Part 1: Electrical
The day I picked up S.A.M., I was told by the previous owner that that the electrical system would need to be addressed because it was old and mice may have chewed up some of the wires. With his recommendation duly noted, it became the first thing to take care of.
The first thing to do was find out what worked and what didn't.
Headlights: Not working
Tail-lights: Not working
Turn signals: Not working
Brake lights: Not working
4-way flashers: Not working
Horn: Not working
HVAC blower: Working
Windshield wiper: Not working
Fuel pump: Working
Starter: Working (but not running for other electrical reasons)
There was also a lot of loose wires all over inside the engine bay which made for a very untidy appearance:
And I found it absurd that only four fuses are what's protecting the entire electrical system:
After some poking and prodding around the wiring, I eventually decided against trying to rehab the existing harness and decided to replace the whole thing.
The main harness as I started to remove it (and the hideous carpeting covering up the dash) :
A piece of the dash wiring used to wire in the old gauges:
My dual turn signals (one is actually supposed to be the wipers, the stick broke, and sometimes you repair a car with the parts you have, not the parts you want) :
The original vinyl underneath the carpeted dash:
Eventually, what emerged was The Flying Spaghetti Monster
The new harness arrived and armed with my trusty Haynes' manual, I began to install the wiring. And that's how I came understand why everybody hates Lucas electrical systems:
1. They use absolutely no relays, so everything in the car depends on the quality of your switches.
2. They used absolutely low quality switches, which cost me a day trying to troubleshoot the headlights, and another day on the turn signals.
3. The schematics are crap. They don't use international electrical symbols. Components like the combination turn signal/horn switch are just a box or a circle with no indication of where any particular wire plugs into it, and trying to find any component is like playing a game of Where's Waldo. Needless to say, I hated this part.
Eventually, I got everything in and now it looks a bit neater:
Final assessment of the electrical system after all the work was done:
Headlights: working
Tail-lights: working
Turn signals: working
Brake lights: working
4-way flashers: working
Horn: working
HVAC blower: Working
Windshield wiper: Working
Fuel pump: Working
Starter: Working
With the electrical system completed, now it's time to move on to the rest of the interior. Watch this space for updates.