Max's 67 Ghia Build

[Max Welton]

Having dropped my type-3 off for (hopefully) a 3-month refresh ...

https://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopi ... 4&t=151582

I find myself with shop space to get some progress on my Ghia coupe. This will be my build thread.

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The car was painted in 2012 and has sat under a cover since then. There is no interior or wiring so I'm thinking the place to start is sound deadening in the roof and then the head-liner.

Max

[Max Welton]

Since the bodywork and paint is done and there's no interior, it must be time to do the wiring.

I spent some time today tracing out what is left of the wiring from the A pillar to the rear of the car. Every wire is covered with gunk and paint and the insulation is all hard and brittle. I could probably get it to work but I couldn't really trust any of it.

Before I pull the old stuff out can anyone offer up tips on snaking the new wires in along the route of the old stuff?

Max

[Max Welton]

I have a plan. The bundle going to the rear of the car passes down the left side next to the heater channel. By cutting open the sheath I can deal with pulling wires through one bulkhead at a time.

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I would like to replace this grommet though.

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Max

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Max, if possible, one trick to look into when pulling wires into a tube and that is to knot a string, put it into the tube then used compressed air to blow it through the tube. Then, using the string, you can pull the wires into the tube and through it. The string has to be long enough to do this but still long enough to still stick out the entering area so you can pull the tie area back up the tube to pull the next wire down. I've used it a couple of times myself.

An old trick that has somewhat been forgotten.

Lee

[Max Welton]

I'll bet that works for fairly long runs of conduit. Cool!

Max

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I'll bet that works for fairly long runs of conduit. Cool!

Max

Yes, both long and short. It also works for bigger grips than just a single wire or, in the case of a clutch cable it works there too (not necessarily a VW clutch cable either).

Lee

[Max Welton]

So the wife and I are hunkering down while the COVID-19 business unfolds. Mainly we're just staying away from restaurants which we normally do a lot of. We are both retired so it's not that big a deal at this point but we are also fairly social so we're using electronic means to comm with our friends.

Today was around 60-F so the barn was habitable. Now all the purists maybe should stop reading here. I've tossed the stock wiring and am using the Painless 12-Circuit trunk mounted system. Mainly this is to get modern fuses and relays and brand new wires that are all labelled every 6 inches. That last bit is important to the color-blind among us.

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I got some of the wiring laid out for the mid and tail sections. The battery is to be located under the rear seat (I used a miata battery in the past) so the "mid" section consists of a B+ for the battery and the wire for the starter solenoid.

The tail section so far is:

- Rear tail lights
- Oil switch

This engine uses an AL82N alternator so I've got
- Alternator Power (to B+)
- Alternator Regulator Exciter (to D+)

This engine also uses LS2 smart-coils so I'm dedicating the coil wire to powering those.
The Megasquirt will live on the cabin side of the firewall and will have it's own bundle and bulkhead plug to the engine room. But the main car harness still needs to provide the ignition-on signal to the relay section. Primary power for the relays will come direct from the battery.

The brake and turn signals I need to work out. Painless comes with instructions on wiring integrated brake lights and separate turn/brake lights.

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The Painless rig is set up for floor-mounted dimmer switched so I've ordered a 5-terminal relay that I can drive from the momentary switch on the turn-signal switch.

In related news I just took delivery on a one-year-only ignition switch with two keys. The keys are a little crusty so they are getting a bath in Evapo-Rust. We'll see how they come out. I'm also waiting for a fresh headlight switch.

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Max

[Max Welton]

Not much done today. But my jbugs order arrived.

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Max

[Max Welton]

So the ignition switch I just bought is flaky. Listen to my continuity tester.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=latptNP ... e=youtu.be

It looks like it will come apart with some needle-nose pliers. Before I do that, has anyone been there before?

Max

[Piledriver]

Yes, but squirt it with break-free and cycle it, the contacts mechanically wipe and should self clean with use unless its worn out...

You may find this an interesting read about electrical connection: most militaries and civil aviation are using this info now...getting common in industry.
This is the somewhat entertaining 14 page version: the 170+ page version from sandia labs is also available online.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... sAQyiNa1Zk


note that break-free is not a listed "approved" formula for this use, but I have used it for same purpose since the late 80s to very good effect.
you can get a tiny can of break-free in the gun cleaning supplies at any walmart, but I recommend the 16 oz pump spray version.
The navy (d-5026ns) version can be had in spray cans for a sane price, the USAF version manufacturer was purchased by Amphenol, costs stupid money.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Pile, as you said this is not recommended and for several good reasons. I didn't work directly in electronics but did have some direct and indirect contact (no pun intended) with them. My father was an electrical engineer and I did get some basic training there but this was back in the '50s.

As a short term fix this is "a maybe" but for somethings (and for flying things... no) it might be OK as long as any residual components need to be cleaned away after spraying. The contact points (if corroded) are not going to give a full clean contact (area) if they are pitted or have corrosion causing this.

For us'n on the street; where we are in contact with the ground it just means we could suddenly loose electricity (usually at the worse place) some time in the future. A temp fix while you are waiting for a good replacement. My recommendation is to do it right the first time.

Lee

Oops! I corrected the "non-flying things" to "flying things". Lee

[Max Welton]

Thanks guys. Not really a go-shopping day here in the mountains. Supposed to be heavy blowing snow in a little while. Maybe tomorrow I'll go looking for that gun cleaning product.

I've also reached out to Gabriel Garcia on the off chance he can rebuild a switch.

I also have the original switch that worked fine before I took this car apart. I've lost the key and the chrome face isn't as nice as the flaky switch. Maybe I can combine the two switches ... I think I'll have a key cut for the old switch and see if its contacts behave better.

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Max

[Piledriver]

Its not meant to be wiped away, oldfog, and its been a requirement for decades.
It protects the contacts from oxidation. They even buy contacts pre-coated so they dont corrode in storage...

You should really read the article, even though its 20+ years old, its become SOP for pretty branch of every miltitary and airlines etc...
A 20+% reduction from all types of failure is a rather enormous chunk of change to ignore.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Its not meant to be wiped away, oldfog, and its been a requirement for decades.
It protects the contacts from oxidation. They even buy contacts pre-coated so they dont corrode in storage...

You should really read the article, even though its 20+ years old, its become SOP for pretty branch of every miltitary and airlines etc...
A 20+% reduction from all types of failure is a rather enormous chunk of change to ignore.

I did read the introduction to the article. The problem with spray or even wipe in cleaners is the residual stuff that can be left and draw in and contain contaminates. I understand the protection part assuming that the unit is sealed but I seen to remember that imbedded in the specs were other specs dealing with the installing and detailing of the components.

The (official) mil-specs I had to deal with usually didn't deal with short term fixes as they were just that... they were to get you over a problem that needed to be replaced/fixed. Again, I wasn't directly in electronics when working but I did design the mounting boxes (and other stuff I can't talk about) for them and listened to them give instructions to what, where and why. It would surprise me (and then again... maybe not) that airlines would do something like that.

Lee

[Piledriver]

The lesson the USAF learned was that a "clean and dry electrical" contact was actually the one that is most likely to fail.
Add a proper hydrophobic/anticorrosion coating/lubricant and it will last orders of magnitude longer, esp under marginal conditions.

Its been the new normal for a very long time... but it started about the time you retired and I got out of the AF.
First I heard of it was a few years ago, researching something for a discussion here about lubricating electrical contacts...

Sorry, this was meant to be a pm reply, but leaving it be.