Shaggy_357
15+ Year Contributor
- 199
- 0
- May 30, 2004
-
Lawton,
Oklahoma
I finally came home with a bit of extra energy, a bit of an omen I s'pose. Not only had safelite come by and fixed my rear glass (2 centuries later, and done with a good deal of half-assery), but what was waiting to greet me in the garage? My exhaust, axles and brakes. 
(BTW, looks good homie, but I'm probably going to paint the muffler 
)
At that point, it was settled, it was time to get crackin'. So I set out with plans to do the fuel pump (makes sense as I have the injectors installed and SAFC hooked-up, right?) Well, my ADD kicked in and I ended up installing my new speedo cable, wiring the WB02 gauge, taking care of some other nagging wiring issues and PREPPING the fuel pump for the swap.
Since I'm on the verge of quitting smoking, I thought it fitting to bore the hole for the cigarette lighter out and set the WB gauge in there. (I already have my boost gauge mounted on the A-pillar and I feel ricey with just one, so putting two up there just wasn't an option in my mind.) I've seen it put in the coin-holder location, but I thought it would have a SLIGHT visibility issue. (I'm 6'1'' so that fear was probably unfounded) Either way, since I only wanted to go to work on the console with my handy-dandy multi-tool ONCE, I set about carving it up like an old grandpa whittling a stick. About an hour, a couple of "oops"s, and a guaranteed case of carpal tunnel syndrome later, I have a nice and flush gauge sitting right by my elbow and perfectly in my line of sight. (OK, so it's not PERFECTLY in my line of sight..or at all, but dammit, it was a lot of work without a Dremel so leave me to my fantasies)
That done, I went about swapping the speedo cable. Before I go on, I just want to say "FCUK YOU" to whoever said this was a painless install. Mind you, I have no engineering degree, but that crap was a pain in the balls. (And back for that matter). Adding to the "pain-in-the-ass-itude" was the fact that I routed it wrong the first time and broke the clip that holds it into the back of the gauge cluster. I wound up dropping the old cable through the hole in the dash so I could see WTF this thing was supposed to go. There is nothing quite like almost blacking your eye on a clutch pedal, or forcing your hands to contort around all kinds of godless muck to route the cable. You know, the cable that's been sitting in the same position since somewhere around 1995? If that bastard breaks, it will be ANOTHER two years before I bother replacing THAT again.
After tearing apart the dash and putting back together (after a quick wipe down), I decided the cabin was looking a bit unkempt, so I tore apart the "wiring harness" for the cigarette lighter and wrapped each wire individually then wrapped the whole mess together for a slightly less haggard look. That step wasn't necessarily for clean-up, I happened to notice that I had shorted my boost gauge light out and melted some tape/wire sheathing while putting the wires away (Electrical tape + summertime heat = epic sticky fail) That done, I went ahead and made sure all the extra wires I've been adding recently were tucked away nice and pretty and generally made things less clusterfcuked. I'll have pics to follow, but you'll have to ignore the wires still left unattended and the residual wiring mess on the pass. side
Check in next time for another random build update and (hopefully) pics of the installed exhaust, axles, big brakes, and maybe, JUST maybe that damned fuel pump. And remember kids, Drink More Ovaltine!
Eric
(BTW, looks good homie, but I'm probably going to paint the muffler )At that point, it was settled, it was time to get crackin'. So I set out with plans to do the fuel pump (makes sense as I have the injectors installed and SAFC hooked-up, right?) Well, my ADD kicked in and I ended up installing my new speedo cable, wiring the WB02 gauge, taking care of some other nagging wiring issues and PREPPING the fuel pump for the swap.
Since I'm on the verge of quitting smoking, I thought it fitting to bore the hole for the cigarette lighter out and set the WB gauge in there. (I already have my boost gauge mounted on the A-pillar and I feel ricey with just one, so putting two up there just wasn't an option in my mind.) I've seen it put in the coin-holder location, but I thought it would have a SLIGHT visibility issue. (I'm 6'1'' so that fear was probably unfounded) Either way, since I only wanted to go to work on the console with my handy-dandy multi-tool ONCE, I set about carving it up like an old grandpa whittling a stick. About an hour, a couple of "oops"s, and a guaranteed case of carpal tunnel syndrome later, I have a nice and flush gauge sitting right by my elbow and perfectly in my line of sight. (OK, so it's not PERFECTLY in my line of sight..or at all, but dammit, it was a lot of work without a Dremel so leave me to my fantasies)
That done, I went about swapping the speedo cable. Before I go on, I just want to say "FCUK YOU" to whoever said this was a painless install. Mind you, I have no engineering degree, but that crap was a pain in the balls. (And back for that matter). Adding to the "pain-in-the-ass-itude" was the fact that I routed it wrong the first time and broke the clip that holds it into the back of the gauge cluster. I wound up dropping the old cable through the hole in the dash so I could see WTF this thing was supposed to go. There is nothing quite like almost blacking your eye on a clutch pedal, or forcing your hands to contort around all kinds of godless muck to route the cable. You know, the cable that's been sitting in the same position since somewhere around 1995? If that bastard breaks, it will be ANOTHER two years before I bother replacing THAT again.
After tearing apart the dash and putting back together (after a quick wipe down), I decided the cabin was looking a bit unkempt, so I tore apart the "wiring harness" for the cigarette lighter and wrapped each wire individually then wrapped the whole mess together for a slightly less haggard look. That step wasn't necessarily for clean-up, I happened to notice that I had shorted my boost gauge light out and melted some tape/wire sheathing while putting the wires away (Electrical tape + summertime heat = epic sticky fail) That done, I went ahead and made sure all the extra wires I've been adding recently were tucked away nice and pretty and generally made things less clusterfcuked. I'll have pics to follow, but you'll have to ignore the wires still left unattended and the residual wiring mess on the pass. side
Check in next time for another random build update and (hopefully) pics of the installed exhaust, axles, big brakes, and maybe, JUST maybe that damned fuel pump. And remember kids, Drink More Ovaltine!
Eric
