Headlight relay and paint pics

john70t · 02:58 PM

This was an install from a kit from Painless, I didn't know that our gracious host also carried them(Doh!). I made the mistake of installing 100W/80W bulbs before this, and a dimmer wire from the fuse box to the bulb burnt up (lucky, lucky, lucky). Each relay controls high/low for one headlight with a 30 amp fuse I will replace with a 25.

All the connections are spade m/f (15amp rated) from Home Depot and sealed with shrink tubing and liquid electrical tape(good for grounds). A few rolls of plastic wire protector made a cleaner appearance and eliminated scuffing concern. I also bought a small roll of 14gauge wire in black, white, yellow and red for any extensions.

I didn't want to put holes in the frame so I spliced the signal/power feed from the relays in-line in the stock yellow and white power wires. The headlight grounds were dedicated new wires strait to a bolt on the side of the headlight bucket. I cut a small notch in the bucket grommets to sqeeze them through.

(By the way, one trick for reinstalling the female connector grommets on the sides of the trunk is to remove the blinker light buckets and push the edges back in with a foot-long blunt screwdriver). It only took me any hour or so to figure that one out

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If you like that black paint, it is POR15 and covers the entire trunk as well as the interior. The stuff is supposed to be impenatrable.
It was (mostly) ground down to bare metal, coated with "Metal-Ready" (very important- this is a zinc/phosphate coating which help the POR15 stick!!) and carefully painted. The trunk seal channel was also painted with the stuff after a rust hole was found and repaired. Blue painters masking tape was used extensively-that stuff is permanent. The area around the tank and any open seams were sealed with silicone as well.

john70t · 11-16-2002, 02:48 PM

hope this works

john70t · 11-16-2002, 02:49 PM

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john70t · 11-16-2002, 02:50 PM

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RoninLB · 11-16-2002, 03:15 PM

I love Por-15...great project..allow me to try this

RoninLB · 11-16-2002, 03:18 PM

sounds like you did a real headlite up-grade

bob tilton · bob tilton's Garage

looks great john!!! i'm gonna tackle that project someday but think i will wait for a winter when i have my own garage. nice choice in steering wheel. questions: how much of a pain was it to remove the "horse hair" material and how much of it is there?
bob
68L

john70t · 06:36 PM

The cabin under-coat went extra smooth with a propane torch and a sharp scraper. Wasen't planning on doing the floor untill I found a small crack in the wax. Digging furthur with a o-ring pick (I love those things) resulted in a surface rust spot popping up in a couple places, and I figured there no point in covering up rust.

On a bad note I banged the floor flat with a lead hammer all the places in the floor that people have jacked the car up from. Grrr.

Went underneath to check the undercoating and another small crack led to the pick going through, again and again in one area and produced a couple golf-ball sized piles of rust. Not looking forward to paying for a cut and weld. Both the sills had holes that were patched with plate and fiberglass filler (bondo is soft and absorbs moisture).

RoninLB: After repairs, grind and POR15 the wheel-wells, and undercoating, I'm going to follow with your great(!!) idea of spraying used motor oil up through the spaces under the sills. I think POR15 in a disposable spray bottle might work too. That "Metal-Ready" stuff is awsome.

I wanted to fill in the space in front of the rear wheels (on ones that make a great dirt catcher) with expand-o-foam, but I think that will trap moisture behind it.

Note: I admit to not scraping the entire front trunk compartment to bare metal, only the easy to get to parts. What was important was a thorough degreasing and Metal-Readying over the good paint. POR15 is kind of a plastisized coating that's not affected by chemicals (only thinking about the next battery spill)

RoninLB · 11-17-2002, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by john70t

. I think POR15 in a disposable spray bottle might work too. That "Metal-Ready" stuff is awsome.

I wanted to fill in the space in front of the rear wheels (on ones that make a great dirt catcher) with expand-o-foam, but I think that will trap moisture behind it.

[/B]

...I've seen the disposable spray bottles around.. or a cheap touch-up gun costs $20-$30 at Harbor Freight..
..I think your correct about moisture and expand-o-foam..and if used against thin sheet metal it may "bulge" if done in one whole dose..I do small doses and wait a day between layers..I tried doing a soundproofing on a '71 Camaro roof..it "bulged", took awhile..
...Metal-Ready is some how like an expensive white vinegar..I've used vinegar on cement steel rods/Re-bars w/the Por, and the extra ones are still outside my house for the past 5 or 7 years with no rust..and I live 1,000 ft from the Atlantic Ocean, so I know vinegar works. maybe not as good as Metal-Ready..
... and I did the wheel wells where the factory paint is with Por clear about 20k-25k mi ago, smeared it on top of paint med. to thick..not only doesn't chip, but the dam dirt ugly wells look clean full time, even with big dirt and road crap on it..if a golb of heavy dirt a quick shoot from the hose makes it look clean and semi shiney again.. I want to remove the rockers/under the doors, that are held on by 6 screws and do the front of rear wheels like you, hope it helps.
...YEP..your steering wheel has the right attitude for a period correct machine, IMO..I don't like the 930 wheel for my 911..I use the Fitapaldi, which is a Personal wheel..low key, but looks serious like yours.
...great job on doing the light re-wire..I found Bosh high watt bulb connectors, but I run a big watt bulbs..keep an eyeball on the stock ones with real 100/80w bulbs..don't try to trigger lows and highs at the same time like I did. the bulb inner ground can't handle both filaments on at the same time.. it worked great for a short time, learned something on that bright idea..
.................Ron

john70t · 11-17-2002, 05:11 AM

Some may hate me for this but the steering wheel is slated for a retrograde along with some steel wheels (still haven't gotten around to sending the rims down to Boltons-just about the only place that seems to rechrome and at a good price).
And no, I won't be selling the wheel anytime soon