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Post by Volktales on Jul 18, 2021 21:46:11 GMT -8
Well here we go... Here is a fuse-box that I saved out of a long gone Tercel parts car... It is going to require a few modifications... I am not going to need all of those relays and maxi-fuses, so it is time to break out the trusty hacksaw... That is more like it. Everything has been mapped out as to what wires will go where... Everything hooked up the way I want it. Going to have to get creative to mount it to the firewall somehow... The Corvair only had five fuses, but I split one of the circuits to add a sixth fuse. Will it work??? Continued...
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Post by Volktales on Jul 18, 2021 21:56:02 GMT -8
This is the first thing that came on. The glove box light of all things, worked right away... All the warning lights finally lit up correctly too. This was short lived however, as I suspect the voltage regulator is intermittently malfunctioning. Something else to troubleshoot... And surprisingly, all of the dashboard illumination lights seem to function... Haven't cleaned that filthy speedo yet though... Lousy focus, but you get the idea. The fuel gauge now is moving too, so that is nice... Exterior lights are still not cooperating. I lost the one working parklight bulb in the front, but gained a tail-light after poking the contacts. All the lights need their sockets cleaned as well as the grounds. These sockets make ground through the housing, and all are somewhat corroded. This is probably why the signals don't work either... The floor mounted dimmer switch is a rotten blob, and not surprisingly no current was getting through. Bypassing this shows the headlights are capable of functioning once that switch is replaced. Basically more cleaning of grounds and terminals should get most things back working again. Now if only Dad's fleet of cars would stop having issues and I might get some more done on my stuff...
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Post by PICTUP on Jul 21, 2021 7:12:03 GMT -8
The resurrection continues with some good success! Ain't electrical fun!
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Post by Volktales on Jul 25, 2021 22:02:25 GMT -8
Just managed to lose what I was writing for this not once but TWICE, and am too irritated to re-do it now. I don't understand how, but if I manage to bump one of the lower buttons on the keyboard, it wipes away EVERYTHING that I have typed, and have no idea which key can do this. Sucky McSuckaroo...
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Post by Volktales on Aug 2, 2021 21:23:21 GMT -8
Sooo, not a lot got accomplished on this lately, and this is why... Been working of some of Dad's cars again, as three of them decided to have issues at the same time. His '56 Bel-Air was no exception... No it was not the engine, with the sometimes troublesome triple carburetors... No, this time it was the brakes. Note the lack of fluid in the front chamber of the master cylinder. What happened was some goof (who did not have the right-of-way), turned left directly in front of Dad who was forced to slam on the brakes so hard that he blew one of the front brake lines! And this was no ordinary line either, but one of those fancy stainless braided versions from a reputable company. Dad's car features four wheel Corvette discs with aluminum calipers. And uses a hydraulic booster the runs of the power steering pump. This system gives so much boost, that I have seen those aluminum calipers flex when applied. Luckily Dad did not actually hit the guy that cut him off, but he came VERY close. The guy took off of course, leaving Dad stuck there without hardly any brakes. He still drove home though... He was unable to find replacement lines, as he could not remember what the application was. Fortunately Gregg's in town here was able to fabricate him some new DOT approved versions, and these worked out just fine. Then the A/C quit working...
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Post by Volktales on Aug 2, 2021 21:38:32 GMT -8
But some other things have been accomplished with the Corvair... I want to continue on with repairing electrical issues before getting back to the engine. First up is to see if the faulty voltage regulator could be repaired... That rust inside is not a good sign. This regulator has been replaced at some time and is a solid state version. The original would have been electro-mechanical in nature with windings and points. The old ones can usually be coerced back into operation, but not this style... All that rust under the lid, as well as a tiny electronic component that blew right off the circuit board. This one is a goner, unfortunately. So what to do about it? This regulator fit pretty much every GM car and for many years too. Because of this it is easy to get one locally. Except Lordco wants $97 for this part. The exact same part is available from RockAuto for $47. Hmmmm. I have never bought stuff on-line from RockAuto, but pretty much everyone I know who has recommends them. I believe they are the biggest on-line retailer for car parts and stock an amazing amount of things for Corvairs. So as an experiment, I ordered the regulator from them as well as a dimmer switch, and they should be here later this week. Let's see how that works out... Also I decided to replace the engine compartment wiring harness in the car. Of course I am not buying a new one; luckily the spare engine came with the complete rear harness in better condition then the original. I did have to get creative repairing the tailight sockets however. New sockets are available from RockAuto as well, but they are molded in white plastic instead of black, so obviously that won't do... And check out the original back-up light bulbs. Two filaments within one bulb that are designed to light up together (note only one contact point). Ford used these special bulbs in the '60's too, as my old Cougar featured them as well. Good thing I think I have a spare, because the one shown had lost its vacuum seal and burnt up quite nicely within seconds of testing...
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Post by Volktales on Aug 2, 2021 21:58:34 GMT -8
Something else interesting on the Corvair front this week. Check out what arrived in the mail! Yes, just like the Volkswagen "Birth Certificates", GM of Canada can do the same thing. I have never done this for any of my VW's, but thought I would give it a go for this car. I had hoped it would have been a local car from new, but that was not exactly the case... Note it was sold at Dueck on Broadway in Vancouver when new. Dueck was a major dealership then, and still is today with multiple locations. At least now I know which dealer badge I need to find to fill the two holes that were drilled into the decklid. No stickers in that era, but a big chunky chrome badge. I have seen them before, and might try to find one... The other major thing of note is the engine number. Yes the car still has the numbers matching engine, so that makes me happy. The large list of options installed is misleading however. Most of those items listed were standard on the Monza model, but technically optional equipment for Corvairs in general. The "HI-PERFORMANCE" engine makes me laugh too. The 110 horsepower engine in my car was found in every Monza, and is the most common Corvair engine. But it is better than the base model 95 HP engine, so I guess that is where the "hi-performance" comes from... Anyway it was interesting to get this information, and I was advised any GM dealer can still cut me new keys for the car as they have ALL records back to 1946! That is kind of neat. Anyway I have not actually applied for a Birth Certificate for any of my Volkswagens. Unlike the Corvair, every VW I have came with enough paperwork to show which dealer originally sold it, and I could figure out things like trim and colours. Still might do it for the Fastback, as I have suspicions it might have been an Auto-Pact trade with a US dealer. This car was sold new in Nanaimo, yet was never equipped from the factory with a gas heater like it should have been. The heater installed was a different brand, and not a factory fit. Hmmm. Someday I will look into that...
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Post by owdlvr on Aug 4, 2021 9:35:07 GMT -8
Rockauto has basically been the only option for the Bricklin, unless I'm using one of the Bricklin specialist parts houses (which require phoning, no email or online, and they are a pain). Rockauto is excellent, until you need to return a part, get a wrong part, or have an issue. Pretty much bet that if the part comes wrong, you're SOL.
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Post by Volktales on Aug 15, 2021 20:33:46 GMT -8
Sooo I have not been able to get back to this for awhile. But some things did occur... After only three days, my parts arrived from Rock Auto! And they appear to be exactly what I ordered. The voltage regulator is even stamped "made in USA"! Not what I actually expected. And the news got even better... Unlike the crummy electronic version on the Corvair, this is an original type electro-mechanical design which have a tendency to be more reliable. Who would have expected that? The dimmer switch is not Chinese made either, but actually comes from Taiwan. If you know your products nowadays, Taiwan produces higher quality goods then China usually does. And my wife approves as well so that is good... Now to just find the time to install these parts...
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Post by busaddict on Aug 15, 2021 20:56:19 GMT -8
Very nice...
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Post by 68IIIbuggy on Aug 16, 2021 7:23:19 GMT -8
I've been buying almost exclusively from RockAuto for about 5 years now. During that time, I think I've only had one wrong part. I was so cheap that I didn't bother sending it back. As a side note, unless you're wanting to keep your engine compartment completely original looking,a later (70s-80s) Delco alternator will bolt right in. Looks almost the same, but has the regulator built in. The wiring is a bit simpler too. Available used everywhere, and cheap new (around $50 last time I checked).
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Post by Volktales on Aug 16, 2021 20:38:03 GMT -8
I've been buying almost exclusively from RockAuto for about 5 years now. During that time, I think I've only had one wrong part. I was so cheap that I didn't bother sending it back. As a side note, unless you're wanting to keep your engine compartment completely original looking,a later (70s-80s) Delco alternator will bolt right in. Looks almost the same, but has the regulator built in. The wiring is a bit simpler too. Available used everywhere, and cheap new (around $50 last time I checked). You are correct about that alternator. I am a sucker for originality (mostly), so will stick with the original style. The Corvair specific alternator does have an unusual feature in that the fan is actually part of the pulley. And it spins backwards compared to most other alternators as well...
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Post by Volktales on Aug 22, 2021 21:31:09 GMT -8
Sooo, finally spent some quality time with the Corvair this weekend... First up was installing the regulator assembly. The original mounting system was a captured nut encased in rubber, that pushed into three holes in the firewall, then machine screws were threaded into the nuts. Of course these were rust blobs and could not be reused. Some brass bolts through rubber grommets with nuts on the backside did the trick. Note the separate ground wire... The engine compartment wiring harness was replaced with the one from the parts engine. This harness includes the tailight sockets, and these needed repairs. Otherwise the harness was in much better shape then the original one... All that orange surface rust to the left of the regulator was due to a long vacated rodent nest in that location. The right side has no rust at all in the same area... All the wiring to the starter was cleaned up, as well as the ground wires. The main body ground was missing, and the connector that distributes battery power to the front of the car was quite poor. To top it off, the wire shown without a home in the above picture was actually quite important. This is supposed to be hooked to a specific terminal on the starter, and supplies full voltage to the coil under cranking conditions. It was not even attached to anything. I figured after this work I would be rewarded with a fast cranking starter and fully operational charging system. But it was not to be... Continued...
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Post by Volktales on Aug 22, 2021 21:41:08 GMT -8
While mulling over my next step, my eyes fell on the above data plate. That pathetic overspray everywhere is 100% factory GM. Nice. So the next morning, it was time to investigate the starter. This is not the one from the car, but is the suspected better condition one from the parts engine. Lets pop it open and have a looky inside... Well I have seen enough. The brushes have little wear, and the commutator bars looked great. The bushing in the endplate was full of very old very sticky grease and did not rotate easily. This was replaced with fresh lube. And then the end plate reinstalled. This starter worked fine on the spare engine, so this is why I elected to do a swap. Getting that old starter out was fun. It needed some persuasion with the BFH to get it to separate. Look at all that nasty rust on the bell-housing face. This was sanded away until smooth and shiny bare-metal remained. The "new" starter slid in just fine, other than those tiny stupid nuts that hold the wires on that GM was so fond of for decades... And the result? Now the starter cranks beautifully every time whether cold or hot, and the engine starts nicely. But what about that charging system??? Continued...
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Post by Volktales on Aug 22, 2021 21:56:41 GMT -8
So tests were performed to see what was going on with the charging system. The alternator, wait "Delcotron", was disconnected from the regulator and full-fielded. This revealed it has the capability of charging properly. So the wire connector to the regulator was carefully cleaned with vinegar and time. These wires are part of the replaced harness, and were checked for proper function. Everything seemed in order... A bit more testing revealed the Delcotron is actually outputting around 13.2 Volts at idle, so it is doing something. But the dash indicator will not turn off at all. See that solenoid on the left of the voltage regulator? That is the regulator field relay, and it should close contact when 1.5-3.2 volts is produced by the Delcotron. Well 6.2 volts was sitting there at the correct terminal, and the relay won't engage. If you manually push on the connector and close the contacts, the charging light will go out and the voltage increases to 14.5 at idle. The relay will not lock in at all, so my suspicion is the regulator field relay is faulty. Just what you want in your brand new "proudly made in the USA" part. Nice. Tomorrow we will see if it is possible to tweak it a little...
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