You probably didn't have much to do with the wiring being messed up, it all sounds like stuff that happens with older cars and original wiring harnesses.

 

What I would have done is basically replace all the wiring, one wire at a time. You can color code it to original if you're so motivated to but on the last one I built, I used a generic selection of wiring colors and then wrapped the whole harness back up. Probably would have never known unless you tore the harness back down.

 

Sounds like wires are corroded and causing problems, especially with the blinkers. Corrosion will make everything work slower, especially on the grounds.

I took apart the harness and inspected for bad connections. Found a couple, replaced them, and re-routed things to figure out lengths.

 

There might be an issue between the front driver and front passenger corner lights, so I think I'll un-wrap everything and inspect that to be sure...

 

But the problem with the lights going on with they key in the ignition is something I did for sure. There was a wire that went to the interior lights on a separate strand of lights from the main or rear harness. I traced everything and figured out those wires went into the black wire on the key switch so I taped it and basically completed the circuit I guess. I used the wiring diagram to figure that out.

 

But now, if I take that wire and plug it into the key wire bypassing the key switch, those corner lights and tail lights come on without the key even in the ignition. So basically thats a live wire (don't know the correct term) that I connected to and I presume I have to find another wire to connect to.

Well I can't figure out the issue with the corner lights. I swapped the connectors and its not those, its something to do with the wiring. The passenger side is much more dim than the driver side. I inspected the wires and I can't see anything wrong.

Take some new wire and make a temp connection, that will tell you if the wiring is bad. Just replace with new wire after that.

Thats a good idea, I'll try that right now!

Well, that didn't work... I'm not even sure I wired it right.

 

There are the two corner lights, each one with two connectors, but the driver side has 2 wires feeding one connector. I basically just took that spot routed a wire to the passenger light, then took the other connector from the passenger light and routed that back to the driver side.

 

The light came on, but dimly like before, and didn't blink with the hazards on same as before.

Usually, a dim light is caused by a bad ground. Actually, most electrical problems are a result of a bad ground.

 

Mark

I'm not even sure where the ground is for these lights...

I've only got two grounds that I can see excluding the negative terminal ground and excluding grounds for individual lights (like the rear tail lights). I adjusted those to better positions, no change.

OK, here is my wiring for reference. Engine harness:

 

 

You can see the wire I connected to the key switch, it has the blue tab thingy that splices into wires, its connected just above the big connector. I used that wire cause thats where the dome wire was connected before I cut it:

 

 

Also, had a package show up today I was expecting

 

 

Brand new 72-74 radiator courtesy Danny! Looks like its going to fit nicely too:

 

 

Note: Its hanging about 2 inches lower than I'm going to mount it, so the radiator outlet on the bottom has more room than it shows here. And if there isn't enough room, there is that overflow bottle holder tab that I can remove to get another 1.5" of space.

 

The fan, I'm more concerned about...

 

 

I don't think I can use the EA81 fan. I think I have to get a thin 10" fan and mount it flush to the radiator not to the brackets on the top/bottom. Those brackets stick out about another 1/2" from the radiator itself which gives me a bunch less room.

 

Anyway, I'll work on getting it mounted these next couple days, worry about the wiring after thats done and I know which fan I'm going to use.

Alright, I made some templates using the fan size diagrams from the SPAL website (for example, this is for the 7.5" low profile fan: http://www.spalusa.com/pdf/30100394_SPEC.PDF#view=FitH ). I picked SPAL cause they have the thinnest fans I could find at just about 2" exactly.

 

I took some pre-measurements to see how much room I had on the radiator, and decided to make templates for the 9" and 7.5" SPAL fans. Here are the results:

 

 

I think they will BOTH fit. The 7.5" is small enough to actually go above the water pump which sticks out so much, so that won't be a problem. And in this photo, I don't have the bottom brackets made yet so its not mounted 100% and actually the bottom of the radiator will be slightly farther from the engine so there will be even more room.

 

Now my question is, should I get the SPAL wiring harness to go along with the fan? There are several options, and I'm not sure what to get. Also note the fans and accessories are MUCH cheaper on Ebay than on their actual website.

Do you really think you will need 2 fans? I would think 1 would be fine. Also, if there is room in the front, they sell pusher type fans you can mount in front of the radiator. As far as the harness, you can make one yourself really cheap. A regular 30A relay with harness is about $5, and a few feet of wire and connectors you probably have laying around.

 

Mark

OK, I'll skip the harness's then.

 

I figured two fans to be safe since it does get hot here, its actually more like 1.5 fans due to the size of the fans. Its also a small radiator too. And there is no room in the front at all, the grill is like an inch away from the radiator and the valence will be even closer.

Gotcha. One thing to keep in mind is that size radiator along with a single fan worked well for the car when new, 40 years ago. Newer fans are much more efficient in regards to cfm vs. size, so a new 9" fan is probably better at moving air than the original, especially a Spal fan. Those cheapy eBay ones are pretty weak. Really, the only time the fan should be working is at speeds under 20mph or so, especially with a new radiator. Also, if if the lower connection becomes an issue after fianl mounting, there is a fitting you can have soldered on that will turn the outlet 90 degrees.

 

Mark

Ya, the ebay ones aren't as good, BUT I found the actual SPAL fans on ebay for like half the price of Spal's website

 

That fitting for the radiator, where can I get it?

Sorted out my wiring gremlins for the lights today

 

I traced back all of the wires for all the lights, and everything appeared to be connected correctly but I re-connected everything just to be certain and tested the wires for resistance and everything was good.

 

When I had the key switch wires plugged in before, apparently that was a mistake, they shouldn't have been plugged in AT ALL according to the wiring that I traced. So running it like that it works fine.

 

As for the front corner light, turns out the connecter did need some help. I cleaned it up a bit, fixed the ground contact, and added some dialectic grease and it works perfect now.

 

 

I'm still not certain about the alternator wiring... I think its wrong, but nobody seems to know enough to help.

Well I THOUGHT I had the wiring gremlins worked out... Now the wipers aren't working

While my wiring progress has ground to a halt, I got my rear trans mount and lower radiator mounts all built

 

I'm currently painting them, so in a few days I can assemble the entire front of the car 100%!

 

 

Rear trans mount. Had the upper bracket welded by a neighbor. Doesn't look like much, but it doesn't need to, its hidden way behind the transmission under the car:

 

as much as id love to be 100% positive about this build, because it truly kicks rump roast....

 

That mount is absolutely ugly.

 

You need a better neighbor. One that can actually weld

He just learned last year

 

It was free, and free is good. And it works, and it looks just fine now since its painted. But ya, its pretty ugly, and completely invisible under the car.

Would you like me to fabricate you a MUCH better looking one? One that isnt made out of 4 pieces cobbled together with bird crap welds?

 

Ship that ugly thing my way. Ill use it as a template to make a proper mount, then ship it back.

 

Just pay shipping to me for the ugly one. Ill cover the rest.

 

Id love to have contributed something to this sweet project. Even if it will be 100% hidden.

 

 

Just an offer. Let me know if you are interested.

Don't worry about it. It looks fine painted, and its quite strong so I'm happy. The flash from that photo makes it look worse than it is.

How bout this... Can you make a 1.25" piping 90 degree elbow? I mean like a SHARP 90 degrees for my radiator hose.

 

I've been trying to figure out what to do about my lower radiator hose, and I can't come up with a good solution. If there were a brass 1.25" elbow I'd buy that immediately, but the largest size they come in is 1"

 

I have found a black plastic elbow, but I'm not sure I should put that in with my radiator hoses.

Aren't some residential sink traps 1.25"? You could have a shiny chrome chunk in your radiator hose.

Those are the wrong kind of elbow. Something more like these: