Category: Working on my Cars

It’s 8:40 am on Saturday, I have an HOA meeting in 20 minutes but I think I can squeeze an update in here. Thursday I installed and wired the under dash switches and decided the wiring job was done from a point to point perspective. Yeah, reverse lights, under-hood light, horn relay and a few other odds and ends needed sorting but the wires were identified and ready for hook up so I am not concerned about any unknowns from them. At this point I rounded up some jumper cables and a battery and got to it trouble-shooting.

Fuse box is mounted as Satta intended. I’m using a late internally regulated alternator so no control box or regulator required. The horn relay is now where the regulator would go. If only I could get it to work… Fuses seen here are correct except the blue one and possibly the red one at the number three starting from the right position. The 10 fuse box has 2 8 amp circuits that are combined into one fused circuit on this 8 fuse box, so I decided it should be a 16 amp.

Continue reading “Ti Tidy 18: The light at the end of the wire”

Last Saturday I spent 8 hours at the shop working on the wiring harness of the TI.  Yesterday I spent 2 more.  This afternoon I will probably spend another 2 and this coming Saturday another 5 or so.  That’s a lot of time.  More than some people I know, with more cars, tools, and free time than me spend in a season on their cars.  I could have probably made do with about 4 hours of wiring but I wanted it to be somewhat right, as in colors matching the diagrams, connectors insulated and of the original type and splices accomplished with soldering or butt connectors and heat shrink.   It went something like this:

This is a TI diagram for my car that I colored in with pens etc.  Jim Neill (papajam for you BB’ers) sent me PDF’s of this diagram in black and white and a Super diagram in color.  It would have been great if I had thought to ask before I did the first 8 hour stint, but I didn’t.  The first 8 hours I used a diagram in the back of an ‘all 4 cylinder models’ type manual that had a font size of about 2 and was in Italian to boot.  I needed both diagrams because I am converting to Super dash and switches, not because it’s cool, I just don’t have a TI dash. Anyone have a 64 TI dash to donate or sell?

Continue reading “TI tidy seventeen: lots and lots of wires”

Sunday sunday. I ate two poached eggs on sourdough toast, sipped my coffee over the news of the day and made my way down to the shop before 10 am. I had a full day planned and getting right to it seemed the best approach.

Prologue: Saturday was slightly trying along the lines of receiving a call from Mrs. Giuliettas thus: “the Sprint wont start.” She was at the grocery getting snacks for friends who were coming over with their kids to take pictures in her children’s clothing line (ajang ajang handmade) and of course the Sprint waited for her to be driving to cause problems. I picked her up, dropped her off at home and drove down to the store in Brian’s Volvo to jump start the Sprint. The Sprint was illegally parked on private property so I had a small sense of urgency but for all my pensiveness and jump starting efforts the Sprint just wouldn’t turn over fast enough to start. I thought: “catastrophic battery failure” and went to the local chain auto parts store and bought an appropriate battery. Still no start, just a slow RRR RRR RRR. I go back to the Volvo, having decided I needed a break (beer) and THE VOLVO WONT START. I have one of those ‘run off to Mexico’ moments but decide I should walk the two blocks to Duff’s place and get some help. We bump start the Sprint in front of Longs without much fuss then I decide we should check the Volvo for spark etc while I have capable help. At the last possible moment after trying everything, when we give up and I say ‘one more for princess Di’ and it starts, sweet. We drop the Sprint off on a hill by my house and I put the Volvo where I can leave it for a while. I think the Volvo was flooded as it requires the polar opposite starting approach to the Sprint. So Sunday morning I am thinking: I drive the Sprint EVERY DAY so I better fix that starting problem. Off I go.

Excusing above cathartic diatribe, here is the TI after wiring the water temp sender, solenoid, and coil. That’s big. I spent $30 at a local chain auto parts store and bought + and – battery leads along with a $10 basic ignition switch. I wired it all up, installed a battery and RRR, RRR, RRR it turned over!

Continue reading “TI Tidy 15: More songs about electrons”

This is another one that I could just show pictures of but I didn’t capture all the struggles as well as I’d have liked so you have to endure a few words from your humble guide.

Below is how you do it when you don’t actually care how it comes out. Wrap some tape around the lenses and psst psst psst: job done.

First thing I did was assemble everything to make sure it all fit together to the extent that it was not a fools errand trying to clean these up. If you look closely there is all sorts of wrong to be seen.

Continue reading “TI Tidy fourteen: brightening the corners”

Did I make a list yesterday? Well I forgot it so I made it up as I went this afternoon. First order was mounting of the newly engoldened coil. Sweet. Next came a struggle with the rubber line to the clutch side of the hydraulic fluid reservoir. It went for the most part down hill from there until I left. I did get a fair chunk done though. Weber’s are ready to go at least. Still need filters.

In addition to a super dumb color coil is the MOST genius possible lazy mans mounting point for a Facet fuel pump. I should patent this placement! I went for an underhood placement when I discovered the hardline went to within about 2 inches from the fuel tank out back.

Continue reading “TI Tidy Thirteen: plumbed, well almost”

Three hours is a lot of time when you know what you are going to do every step of the way, but when you are unsure of the next move, time without visible progress passes quickly. Indecision robs you of momentum.

I’m not saying I didn’t get anything done, just not nearly as much as I thought I would.

The Weber’s (40DCOE 27’s with 32mm chokes) have enjoyed the gentle touch of a natural bristle brush soaked in white gas followed by rattle can carb cleaner and are now not-so-firmly mounted in case I have to remove them to trace a difficult wire. A couple of feet of fuel line cut to length and clamped appropriately and this picture will be complete.

Continue reading “TI Tidy Twelve: incremental improvements”