We had our first "nice" day this weekend - it was only 95 - and it was a perfect day for working in the garage. So I did. Yuck.
Not many photos this time - I was too dirty to hold the camera. But here's a rundown of my productive day:
- Replaced handbrake cable
- Rebuilt driveshaft
- Replaced brake light switch
- Cleaned heater controls and installed heater cable
First, I replaced the handbrake cable. This was probably the grossest operation, because it was filthy and... well, that's enough. The cable was not frozen, but the pivot was (I fixed that a while back). The PO just loosened the cable so it wouldn't work at all. I ordered a new cable - so in it went.
But first, the seat came out.
That's the original carpet, folks - look at the fade on that tunnel carpet where the console goes. It's gonna go, eventually. I vacuumed all the crud out.
After pulling the seat, I removed the linkage under the car and then removed the lever. It got a good cleaning, too.
There's a couple of nuts and a clip holding the cable in place, which fortunately are accessed from within the cockpit. I removed the linkage pins and the retaining bracket, and out it came. The new one is next to it for comparison.
Reinstallation was not difficult. I spent more time cleaning stuff under the car. I lubed the new cable and hooked it up, then reinstalled the handbrake lever. The tensioner went together easily (being clean), and I adjusted it to 4-5 clicks to hold.
Moving on - since I was under the car, I pulled the driveshaft. I figured replacing the U-joints would be simple; I've done it a few times before, so piece of cake. Right?
Wrong.
The front yoke came apart easily enough. The retaining clips came out, and I was able to knock the cups out. Putting the new ones back on, though, was a real bear. I twice had the roller bearings slip and fall into the cup and had to take the cups out, which are a tight fit. I did get the front yoke done and working smoothly.
The back yoke was a different story. Being exposed and not covered in crud meant that it was rusted together. The clips broke when I tried to remove them. So after struggling and not a few choice words, I got out the cutoff tool and cut the center of the U-joint right out. I was then able to knock the cups through into the center and remove the remnants of the broken clips.
After cleanup, the U-joint actually went together easily. The cups were not as tight of a fit (but snug) and things lined up nicely. After a clean, it went back in the car and all should be well.
Being tired, I decided to tackle an easy job - replacing the brake light switch. The hardest part of that job was trying to figure out why I had no power to the switch (which was bad, so I felt better about it). It appears the PO's mechanic did some creative wiring and moved some stuff around at the fuse block. After sorting that out, I had a working brake light switch - and once installed, working brake lights!
Finally, I installed a new heat control cable. I cleaned the controls so they move smoothly and hooked it up. It's hanging there until I reinstall the dash, but it works.
My next jobs:
- Remove the heater box and replace the seals and the air diverter cable, which is frozen. Then I can have heat, or not, and have it come into the car, or not.
- Reinstall the (new) dash wiring, test it, and reinstall the dash with instruments. One nice thing - I can plug all this stuff into the dash before installing it, then just plug in the harness. Finally, something smart about the engineering on this car. Once installed, I will reinstall the header controls and have a fully sorted dash.
- Rebuild the old set of SU carbs I have once I can piece together two good carbs from four (A friend is bringing me a set - and I traded for manifolds). Kits are on order.
- Pull the air pump, carb and exhaust system, and replace with decent stuff. Not the air pump, mind you - that goes in a box.
At that point, the car should go and stop again, and I can work on suspension and steering. This project is a real project, all right!
