Still not a lot to report. The interior of the car has dried out, thanks to the dehumidifier, and my electric bill is sky high.
Right. I've been putting this off, but I need to get on with fitting the new wiper mechanism I bought last July, to "fit over the winter". Aye, right...
Are you sitting comfortably? We'll soon change that once you're upside down in the footwell. Then let's begin.
The first step is to remove the front of the cover, to get the bonnet (erm I mean "hood") open, to disconnect the battery. The back of that dashboard is
like electrical spaghetti, I'm not risking shorting something out and setting the whole shebang up in flames, with me frying inside it like an upside-down
tortoise.
Right, with that done, we need to start to strip the dash so we can get the old cable mechanism out.
I remove the glove box. That sounds easy, but you don't have enough space to get a screwdriver in, so I end up using one of those "offset screwdriver"
things, a tiny bit of a turn at a time, to remove the lid first (3 screws) and then the box itself (5 screws).
With that out of the road, I can see the back of the radio. Remember when radios were only held in by the knobs, and not all those fancy frames and clips
you get now? I do, and that's how this works! I pull off the knobs and then undo the two nuts around the spindles. That lets the radio drop back behind
the dash and out through the glove box hole, so that I can disconnect the various leads, including the aux plug to the CD player.
One radio, one glove box, one glove box lid.
Here's what's left behind the dash - lots of electrickery.
and the partially stripped dash...
I'm tempted to try to fix the original cable wiper system, but I'm going to have to take it all out to reassemble it anyway - and if I'm taking it out,
I'm not putting it back!
I also notice that the paint blistering has subsided a bit, now that the car is dry and the temperature is a wee bit higher - I might get away with that.
Unfortunately it starts to rain a wee bit at this point, and I don't want to put the cover back onto a wet car and start the paint blistering again, so
I shut up the car, and pull the cover back over.
The next steps are to remove the steering wheel, the indicator switch and the column gear change, and then the instrument cluster, to get to the driver
side wiper spindle. After that, it will be time to remove the old wiper mechanisms and cables, and start the new assembly!
:: Friday, March 16, 2018 ::
Next step in replacing the wipers is to remove the steering wheel. This bit is easy, I've done it before - see January 2017.
With that done, it's on to the turn signal (indicator) switch. This isn't some cheap plastic crap, oh no - it's got big chunky metal bits that move up
and down when you flick the lever. Its held onto the column by 3 screws, take them out and it pulls off over the end of the column, although the upper
bearing and retainer are all loose so come apart as I do it.
Then I take off the lower column shroud, to see if I can find a wiring connector for that switch.
No wiring loom here - there are 7 separate cables down the side of the column, into a connector under the dash - and guess what? The wires on one side of
that connector are the same colour as the wires on the other side. Are you listening TVR?
I don't take them out though, because they are awful tight, and because I don't think I need to.
The next step is supposed to be to remove the column gear lever, but I can't see why. Instructions online say you should, but updated instructions
don't mention it. I think I'll just ignore that bit and come back to it if I have to. We'll see!
This is where I've got to!
I'm doing all this with the car still under its cover - I've lifted the cover off the front and one side to get the door open, but the wind is picking up
and the cover is blowing all over the place, and I'm worried it's going to catch on something and tear.
I know I need to get on with this, but Ive been working most of the day, and I don't have much more time before I have to make my dinner. I pull the cover
over and attach the tethering straps. I hope to get more time over the weekend, if it's dry.
:: Monday, March 19, 2018 ::
Well, after another Siberian weekend, it's pretty mild today, the snow has all gone again, so I can work on the car without dressing as an extra in
"The Revenant".
It didn't take long today to realise why I have to remove that gear lever collar - the next step is to remove the instrument panel so that you can get in
behind it, and guess what? Yes, the bottom of the panel is tucked under that collar, so it has to come off!
The lever is held in with a roll pin - I peel back that wee rubber gaiter, and find a suitable drift, and tap the roll pin out, and remove the lever,
taking care not to lose the wee spring that's on the end. That lets me lift the rest of the gear change assemble off the end of the column.
What's next? Instrument panel - it's held in with 6 screws that you can see from the front, and 2 nuts on the back, that you can't see at all. I
disconnect the speedo drive and pull the panel forwards, and then remove and label all of the electrical cables one at a time (no multi-block connector
here!)
So that gets me to here...
Next - remove the wiper knob and switch. The knob is held on with a wee grub screw - loosen that and pull the knob off. Then the switch is held into the
dash with a small escutcheon (a ring with slots for a special tool that I don't have). A screwdriver and a wee hammer solves that dilemma, I loosen
the escutcheon and push the switch out of the dash, keeping the chrome switch trim and the internal label for re-use.
Now we're cooking! Right, time to remove the wiper arms - a wee bit of wood on a cloth, a flat screwdriver under the edge of the wiper, and they lever
off easy. Put them away with the left one on the left side and the right one on the right.
Then it's time to remove the chrome escutcheons on the outside - I do have a tool for those, so they come off easily as well. There is supposed to be
some sealer under the escutcheons to stop water going in the wiper holes, but mine hasn't.
I also notice that although the scutcheons have washer nozzles, somebody has snapped off the water pipe connectors to make the escutcheons easier to fit.
This is a bit of a bugger, frankly, because I was hoping to install some kind of washer system, but I would need new escutcheons.
The wiper pivot shafts are held in by a couple of bolts away up behind the dash - not easy to get to but I get them off, although they are still attached
to the motor by their cables.
The motor is mounted on to the firewall behind the engine, and is held in place with 2 screws. First disconnect a radio suppressor, then the control
cable (which isn't electrical - it's like a choke cable that moves a switch on the motor itself!). Then with the 2 screws removed, the motor pulls off
the firewall complete with the wires that work the pulleys on the wiper arms.
So this is the original wiper system.
The kit includes a plate to cover the hole in the firewall, so I bolt that in place after I've made a cardboard gasket.
So now we're ready at last, to start installing the new system!
First, I wire up the new switch, according to instructions in the kit, just for something easy to do while I straighten my spine up!.
Right, back under the dashboard!
Just as a reminder, here’s the whole kit that has to fit up behind the dash.
First I split off the passenger side spindle, by removing the nuts you see on those cross-bits. Then you fit the mounting plate loosely to the original
mounting bolts, and you can then (just) waggle the spindle and mechanism up behind the dash, with the front cross-brace in front of the heater ducts
to the windscreen, being careful not to trap any wires or control cables. put the spindle through the hole in the scuttle, and bolt it loosely to the
plate so you can adjust it later.
So far so good! Now for the motor end!
Unfortunately, it's getting to near dinner time, I'm not in any hurry to get this finished (I should be, but I'm not) and I need sealer anyway for the
escutcheons and that plate over the original motor hole, so I call it a day for today.
:: Thursday, March 22, 2018 ::
Back to the upside-down Krypton Factor...
Today, boys and girls, we will be installing the wiper motor. Do you know lots of bad words about wiper motors and fiddly bolts? Andrew does...
The main lesson today is to ignore the printed instructions and work it out for yourself. I'm not going toe explain how you're supposed to do it, because
that doesn't work unless you have a second wrist half-way up your forearm, and an eyeball, a light and a socket drive fixed to the end of each finger.
These failings are compounded by the fact that I am now as flexible and agile as a fossilised sloth, so reaching awkward things isn't easy!
So - first I insert the left hand end of the bridge that goes between the two spindles (the right hand end is already installed, fixed to the passenger
side wiper pivot). Then before I bolt the left-hand end to the car, connect up the wiring to the multipluSt on the motor, and I manoeuvre the motor and
mechanism up between the dash and the column, and insert the fact-hand wiper pivot through the bridge end, and install the pivot shaft spacer and nut,
making sure that the other wee mounting bolt goes into the hole in the mechanism.
With the pivot shaft nut hand-tight, that then lets me put the wee nut on the other mounting bolt, to hold it all together in place.
Then lift that whole assembly in place, and bolt it to the mounting plate on the car body.
Trying to do that in any other order is a waste of time. A lot of time.
With all the bolts still loose, I then adjust the mounting plates etc so that the wiper spindles line up with the holes in the scuttle, then I put the
external escutcheons on (temporarily) to hold everything in place while I tighten up all the mountings.
This shows the new wiper mechanism, looking through the instrument cluster. You can see the steering column and its support brackets on the right, and
the speedo drive lying across the bottom of the photo. It's hard to get a decent photo because it only just fits!
All of that wiring needs to be routed carefully so that it doesn't get caught up i the moving parts - that brass spindle in the middle of the photo takes
the drop link across to the passenger side, and moves to and from between 8 o'clock (where it's shown) and 4 o'clock (to the right) as shown by the wee
yellow arrow.
Anyway, next step is to install that drop link between the two spindles - it goes on with a thin washer and a clip that slides into a groove in the wee
brass post.
There's the drop link installed on the drivers side. This took forever, to hold that washer on, and get the clip on upside-down in a confined space.
The passenger side is a nightmare. I can't see what I'm doing, and hold the washer and the clip and a tool to push the clip on, all at the same time.
The clip flies off and disappears. Oh bugger.
After a search of the car that lasts longer than I hoped, I find the clip on the floor under a big tin of tools (how did it get under there?) and start
again. Nope...
Right - I remove the clock so that I can look through that hole while my hands are through the glove box hole... The clip falls off, the washer falls
off - I pick up the clip but the washer has disappeared in a way that would make Paul Daniels proud. It fell straight down. I saw it. Despite a huge
search of every nook and crevice under that bit, it doesn't turn up...
Plan B. I remove the RH pivot shaft and bridge end from the car again - I'll put the drop link together on the bench, and then reassemble everything
back into the car afterwards. First, though, I need a thin washer, and I don't have any.
So I go in to order a bag of thin washers, and I can't be bothered going back out again - there's not much more I can do until I get that washer, get
the mechanism back together and check that everything works.
Well that's not entirely true - I could install the new wiper switch and wire it up. Or maybe not, eh?
:: Friday, March 23, 2018 ::
The postman delivered the shims / washers that I ordered. No more excuses!
So back out to the car, to try to put that washer and clip on to the right hand spindle. Access is too fiddly though, and it's just not happening.
So I remove the RH escutcheon on the scuttle, and then unbolt the assembly in the middle, and the mounting bolt at the spindle end. That lets me get
the RH assembly out from behind the dash.
On the bench, the right hand half of the drop link clips straight on - easy when you can see what you're doing, and get both hands on it!
I manage to waggle that whole assembly back up under the dash from the passenger footwell, making sure that the mounting bar goes behind the screen
heater ducts, and the drop link goes in front, without catching any wires and cables on the way. I reconnect the two bolts in the mounting bar, and
then re-mount and re-align the RH wiper spindle through the scuttle.
Next step is to connect the two halves of that drop link. Except I realise that it's not going to go in place without rubbing on a big speaker under
the middle of the dash... Closer inspection shows that the speaker isn't even wired in, it has been superseded by a big woofer behind the back seat.
So I waste another 30 minutes getting the grill out, unbolting the speaker and then putting the grill back...
Right, back to original objective - I connect up the two halves of the cross-link, and tighten up the bolts.
Then I install the brace strap between the motor and the steering column mounting bolt - that holds everything in place nice and firmly!
Finally, I remove the escutcheons and put some silicon sealer around the scuttle holes, then refit and align the escutcheons.
That's the new wiper mechanism all in place!
Next step is to install the wiper switch - I've already connected up the ends, so I just need to push it through the dash hole, hold it in place, and
get the bezel and escutcheon on and tightened up. Which is trickier than it sounds, but I get there!
Then I replace the original knob on the new switch, so it all looks original!
Here's the new motor all in place to the left of the steering column, invisible from inside the car. I need to fix all that wiring in places that the
moving parts of the motor and drop link don't rub against anything.
The new switch has too much extra wire, so I'll either have to shorten them or coil them away somewhere. Don't want to shorten them just yet, until
I've tested everything and made sure it all works!
I still need to connect up a supply to the switch from the fusebox, and an earth. Not today though, it's dinner time again!
Progress at last - it's slow, but it's getting there!
:: Saturday, March 24, 2018 ::
First job is to finish the wiring. First I need to run a wire from a 5 amp fused ignition supply to the back of the wiper switch. Problem is that the car
only has a couple of ignition fuses, and those both work the radio, heater, etc - so I need to fit an inline fuse. I wire up the supply to fuse, fuse to
switch. and also have to relocate the supply I took to the relay for the radiator fan I fitted last year - it was on the unfused side of the ignition,
but carries such a low current it can share a fuse with something else.
Then I wire up the motor earth, to a suitable earth point (the bracing stay I fitted yesterday).
I use velcro tape to tie all the wiring away from the moving operating links.
Then I reconnect the battery and test the electrical operation and park position, making sure none of the moving parts are rubbing on anything. Perfect!
I refit the wiper arms, spray some water on the screen and test again. Even perfecter! I disconnect the battery again while I fiddle with other wiring.
Here's a first: I've never tried embedding a video in a web page before - so here goes for a new learning experience!
Was that good for you? I'm immensely satisfied...
Now it's time to reassemble the interior, starting with the instrument panel. I reconnect all the wiring, taking note of all the labels, and reconnect
the battery and switch on the ignition to check everything works - oil light, gas gauge, turn signals etc.
Then I fit the little wire to the back of the speedo, that works the gear selector indicator. It hooks through a tiny lever in the centre of the speedo.
Then holding that in place, I push the whole assembly into the dash, and fit the 2 screws at the top, and 2 under the ends, loosely for now. I install
the speedo drive into the back of the speedo, then the two hex nuts on the rods that go through the dash above the steering column, then tighten up those
4 screws. Next is a U-shaped bracket that goes under the steering column and screws into the edges of the instrument panel. I make sure to feed the turn
signal wiring between the column and that bracket.
I need to go and do other stuff, so I can't finish this today, but the next steps are to reassemble the steering column, and then refit the radio,
glovebox etc. Nearly there!
:: Sunday, March 25, 2018 ::
Busy day today but I've got an hour and a bit to see how far on I get with putting this interior back together. First the gear change lever. I apply some
grease to the outside of the column and the inside of the linkage bearing, then slide the collar on, over the column. Then I push the gear lever and spring
into the side of the collar, and use a drift to line up the securing pin hole, while I tap the lock pin through from above. That was easy!
Right - now the turn signal switch. First there's a thrust washer that is greased and then slips on, then a locking ring with 3 screw holes that the
indicator switch screws to - getting all of that lined up and back together is an absolute nightmare, but eventually, more by fluke than design, it all
lines up and the 3 mounting screws go in.
Then I fit the bearing securing ring and the spring that goes under the steering wheel.
I'm not going to refit the steering wheel just yet though, until I've tested that everything works!
So the next step is to refit the clock. I connect the supply wire and push the clock into place, and then refit the support bracket via the glove box hole.
Then fit the two illumination bulbs, making sure that the wiring is all clear of any moving parts of the wiper mechanism.
Last for today, I wire up the radio through the glovebox hole - there's a multiple for the main wiring, another accessory cable with a DIN socket, the
aerial, and then two wires that were plugged into sockets for the rear speakers (I think!).
That's me out of time again!
Next, I am going to reconnect the battery and check that everything works, before I refit the glove box and the steering wheel.
:: Monday, March 26, 2018 ::
Right, today we're getting this show on the road!
First I connect up the battery and try to check all the electrics to make sure I haven't knocked a wire off somewhere. Sidelights, headlights, interior
light ok, ignition on, warning lights ok, turn signals ok, radio / cd player works, clock working, cigar lighter works, heater motor works. Wipers still
work! Also make sure the electric supplementary cooling fan works if I turn the thermostat right down... and that, I think, is every electrical component
in a 60-year-old Chevrolet!
Also check that the gear change selects all the gears, and the gear indicator works.
Next step - will it start?
No!
Connect up jump leads from the Range Rover, try again. It goes! I let it warm up a bit then switch it off.
Next, the glove box fits up from under the dash, and screws in place with a screw in each side, and 3 along the top.
The glove box lid is fitted with 3 screws along the hinge - these are really awkward to get to, so I need the offset screwdriver again.
Last job - the steering wheel. I check that the bearing retaining clip and spring are still in place, then push the wheel onto the shaft and secure the
central nut. Then I assemble the horn ring mechanism, starting with a spring-loaded contact that fits through the wheel hub onto a live contact ring
underneath. Then there's a "spring ring" that makes the horn contact, and a plastic spacer / washer, then the horn ring, which is fixed into place with
3 screws that pass through that whole lot, with little insulator tubes. Then you snug the screws up and then tighten them gradually until the horn toots,
and back them off a little bit. That means that the horn toots wherever you touch the horn ring.
Last job - fit the central emblem with 2 screws that go through from the back and tada! Job jobbed!
That has been an ordeal, it's taken me a fortnight on and off! Half of that time has been recovering from lying upside-down in the footwell though...
I have a wee drive for 20 minutes, just because I can!
One radio, one glove box, one glove box lid.
Here's what's left behind the dash - lots of electrickery.
and the partially stripped dash...
