Looks like the suggested bridge rectifier in terms of shape and size. Strange thing - those are typically used in power supplies to convert AC input to DC output voltage when followed by a capacitor(s) on the output. I'm not sure where AC would come into play on your vehicle in order to be used as the input supply.

Well, okay. So, yes, this is a pain in the ass. But, the one thing I have going for me on this car is that it was built in 1969, with 1969 technology, which, let's face it, is fairly primitive and straightforward. I did a bunch of electrical diagnosis on my 959 when we were troubleshooting an electrical warning buss problem a few years ago. That was a huge pain. I have electrical diagrams for that car, but there are 13 different computers on the car, all pre-386 technology, and the electrical diagrams show 26 wires entering a computer and nothing else. So, compared to that nightmare, this is easy. A pain in the ass, and space is really tight in this thing (although not as bad as the tank), but still relatively straightforward.

I should just restore a VW Bug or a Ford Mustang, or something easy and straightforward one of these days instead of mucking around with Probe 16s, a Daimler Ferret tank, the Fire truck (only 13 made - I still don't have a manual on how the pump works), or the solar car. Heck, working on all of this stuff with no documentation makes working on the Ferrari 360 seem really easy! Just open the manual on the computer, and say "oh, so that's how you get that transmission heat exchanger out".

Quote of the day: "I wish I had one of my own books for each of these cars!"

-Wayne

Thanks everyone. I'll take a closer look at the wiring tonight and see if I can figure out why they would use one of these in there. I think I'll clean it up and reuse it if it's fine, but I'll also buy a spare (they appear to be like $3) just in case.

-Wayne

Ballast resistor or resistor pack for a blower would be my guesses. What are the wires connected to?

Agreed. Ballast resistor.

Honestly, I'd throw a Delco alternator in that thing with a Painless Wiring kit.

It looks like the headlight motor runs a cable drive. I've seen this on early 50s Lincolns and American cars used on convertible tops and power seat mechanisms. The relays and controls used to drive these types of motors were quite unique. The problem is that these motors are typically two wire and requires a complete reversal of polarity to make them operate in the opposite direction. One of the old cars that I restored, I replaced the old 50s 6v relays with 4 modern relays using the NO and NC terminals on the relay to complete the reverse polarity task. The other thing that is typically missing from those old controls are how to stop the motor from running when it gets to the end of the travel. In modern cars, when the power window motor gets to the bottom, it opens a thermal fuse to stop. In these older motors and controls, when the motor stalls at the end of the travel, the current goes up which can be used to open a self reseting circuit breaker to stop it. Once you get the system working, you can test with and without the block or individual terminals connected to reverse engineer the design.

I would connect with a good electrical supply house like Waytek, Terminal Supply Inc, American Autowire and use as many modern connectors, fuse panels, relays, and terminals as possible to make a robust wiring system. Working with old cars, you need to touch or inspect every inch of every wire because a rodent, a chafe, degraded tape, etc might be the path to a car fire. With a wood and fiberglass car, that's a lot of materials that like to burn, melt, and combust. Even replace every fuse because old fuses can sometimes not blow when asked. I'm also a big proponent of modernizing the electrical systems. There are a lot of solutions out there with wiring coverings, loom, tape materials, and fabricated covers to nearly hide the entire wiring system and the modernization. The time spent going through everything in detail pays off so much at the back end with reliability and piece of mind. It doesn't look like there is much originality to save there except wire lengths and routing.

Otherwise this is a really neat project and a great time capsule. I hope to follow along. Thanks for sharing online.

Thanks elliotgofast, some good suggestions there. The headlamp motor works okay for now, and you're right, the motor has a total of four wires going to it, which I haven't seen before. I do not know what happens when it reaches its end of travel - it does work okay, maybe this diode bridge has something to do with limiting the current spikes. Here's a photo of the motor:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605765236.jpg


I've got enough issues to resolve with this car, I'm not going to start "fixing" stuff that isn't necessarily broken at this time. I.E. the stuff that is working, I'm going to literally check it off the list / spreadsheet and move on.

I did clean up the diode bridge, but it didn't reveal anything additional, except "Made in Haiti", which is odd:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605765312.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605765312.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605765312.jpg

I ordered all the new wire for the harness, it should be here within a week. In the meantime, it's on to working on the brakes (which need everything too)...

-Wayne

Random Probe 16 photo I found cool. It really puts it into perspective how ground-breaking and cool this design was, when compared to nearly everything else on the road at the time:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605765433.jpg

-Wayne

Hi Wayne,

Very cool and fun project. What was the car designed to be? Was it supposed to be a performance or sports car or were they just going for a cool looking car?

Rutager

Well now that it's clean I can see 'AC' on one corner, '-' on another. You will find '+' opposite the '-', and another 'AC' opposite the 'AC' on the picture.

This is a bridge rectifier, I am going to guess the wires go back to a rudimentary alternator.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605790982.png

Looks like this, to me.

I think you're onto something there. So, the alternator on this thing doesn't have a built-in rectifier?

Based on what I've seen from the car so far, I am guessing not. I can't think of another reason for a rectifier.

Well, the alternator does have a voltage regulator and such. I think this has something to do with the headlamp motor having four wires to it - presumably for the field coil winding and the armature winding. It's been about 30 years since I've studied this stuff, so I don't quite remember. A three minute Google search didn't reveal anything useful either. I have a lot of other things to worry about, so I will just plug it back in as-is (since it works), and leave it alone. Unless someone else here knows and wishes to explain...

-Wayne

Coolest new device I have seen in a while! - Classic Blaupunkt Bluetooth Converter...
 

Okay, so having sold Pelican about three years ago, I've been mucking around with real estate and restoring other cars (working on the 1969 M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16). But I came across something the other day, that I haven't seen before.

So, on my 1972 911E, I have the standard period-correct Blaupunkt Frankfurt radio installed, and about 15 years ago, I bought a plug adapter that allows me to plug the radio into a standard 3.5 headphone jack like the ones that used to be on the old iPods. That worked great for many years, the sound automatically plays through the old Blaupunkt radio into the standard speakers, and maintains 100% the correct vintage radio.

Fast forward to 2020, and I have the Probe 16 we're restoring which basically has the same radio. Check out this thread here for more info:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1074841-adams-m-505-probe-16-restoration-project.html

Here's the radio:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605992675.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605992770.jpg

So, this radio has a plug on the back (very forward thinking for Blaupunkt) that has a cross-over switch (ability to automatically turn off the radio and use an external source), and power as well. Here's the plug on the back:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605992770.jpg

So, this is what I bought:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Blaupunkt-Frankfurt-Stereo-Bluetooth-5-0-Music-Streaming-with-7-8-Pin/293807557676?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid =p2057872.m2749.l2649

Plugged it in, and it works perfectly. Red Hot Chilli Peppers streaming from my iPhone to my 1970 Blaupunkt Frankfurt radio in the 1969 Probe 16! The sound is of course, from 1970, but actually, these old radios are not that bad!

I'm going to recommend that Pelican carry this product, it's pretty good. Literally a five-minute installation!

-Wayne

Check this out, I've never seen one of these before on a normally aspirated car - Vacuum gauge. The Smith's gauge guy who does repair said these are fairly uncommon / rare. There is a hose connected to the back of the gauge that runs all the way to the intake manifold in the engine. The hose was clamped off with some small clamp - I'm not sure why. I assumed it was because the gauge was broken, or the hose had a break and was leaking. So, I decided to test it...


Here's the cool gauge:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605993219.jpg


Here's where it connects to intake manifold:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605993219.jpg


Here's how you test it - suck on it, look at the gauge, stick your tongue on the end and hold it for a minute or so to see if the gauge goes down (signalling a leak in the system). No leaks! I'm not sure why this was clamped off (maybe I will discover the reason in the future).
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605993246.jpg

-Wayne

Dad's '64 Travelall had a really cool looking AirGuide vacuum gauge and tach on the steering column. They are fun to watch when you're hypermiling.

Looked just like the one linked below.

Those vacuum gauges are still available if yours is NFG.

https://www.caigauge.com/blog/new-smiths-vacuum-gauge-launched-by-cai

https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/smiths-classic-electrical-vacuum-gauge-smivg1302-03cb/

That link doesn't work?

-Wayne

That's a good find. I'd love to find a gauge with a separate sensor that could replace the ammeter so that one doesn't have to run everything through the gauge itself...

-Wayne

Success! After many hours of working on it, the new wire harness is a success and everything now works perfectly! Well, as perfect as one could expect. The wiring was old and black and hard and I had to create a new harness to replace the old one. Fixed up some odd wiring too while I was at it. Just a lot of cleaning everything up.

I re-ran the speaker wires too - that's the most important thing, of course. :)

-Wayne

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606208618.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606208618.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606208618.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606208618.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606208618.jpg

Bad wires:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606208831.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606208831.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606208831.jpg

New harness, etc:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606208618.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606208618.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606208618.jpg

Hooked up the new harness tonight. Everything appears to be working now! No more low voltage issues! The new harness + the new connectors and a new ignition switch has seemed to breathe new life into the thing. I took a look a the ignition system and started taking the components off to see what to replace. Most of the stuff looks very good! I'm debating what to mess with / replace. The cap and rotor look brand new. The plug wires are old, but still appear very good. Points and condenser look okay - the points probably needs a piece of sand paper run between them, but they don't look worn. The only things that look worn is the coil wire (looks like it wasn't secured all the way and was arching), and the spark plugs which look dirty. I think I'll replace the wires and the plugs and see what happens. I don't have timing specs on the car, so I'm a bit reluctant to mess with the timing before I have a chance to see it with a timing lamp. I'll mark it of course before I move the distributor...

-Wayne

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606385608.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606385608.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606385608.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606385608.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606385608.jpg

I was taught early on in my auto mechanic life to NEVER use sand paper on points. You want to use something that can't leave anything behind, like a grain of sand, which can cause untold problems. Get a small points file, but please don't use sandpaper or anything that can 'shed' abrasive material.

New harness looks great, glad things are working too.
If I were reading those plugs, I'd say it was a mixture problem more than an electrical problem.

Maybe I'll start with some q-tips and some alcohol. The sand paper has worked in the past, but that was on 914s, which are pretty much no brainers with respect to points - just plug in a new set for $3 and be done with it. No worries about messing anything up. The file sounds like a good idea - I just bought a new set three days ago as well...

-Wayne

https://mossmotors.com/mgb/electrical-ignition/ignition/pertronix-flame-thrower-replacement-parts

Much easier...

Wayne - That's awesome! Did you ever figure out what the bridge rectifier was for?

Engine is an B-series one (1798cc) is it not?
Suggest you look up MGB timings as a decent reference....
It might have been tuned originally..... you could give Oselli Engineering:-

Classic Oselli | Oselli

a call, they have been doing BMC engines since 1962 so might be able to give some guidance.
They did the engine on our MGB Roadster.

+1 on this recommendation. Now, to find an actual points file...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606496776.JPG

Here's mine!

It'll start all the time, but won't work 100% right. After years of having aftermarket electronic ignition, per recommendation of SU guru, Joe Curto, I switched back to a points system. Much better performance through the entire rev range. Plus, points are cheap when the car is not daily driven.

I am sort of expecting this sometime soon. There is quite the limited market, but I would buy one.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606517108.jpg

Yes, eventually that. But I'm trying to keep things as original as possible on the car for the moment. Plus, I'm a bit wary of adding any additional electrical components to the car. Plus, the car is a positive ground, which adds to the confusion. Get the car running (and stopping with the brakes), and then start to go through the fine-tuning. That's the plan, otherwise it will end up morphing into a 2-3 year project where every nut and bolt gets removed and plated! That's no my style, I like the cars to be original and driveable. Not restored and "museum pieces".

-Wayne

The headlamp motor has four wires going to it, so I'm assuming it has to do with a clever way to reverse the current to the motor without using a complex switch in the dash. That's the best I can think of. Since I installed the new harness, it's working better than ever (with the diode bridge), so I'm going to leave it alone and move on to more pressing things (more photos coming today).

-Wayne

That is awesome! With your permission, I'm going to use that as a running joke! We can also add:

- 101 Projects for your American LaFrance Fire Truck
- 101 Projects for your Daimler Ferret (tank)
- 101 Projects for your carbon fiber Solar Car
- 101 Projects for your 959
- 101 Projects for your 962

The 959 one would have to be 2-3 volumes for sure. That car is immensely complicated to an extreme!

-Wayne

It is all yours. I was just having fun with the concept as I read through your thread on this really cool car.

-Christopher

Interesting. Ive had nothing but the opposite results...Can you elaborate?

Been working on a lot of 70's British stuff over the last few years. Got pretty familiar with Lucas stuff. (And SUs too.)

Today it was fuel tank sender day.

One side looked great. Needed a small wire resoldered in order to get it working. The other side was completely covered in crud. And this crud smells as bad as the bathroom at your college dorm at 2:30AM after a big party when about six people have already thrown up. It's not making me sick like that would, but it smells terrible. 37-year old varnish from the tanks. Speaking of that, there is a major problem brewing, one that I do not have a solution for - more on that in a few days when I gather more info.

I took the fuel senders out (there are two fuel tanks) and wire brushed them to heck using the Dewalt drill (can't imagine doing them by hand). They cleaned up fairly well. I could buy new ones, but the only one I found (could not find a part number on them) were not an exact match. I bought it anyway, as a spare, it was only $45 or so for an NOS one - boy, this stuff seems cheap compared to Porsche parts (and in particular parts for a 962 or a 959! I think a 959 fuel sender (if you can find one) is probably $3K!

These senders work the way all the others do - they have a sliding contact that slides up and down a coil of wire. The more coils between the contact and ground, the greater the distance. To fix these, I cleaned the heck out of them (using isopropyl alcohol), and also used some small wire brushes made of brass attached to my Dewalt cordless drill (very slowly and carefully there). You don't want to damage the coils. On one of these, the small ground wire had broken off, so I resoldered the connect (had to scratch and prep the surface to make the solder flow properly). The other one, the contact strip was not making contact the whole way down, so I slightly bend it a bit. Both work now - tested them on the multi-meter. I tried to use the oscilloscope to test, but for some reason, I couldn't get the scope to work properly with these, so I just went back to the multimeter.

Tomorrow, we'll start tackling the brakes. I need to get the brakes down so that we can put the wheels back on to take the car out of the garage so that I can then work on flushing the gas tanks...

Left side (not as smelly as the right side):

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543306.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543306.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543306.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543306.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543306.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543306.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543306.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543306.jpg

Right side. The fuel tanks were replaced a while ago with stainless steel ones. In the process, the sender hole wasn't lined up completely right, so I had to round it out a bit using my router. I didn't like doing this, but there was no way to get the sender out. It had obviously been installed in the tank first, and then the tank installed into the car. No worries, just a little trimming of the wood with the router, and it popped right out (like about an eighth of an inch).

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543495.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543495.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543495.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543495.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543495.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543495.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543495.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606543495.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1606622460.jpg