned his "old timer" to put the shocks on. (He had a 73 T/A way back when and enjoyed working on Gramma's car).

Lucky for them I replaced the original Midas single exhaust and transverse muffler years ago with my own dual setup, otherwise I would have gone the full exhaust route, too.

I didn't even start on the lifetime brake warranty, - as she only has 5000 miles since the work was done in '91. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/naughty.gif[/img]

[Xplantdad]

Great stuff Steve!

[mockingbird812]

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/haha.gif[/img] beautimus!!

[ANDY M]

I remember their commercial with an old guy bringing in a Model T.
At the end of the ad, the tag line was &quot;See ya again, boys&quot;.
That old man had a wicked grin, too. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/naughty.gif[/img]

[69biscayne]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9zta...yer_detailpage

[njsteve]

I got some NOS seat material from SMS Upholstery and had my upholstery guy replace the center section on the driver's seat bottom. The center seam ripped a couple winters ago when I made the idiotic move of kneeling on the center of the seat to get something in the car. NEVER DO THAT ON A COLD VINYL SEAT! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/no.gif[/img]

The NOS material was dated 1975 and matched perfectly.

I have around 600 miles on the rebuilt engine now. Still runs a bit warmer than it used to, but eventually it should cool down (by winter time, I guess).

[grantprix]

Nice job on the seat repair! The car looks great.

[MosportGreen66]

Steve,

Install a Milodon 160 deg thermostat! They make the engine a cooler place.

Dan