I decided it was time to get the hood off and get serious about the engine tear down. I want to tear down as much of the engine as I could before I have to pull it. This saves on weight, frustration and most importantly me pulling out hair from my already-balding head.
Why is there a second ignition coil here? Why is it potted? Is this a choke? Why?
This random pipe was under the hood. It’s used for coolant. It has a bleeder on the right side and exits the engine bay at the radiator support goes around the front and goes BACK into the engine bay on the left side. Why???
Under the hood I found more relays and inline fuses and a random resistor pack.
2022 will be remembered as the year I decided to finally tear into this pig. Now to keep the momentum going in 2023!
I finished the LEDs for the red part of the tail light and started working on the animation for the turn signals.
It’s time to pull coolant out of the car. I need to remove the heater core and I don’t have a good way to drain everything in the tight space I’m in. So, I decided to use an old garden hose and a small pump and suck all the coolant out of the engine. And it’s gross looking.
I finally won the battle with this HVAC box. I’m certain someone will email me and tell me that I’m ruining something special. That’s fine. The new setup will be under the hood and I can service it in an afternoon, not a month of afternoons.
Looks like the heater core was leaking anyway. Go figure.
I’ve worked on many wiper motors in the past. All of them have had some sort of crankshaft like bar attached to a cam like gear on a motor. I have never seen anything cable driven.
I have to admit, I don’t think I hate this. Yes, I hate the electrical connector, but something about being able to remove an entire wiper assembly from the car in one piece is kind of refreshing.
I’ll give this one to Jaguar.
And here’s the terrible electrical connection:
I started playing with the instrument cluster. The four gauges in the middle will be replaced with a small LCD screen, but the speedometer and tachometer will remain. The tachometer will be changed to become a KWH meter. Looks like I can easily put a pulse in and control both gauges. Maybe someday I’ll change them to steppers? For now they work like this and still has the old-car charm of bouncing gauges.
And then there’s this. This is just part of the incredibly over-complex HVAC this car has (had)
And if my dryer at home has it’s thermostat go out, I can just grab this spare off a nearby Jag.
I managed to spend the entire day after Christmas super sick. I was feeling better on the 27th, but not 100%, but managed to get some more work done on the car.
Nothing like looking at something behind the dash with your camera and seeing the phrase “Do NOT remove 2 screws” stamped in the steel.
This was a challenge. This is a security screw for the ignition lock assembly, and the way they make it is that the screw is torqued from the factory and the head is snapped off. Makes removing it nearly impossible.
The “What have I got myself into” look…
I need to remove the vacuum booster, which is apparently attached to the brake pedal box, so that has to be removed, too.
On Christmas afternoon while the rest of the family was asleep from Christmas morning festivities I worked more on the Jaaaaaaaaaaag
I found this under the headliner. I thought maybe it was a VIN tag – nope, just a random piece of metal half painted.
I started looking at these interior switches. The silkscreening is peeling and they are poorly backlit. I have a plan for replacing these with something a little more modern, but looks authenticish.