The 69 Diary - Chapter 8

9/16/01 - Shot off my Summit shopping list to Jester to let him confirm that what wewant to order will match what he wants in the car with the new engine. I measure the old radiator and send Jase pictures so he knows what size. Thank God for the digital camera! We adjust for one back-ordered part.

Griffin Aluminum Circle Track Radiator

MSD Ignition Control Unit

MSD Coil Wire Retainer

MSD Blaster 3 Ignition Coil

MSD Pro-Billet Distributor

Perma-Cool Fan Wiring Kit and Accessories

Summit Adjustable Throttle Cable Bracket

Summit Transmission Cooler

SA Design How-To Book

Derale Electric Fan

9/19/01 - Sam called me at work to tell me the UPS man just delivered a radiator and fan! When I got home, there was another box on the deck with the rest of my parts. Kat says he can come over Friday night. My biggest fear is the distributor install but Kat has done this before and didn't seem concerned.

9/21/01 - Kat arrived early and we decided to see what we could accomplish before bed.

I opted for the radiator first. This seemed the easiest; just take out the 6 cylinder one and put the 8 cylinder one back in. The car still had 8 cylinder brackets and I thought if we splashed any coolant, we wouldn't get it all over anything else new. We set up some work lights and the old came out very easily. The new wasn't going to be as cooperative. The brackets weren't fitting the new and we decided we had to come up with an alternative.

We decided on metal straps to attach to the support underneath and the support above, and started a Home Depot list.

Looking for a spot to mount the ignition, Jester agreed inside the passenger compartment would be best. Kat and I settled on the glove box....actually, there is no glove box, just the door for it. The box itself is non-existent, so we added 'something to hold the ignition in the glove box hole' to our shopping list and headed off to Home Depot.

I found metal strips with pre-drilled homes about every half inch. Kat liked this idea because we could mount the fan to the metal strips as well. I also found a metal U about 6 inches long that would make a suitable platform for the ignition. Headed home with a few more bolts and started to shape the new radiator ties. Eventually cleaned up for the night as we waited for Julie to visit, without finishing the radiator.

9/22/01 - Back out to the car after morning coffee. Bending and fitting and more bending and more fitting. hammering and adjusting, we finally got the new radiator/fan assembly installed around lunch time.

There is a bend in the lower causing a crimp I'm not happy with, but for now, the radiator is in and there are no leaks!

Kat seemed enthusiastic about the new wiring harness, so we laid it out and I read directions.

The wiring is divided into four main parts and the rear is tackled first. Kat and I pulled out ALL the wires and the sockets for the bulbs too. I decided to order new sockets. I made notes that I hope will help me put all the bulbs with the correct sockets.

Then we tackled hood. I realized that the wires weren't so bad, it was going to be all the connectors that will confuse me. Kat attacked the dash after helping me under the hood.

It seemed like I turned my back on Kat for just a moment and he had the dash out, exposing a rat's nest of wires. Looking at each other, we decided they were all coming out except for the ones hooked to the aftermarket gauges.

Kat had taken the driver's seat out and I removed the passenger seat. It occurred to me, it would be easier to redo the interior paint without the wires or the new ignition installed. So we opted not to put in the wiring harness just yet. We both worked on some interior sanding for a bit and Kat showed me how to install the distributor - and move the crank by hand. The new spark plug wires won't fit on this distributor cap and Pep Boys didn't have the right ones. For now the cap will rest on the distributor till I get new wires or new cap.

Jeff and Stell stopped by about the time we started to clean up. Kat was exhausted and we had plans for Olive Garden for a late dinner. It was already getting dark, cold and raw. My mind was spinning with ideas for making a custom dash. I have that plexi-glass in the garage and now I want to see PK's new set-up. I guess we really did make a lot of progress, but the 69 looks worse than ever and I can't even turn it over. We sent Jester pics of the radiator and he liked the idea of using what he called plumber's strap. That made me feel better anyway.

9/23/01 - Kat left for work and I spent a couple of hours sanding. My 4-day-old headache was getting bad and I had to quit. The sander in the empty car makes quite a racket. I asked Jase to start to think about how many gauges we were going to need too.

9/24/01 - Explained the rough bondo situation to Jester and after emailing a company to find out the carpet only weighs 12-16 pounds, he agreed I can carpet the interior. I still want to chisel out as much of the bondo as I can and repaint the interior. Jase decided to see if there was a lightweight carpet available and I decided that 12 pounds is a good weight loss goal - exchange some hips for some carpet.

9/25/01 - I received a package from National Parts Depot today - the front flasher light assembly and the new locks. I was amazed at the paper used for stuffing. I had to post this picture. None of the NE3G guys would admit to getting floral paper! I thought it was pretty funny although I still suspect I stumbled across some well-kept 'guy secret'. Even Sam was commenting on the paper!

But even funnier was the second box I received the next day with the same floral paper! I wouldn't dare post about that!

9/29/01 - Rained all day. I managed to chisel out a bit more bondo but this headache is still with me.

10/05/01 - After a week of doing nothing due to the headache, I am feeling a bit better and hoping the weekend will let me get something done. Kat has mentioned an end-of-November goal for getting the car ready for its road trip. I think it is a good goal, but am starting to worry we won't meet it.

10/06/01 - Woke up to rain at 7am and rain is forecast for all day....not a light rain - a heavy downpouring, windy, monsoon rain. Definitely not working-on-car weather.