58367 The $75 Junkyard Carrera coupe restoration

[roy mawbey]

Looks very neat to me Justin! hope you are all keeping away from this Covid thing, if you are all okay enjoy the Christmas break and all the best for better 2022!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy, I did, hope your holidays went as smoothly. Been there and done that already; Just waiting on the next "lab leak"

[JTR70]

Dash wiring mock up continued:
Hooking up the turn signal switch: The color coding on most of the wires on the original blinker switch harness is gone so it was clipped free of the original harness just after the bullet connectors for later reference. "later" became now and life was so much easier figuring out which wire was which with the preserved color coding on the wiring loom side.
Other peripheral components to install where the back up light, dimmer switches and the horn contacts.
Minor modifications needed to my only locking collar to properly index my ignition switch into the dash. All these seemingly endless adjustments and changes as it goes.
Blinker switch leads tucked in beautifully down into the column brace. A real treat having something fit in so nicely on the first try. I'll take it where I can.
Horn contacts installed with wire leads.
Ignition switch installed and index properly into the dash after the locking collar change. Accessory plug completes all the electrical connections on this side of the under dash.

[JTR70]

Dashing wiring mock up completed:
All grounds and leads connected. As I said earlier most of these systems probably won't work especially on 12V but the routing and "figuring out" aspect is done. I can now go back address each system individually as needed.
A long time coming but I finally have all the holes in this dash face filled in.

The original gauge faces are faded and a bit flakey from all of those decades exposed to the desert heat and UV light but I've decided to leave them unrestored. I figure that any gauge can be restored to 4-cam specs so their current condition preserves more component authenticity.
Moving off the dash down into the foot well to mount and connect the cold-start throttle cable. Twin original mounting clamps under the tank floor as shown in my workshop manual. The empty clamp would secure the tachometer cable but I'll be running an electric tach with that Polo-engine so it will remain open for the foreseeable.
End of the lead secured with all the correct and original hardware; I even managed not to lose that brass limiter collar at the center of the wire. All the little parts you don't care about until its time to put the car back together. I learned that lesson the hard way. More later....

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

More footwell mock ups and small hardware details:
Had to round up these proper little dome headed spade screws for the reverse light switch mounting. This switch will most likely have to be removed as the plan has been to move a custom 901 compatible shift tower rearward with an adapter baseplate that will allow it to be repositioned without modification to the tunnel. That's an upcoming side project.
Dimmer switch harness routed with a little twist toward the end so it would pin itself up high and tight against the clutch pedal limiter plate. Later A's have two loom tabs but this car only came with one so this was my best guess.
Last little minute detail are the figure 8 type headed bolts found only here. Have to clean the rust of that cap...
Unique gas pedal base bolts with a spade screw driver slot carved in. Again, only place on the car where these were found.

Gone about as far as I can for the moment in here. Moving onto setting up the harness leads in the trunk.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[Rimcanyon]

Dashing wiring mock up completed:

Justin, I am at the same point on my 59 Convertible D restoration, although in my case, all the under dash components are already in place and I am removing them one by one to fix damage and lube and clean parts and restore wiring. My wiper motor was hanging with one original fastener and a 7/16" SAE bolt. So I need a full set of wiper motor fastening hardware. Where did you find the rubber grommets and the small spacers that go inside the grommets?

[JTR70]

Hi Dave, Those are the original grommets in there. I was fortunate enough get it reassembled without them crumbling. I do remember seeing a vendor offering them though. I'll try to find it. As for the hardware I have extra if you need them.

[JTR70]

Setting up the forward trunk harness.
Loom secured to the walls and coiling up the optional fog light leads as found originally.
Ground leads for the headlight and horn mocked up with the correct cheese head screw and large base washer. I kept an original configuration of this set up so I'd have a reference when the day finally came. At this point I was still waiting on my rubber insulator grommets for the horn leads.
Figuring out the correct wire configuration out to the horns and blinker lights. This is the supplied ground lead from Y-n-Z for the horn and blinker. It's Siamesed at the eyelet that connects to the horn terminal.
Positive lead out to the horn with eyelet. (Y-n-Z harness)
My 1956 workshop manual depicts a direct connection without the eyelets. The ground lead also shown with the additional black weather sheathing.

[JTR70]

T1 Style horn leads continued:
Referred to the original harness out of this car and no eyelet found at the end of the horn lead.
Going back with an original ground lead and added the weather sheathing as the manual illustration shows.
Eyelet removed from harness lead for a direct connection as shown in the manual. I was feeling better about this already.
Signal light lead plumed through the bottom of the headlight bucket. Ground lead with eyelets on both sides will remain but just not Siamesed at the horn terminal as supplied by Y-n-Z. I have an original section configured like that so I can assume the eyelets to the horn were a T2 evolution.
One last final adjustment as it went. I'd like to keep the wire leads on the horn side of the fender brace for added protection. (red line) To allow that I'd have to cut this much off (at the green line) for a relaxed connection behind the brace. No big deal of course but this process just highlights that all new parts need to be scrutinized and not just accepted as being correct out of the box.

Thanks for looking.

Justin

[roy mawbey]

Looks nice and neat Justin. Never a five minute job though is it!

Roy

[JTR70]

Thanks Roy, No, never a five minute job. I'd have to suspect something being very wrong if it was...LOL

[JTR70]

Finishing up the left side fender wiring routes and connections:
Shortened both horn leads about this much. New end resoldered here and ready to go back in for one last time.
A relaxed route just to the inside of the brace, I'm fine with this.
Blinker ground lead mounted under the set screw just as if I had left that Siamese ground configuration from Y-n-Z.
Connections and wiring routes all finished out here. I may run a zip tie around the horn leads to the conduit to secure them further but otherwise....done.
Final configuration and presentation to the inside as well. Repeat right side.

Thanks for looking!

Justin

[JTR70]

Right side mock up:
The horn won't be mounted in its stock configuration if at all to make way for the oil cooler assembly I was recommended to use with Dean's motor; but I do want the wire leads set up and ready if and when the day comes to put it all back to stock /correct.
Cooler mount assembly quickly unbolts and horn goes right into stock location. Minimal invasiveness which is the way it was all planned.
Onto cutting and configuring the wires to match the left side.
All set
Horn assembly now ready to come out and will continue mounting and plumbing oil cooler. BTW: the cooler sits directly in the path of the stock blinker light lead exit. The metal drain tube couldn't be installed for clearance issues as well so the drain hole will now become the lead exit for this configuration. The original drain tube is in the same box with all the rest of the stock correct parts for this car that won't be used this time around. The most important thing is to have those parts on hand for the next custodian if they wish to bring it back 100% stock correct.

Final cooler and plumbing up next.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Finalizing oil cooler lines:
Considerable time was not only spent mounting this cooler but also in building the alloy front ducting and rearward shrouds. The final challenge was plumbing hoses back over to the hardlines and around this ducting in such a confined space. The bottom line here was very straight forward.
But the top line configuration was a sticking point. The easiest path on the line was to loop it over the headlight bucket but I never felt right about that and it would require some sort of anchor point to be added on the bucket.
I preferred to keep it low and to snake under the bucket but there was a bit of tension on the hose to duck under here so I wasn't sure about that either.
It also needed and additional 90 degree elbow to make it back to the hardline.
This wasn't the only issue, the turn signal light is inside of this duct making access for service or removal a huge PIA as the eventual lines would all have to come out in sequence . I got very resistant to going any further so I left it loose and let it marinate in my mind for the last few years until I had to actually deal with it.

[JTR70]

Final oil line configuration:
Fast forward a few years and I came to the conclusion to abandon both my initial line configuration and the forward duct. The ducting isn't really necessary and installation and any future service would be so much simpler without it in the way.
I ordered these 90 degree swivel banjo fittings to come off right at the cooler.
With another 90 elbow to point the hose straight back to the hardlines.
Soft lines will now pass straight in front of the cooler; Sometimes the best answer is the simplest. I thought about putting some holes in the ducting for the lines to pass through but its just too tight and confined in there.
Besides it still didn't solve the access issue of the turn signal assembly. BTW: grill and light installed for the final time here. Light lead now passes through the original drain tube hole for cooler clearance. The ground lead that would normally go to the horn looped over to the horn grill stud for this configuration. Cavity in the beehive light base packed with grease as a rust inhibiter.

More on this install later.
Thanks for looking.
Justin

[Jbrooks]

Justin

Extremely nice install here. I have never seen those swivel fittings before, very nice.

[JTR70]

John, Thank you so much, I'm glad that you like it. Those swivel fittings really turned the trick. I came to the conclusion that the ports on the cooler had to face forward instead of out the side. My initial thought was to have my machinist make some sort of 90 degree fitting at the cooler but a quick search on the web for "90 degree oil cooler fitting" immediately brought these up. I knew this was my answer the minute I saw them. The ability to swivel really made the difference. If I had had these made they would have been fixed making the final soft line fitment that much harder. Thanks again. Justin

[JTR70]

Final soft line configuration and an expensive lesson along the way.
Finalized the needed length of the bottom/inlet line and fully assembled here.
Inlet line fitting beautifully so far. No clearance issues with the swivel elbow and the body as there is space enough to get my fingers in between the two. Final length of the hose doesn't jamb the quick release clamshell (in purple) into the battery box wall either. Its all floating nicely so far. Like the swivel elbows these specialty quick disconnect units are allowing this configuration to move forward; absolutely no clear shot to get a spanner wrench in there. Especially at the upper return line.
The road didn't stay smooth for long. I had initially ended the hardlines to work with my original configuration a few years back. Now that its changed and am running them directly across the front my 90 degree elbow is now running into the cooler. I took some time to explore my options like adding an inch back onto the hardline but that was too impractical. I really only needed to relax the elbow slightly to clear so I went down that road.
I had my machinist turn two pry-bars to fit in both ends snuggly. On my first attempt I snapped the upper cup almost immediately (pictured directly above) there went 80 bucks. I ordered another and supported the cup this time with a hose clamp. It's alloy and I only needed 3 degrees tops for clearance so I thought I'd be successful this time. The cup survived but the elbow cracked...there went another 80 bucks! I couldn't use heat as there is a rubber seal on the hose side collar and its not designed to come apart. I was now investigating cobbling these two together but again there is an internal seal on the hose side so it couldn't be TIG welded. JB weld may have worked but it was getting dodgy at this point.
My only other option was a 60 degree fitting. I thought that it might not be enough turn but it was the only choice short of modifying the hardline. Another 80 bucks later I took delivery of this 60 degree fitting and as you can see it fits beautifully in there. With the ability of the other side to swivel the trajectory of this softer elbow could be adjusted slightly allowing this clean fit. An expensive lesson but problem solved and I avoided disturbing the hardlines.

[JTR70]

Oil cooler fully plumbed and installed.
During the mock up phase only the return line passes directly in front of the cooler. Just clears the turn signal light so another problem avoided.
Both lines run without touching the body, chassis or the cooler itself. They float nicely in there and I couldn't be happier.
I would also find that the swivel ends allow both the removal and reinstallation of this cooler with these soft lines as a unit. I spent a ton of time on that duct but the final trade-off and the ability to put this to bed is well worth any effort that I lost on it.
Cooler and lines mounted and set for the final time. (hopefully, baring any leaks)
Wasn't a total loss as I was still able to utilize the protective shrouding at the back. Oil cooling system finally completed. Onto the next deal.

Thanks for looking!
Justin