Power Locks!

Finished up the wiring of the locks, keyless, wipers and even cleaned up the fuel pump wiring. I added a small add-on fuse block and tapped into the battery power terminal in the left kick panel. This gave me 4 circuits to play with. I wired the locks and keyless to one circuit that is always on, of course. The fuel pump had been temporarily wired to the Acc terminal on the original fuse block and I now wired it into the auxiliary block. Since we only want power to it when the key is in Run, I tapped a wire in the back of the original block to energize a relay for the pump. I ran the wipers the same way, using a relay so they cut off when you turn off the key. I also replaced the black wiper knob with a '58 radio knob I got at Cooper's for $5. Not sure I like it.

Put the right lock motor in today and got everything wired up except for the keyless unit and tying it all into the car's electrical. I'll save that for next weekend. No need to rush.

Electric Wipers

The electric wiper motor from New Port Engineering went in today. Very simple, direct replacement and I ran the wires the same route as the original cable control went. I removed the washer button and the wiper slide lever, installing the rotating knob in the place of the slider WITHOUT modifying the trim plate. I just fabbed up a small metal plate that I could screw into the existing bosses on the plate to hold the switch. The button for the washer pump will eventually go where the old vacuum button was, but I didn't get to that today. Instead I started putting in the power door lock kit. Driver's door is done. Probably do the passenger's tomorrow.

Power Trunk

This past week a power door lock kit with keyless entry and a trunk pop solenoid was purchased. Work on installing the trunk-pop solenoid began today. Tried just drilling a hole in the latch for the solenoid cable to lift, releasing the trunk catch. There was not enough leverage and the cable was binding on the inner metal sides of the latch housing. So... cutting and welding required. Added some length to the latch to give better leverage to the solenoid. Added a brace across the top and side to keep the latch from slopping off to the side of the trunk catch and to limit the latch's upward travel. The design of the latch is such that when the key is used, it will only lift the latch so far. But the latch will actually travel further if moved by hand or solenoid, and moving it too far will move it beyond the limits that the return spring can deal with. But not anymore! Then the next problem: with the lock cylinder back in place, it impeded the solenoid cable so the bracket for the solenoid had to be bent over to the left to clear the cylinder. Added some adhesive sheet rubber to the inside of the trunk lid to deaden the noise of the solenoid. With test power rigged up, it unlatches the trunk using the solenoid and still works with the key too, so it seems to be adjusted properly. I ran the power wire up the inside of the trunk lid but I had to knock off so I still need to run the wire into the cabin. With this hot weather, I am not working too hard on it so if I don't get power run to it right away, no big deal. The trunk is back to being operable with the key and the lid latches shut so the car is usable this way.