The past week in Car repair

[sixsracing]

Ok Kammie, the suspense is killing me, what ya get?

[CalAltaDubber]

Well I went after the blower motor fault on Saturday.

I checke every part of the circuit.

First I confirmed the wiring from the fuse box to the switch was good.

The switch was also good.

Next I pulled the cover over the motor under the rain tray.

From there I checked the ground. No problem there.

So I thought I woud check the wiring from the switch to the resistor/motor.

Still all good.

That leaves the motor itself.

The motor turns freely, so I just used a couple of jumpper wires to try the next test.

I disconnected the motor connections, and jumped the ground connection to the chassis ground.

I then took another jumpper, and connected one end to the 12V input on the motor and touched the other side to the +ve side of the battery.

Well sometomes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. The fan itself is the problem.

I noticed that 23 years of dirt, crap and crud had built up around the motor. So I went to town with a can of electrical contact cleaner.

Now I can see nice shiny connections in there, so I put it all back together and so far it works.

I will play with it a bit more tonight to see if it still works.

Probably going to be a good idea to aquire a couple of spares on my next trip to Pick 'N Pull.

[kamzcab86]

Ok Kammy, the suspense is killing me, what ya get?

Hopefully you won't be dead by tomorrow, 'cuz that's when I'll post a few pics.

I did manage to finally install the crystal clear headlights today on the Cab... they look good, but not sure about 'em either. Other than that, the 'ole girl is getting a full detailing for the big show on Sunday.

[Calimus]

Well, I've actually been rather busy....working on the rocco

A few pics of the progress












Still don't know if it will be running in time for BAP, but thats mainly because the running part doesn't hinge on me. I have to wait for someone else to complete the engine wiring harness and then see how well it runs without a custom tune. However, the eagle has landed, there is a motor & trans in the engine bay at last.

[Briano1234]

rooking rood rosco, but ya should of painted it GOLD.

[Calimus]

Brian, I think I'm going to get some gold paint and paint exactly one thing somewhere on the car in the color just for you

[Briano1234]

Brian, I think I'm going to get some gold paint and paint exactly one thing somewhere on the car in the color just for you

Damn if I knew that you were awake I would of called ya

[sixsracing]

Kammie, today is tomorrow.....or something like that.

[ibennett]

My bunnie could use a new engine for the fun of it, will that fit my baby?

[bbrown]

So last week was Spring Break and since I didn't have the funds to go gallivanting around the countryside getting drunk and sleeping on the beach (reminds me of my first spring break ). Instead of traveling about I spent my break money on speakers for my Ranger (the Cabby gets neglected since it is still hiding from the winter back home in Maine). I had a JVC head unit that I got from my sister's totaled Escort, but the unit sounded so good that the factory Ford speakers did it no justice. So I went over to best buy and picked up these:




Then it was over to Waly's World to pick up some other things like this fancy AC insulation/vibration reducing foam to use as sound baffles:



More Pics of the Alpine Type S's they are 5 x 7's and



Old tape player head unit


I got so excited about how quick and easy the new head unit was to install thanks to Cruthfield's nifty wiring kit and DIN receiver kit that I didn't stop to take pictures along the way to show how it was done. It was really easy, just match and splice the wires together and then just push the new deck into the dash until it "Clicks" into place. Here it is in the dash (I need to paint my console trim bad)


The door stripped down to start the installation of the new Alpine door speakers:


Premium Speakers my foot


New Alpine:


Insulation in the door followed by speaker:




Door Panel Back on:



My next issue was my rear speakers or should I say lack there of. Before I bought my truck the rear speakers were CUT out of the back either by a thief (which is what I vote for) or an angry Ranger owner who didn't like his rear "Premium" speakers.





So this is what I came up with:



Because I don't have accesses to a wood shop and my pockets are empty I used some of my 3 years of engineering school to some good I guess. I took a plastic tub I had in my dorm room and my utility knife along with some apoxy and made my own speaker enclosures:





They are kind of on the ruff side, but my truck is by no means a show truck. They do their job and you will not really see them with the seats in normal driving position.

Now how do they all sound? AWESOME. The Alpines really hit hard and the Kenwoods do alright. I expected more from the Kenwewoods since they are three ways, but them being so close to my seat I think that a lot of the sound is muffled by my seat. All in all not to shabby from stuff I had laying around my dorm room.

I went back the next day to install some really nice weather stripping that I picked up at Lowe's (gives me ideas for the cabby as the stuff is decent quality, automotive grade, and has a decently strong adhesive on the back for sticking it just about anywhere).

However, the epoxy didn't like bonding to the Ford plastic (should have ruffed it up), but that's okay since the speakers in my first configuration were not getting the sound out (they were too close to my seats and were muffled like crazy). So I relocated the speakers to the center of my cab right behind my armrest. This really allowed the speakers to project a lot more and made me much more happy. The Kenwoods (the rear speakers) are still not as loud as the Alpines in the door, but that is nothing a little balancing on the deck didn't fix. Here is the new setup in the rear:



Fit and finish may not be the best, but when the seat is in driving position (all the way back) you will never notice.
My last project of the break was to restore my headlights. I had picked up on of these Permatex Headlight Restoration Kits from Ace the Helpful Place:


These kits are great and work really well for dulled plastic headlights. Check out my before and after pics. The directions supplied with the kit are straight forward, but I don't know why anyone would wear latex gloves while sanding and the plastic polish isn't anymore harmful than the turtle wax you use on your car. All you need to provide is some arm muscle and water because the kit is a wet sand kit.

Before:


After:


That is what I did during my spring break along with watching too much tv and playing Xbox way too much as well.

[Calimus]

My bunnie could use a new engine for the fun of it, will that fit my baby?

Yup, a 16v will fit right into a bunny just fine. Might want to convert the fuel system over to CIS-e, but I've been told that normal CIS can run a 16v. 16v transplant into a bunny isn't a hard swap at all and it's prollie one of the most common that are done.

[kamzcab86]

I'm liking that rubber engine stand, William.

[sixsracing]

I have an engine stand just like it on my workbench holding a 2.0ABA. I could sell you some cheap if
you want to distribute them.

[Calimus]

No doubt. I have a normal stand, but I've found for mounting tranny's up, nothing beats the patend pending Snyder Self Cushioning Engine Stand.

Trust me, after you smash your fingers with a tranny just one time, you will use anything you can find to get some extra distance between the floor and your hands when dealing with those evil contraptions.

[sixsracing]

First off, Kammie still hasn't posted pics or told us what she got. Somebody needs to step in.

Last night I ripped all the stereo and aftermarket lighting wires out of the Beetle. Straightened out
the steel protector for the transmission pan and re-attached the grille assy. Adjusted air pressure
and inspected the tires-two bad/two marginal. Checked the transmission fluid level which was good
but dirty. Installed the original A/F meter and re-assembled the air box correctly. Determined that
the fog lights are beyond salvage and that the center muffler is shot. Oh, and blew the fuse in the
radio.