derekf.com

16 May 2020
Electrics continue

This bounces around a bit. I'd say "sorry", but I'm not.

The stock F-body battery cables are too short, and I had no luck soldering them (I suppose I wasn't pumping enough heat in).

I do, however, have some convenient 3/8 NiCopp fuel line sitting around. That'd be a functional crimp connector.

And of course we finish with heat shrink.

Started off small. Airbags, fog lights. De-pin if I can, cut at the bulkhead if not.

Won't need the ABS wiring.

And the pile grows. Won't need the emissions bits, the stock stereo connectors, amplifier, etc.

To hop to another issue - I may have neglected to mention, I have a leak at the rear calipers. This is the driver's side, it's fine.

This is the pass side. There is DAMAGE near the banjo bolt, you might be able to see it.

The damage is from putting this hose on backward - it won't seal, and the edge dug into the caliper body.

I've asked the local FLAPS to order me a new one, they didn't even give me a price just said they've requested it and they'll give me a call. Not sure if that's a blowoff or not.

In this implementation, this pass side caliper is a 97 Camaro driver's side rear.

Pulled out more wires. This looks to be the same wires that were a few pictures back

De-pinning the PCM is actually easy once you know the trick.

AIR pump, EGR, etc.

By this point I've got power to the car. Some things work, some do not. Right turn signal is a "no", and it looks to be because the pin in the column connector is bent over.

Tried to straighten it, no dice.

I am not convinced that this dashboard goes with this car. Not because of the metric calibration, but because nothing lights up correctly. High beam makes the oil pressure go sky-high (and then Check Gages comes on). Odometer never came on.

I don't need it.

I have adapted the 60s headlight switch to the F-body harness. It works.

Conveniently enough, I had two damaged oxygen sensor connectors. Removed those, and put the other two as the "front" in the PCM.

Radiator Support Cover (whatever the proper name is) cleaned up and primed.

AC box also primed. It looked better in vaguely sanded bondo; I still have work to do here.

I made a fake dashboard out of cardboard. This is with the hazards on; note that (as mentioned), the right turn indicator isn't working).

Added a clamp to hold wires away from the headers.

I got a new set of column connectors (well.. to be fair, I got three different ones).

Painless 30805 is a new connector with pigtails and was almost $50. That got returned.

American Autowire 510643 is a big kit with a bunch of connectors, one of which is this. I got it and haven't used it.

American Autowire 500428 is just the connectors here and was less than ten bucks.

The connector opens up like this.

New connector crimped in place (also soldered, not seen here)

Also not seen here:

The Camaro F-body uses separate bulbs for brake and turn. That'd be.. unfortunate in this case, since my taillights only have one socket.

The Firebird, however, uses one filament for both stop and turn. The difference is a connection between C216 P and the brake light switch. Simple enough, since I have the connectors already.

And with that, my turn indicators work.

These pictures were mainly for me to keep track of what pins had and had not been removed.

The stock 69 AC controls provide power to the compressor at all times when the mode switch isn't in "off", so long as this switch on the mixing box thing is happy.

My switch is not happy. At no point does it make contact.

So quite a bit of electronic contact cleaner later, and this switch conducts electricity when the lever is like this

but shuts off when the lever is like this. That corresponds to the diverter door being closed - at this point, the incoming air is entirely what's come through the heater core.

Not pictured, because it wouldn't be easy to photograph and probably wouldn't make sense:

I bought some cheap (less than ten bucks for the set) power door lock solenoids from Amazon. With those, I was able to set up the key fob. It works.

Not pictured: Unlike the turn signals and the high beam indicator, the Security light is grounded via the BCM and gets power from the fuse box. With that configured, the security light on my cardboard dash turns on for a couple of seconds at key-on, then turns off.

Time for the big test: Can I chat with the PCM?

Yes. Yes I can.

It's flaky, quite a bit of that is because of the really low output of this Optima battery. With the charger cranked up, I can connect to it and pull the current data.

There's still some funkiness with key position and such but that may be power level, may be grounds... we'll see. This was a really good sign.

My stock controls have definitely seen better days. I got a new lens, but the lens is far from being the problem here.

The backing is trash and I haven't seen anyone talk about how one replaces this. I assume I'll mask off the chrome and paint it flat black?

I have Had An Issue with the radiator cushions.

I bought a set of Nolathane for a 69 with a big block. They didn't fit (not pictured, I returned them). Not surprising, I put the BB in the car.

So I bought a set of Nolathane for a 69 with a small block. They also didn't fit, and I returned those too.

The top two are old cushions from this radiator. The very top one is just like the third one down and the one I mounted. It fits. The second one down is my other original, and it's unlike the rest of these.

The Internet seems to think that the best route is to CUT THE CORE SUPPORT to fit the larger cushions. I am not to that point yet. I'll use my original small one in the other end of the upper here.

So what's next?

I have measured for the driveshaft.
I have ordered the hole saws I need to run the PCM wires through the firewall rather than through the windshield opening.
I will have to adjust the lengths of all these wires.
I - knowing that the fuel pump isn't hooked up yet - went ahead and tried turning the key to "Start". The engine did not spin over - but the starter did hum. Maybe that's a failed starter, maybe it's low power. Does tell me that the car is happy with the VATS I have.
Still need to run the wires to the rear lights, fuel pump, and fuel sender.
I have to do some planning on the dashboard layout; what I thought I was doing wasn't (apparently) correct. I don't want to drop $350 on a plastic custom dash to mount these autometer gauges and I certainly don't want to have that stamped steel gauge-holder under the dash this time. I've got two 5" and 3 2 5/8" to mount (Oil pressure, water temp, fuel level... maybe I should get a voltmeter too?).

Go back to the previous day (2 May 2020)

	The stock F-body battery cables are too short, and I had no luck soldering them (I suppose I wasn't pumping enough heat in).
I do, however, have some convenient 3/8 NiCopp fuel line sitting around. That'd be a functional crimp connector.
	And of course we finish with heat shrink.
Started off small. Airbags, fog lights. De-pin if I can, cut at the bulkhead if not.
	Won't need the ABS wiring.
And the pile grows. Won't need the emissions bits, the stock stereo connectors, amplifier, etc.
	To hop to another issue - I may have neglected to mention, I have a leak at the rear calipers. This is the driver's side, it's fine.
This is the pass side. There is DAMAGE near the banjo bolt, you might be able to see it.
	The damage is from putting this hose on backward - it won't seal, and the edge dug into the caliper body. I've asked the local FLAPS to order me a new one, they didn't even give me a price just said they've requested it and they'll give me a call. Not sure if that's a blowoff or not. In this implementation, this pass side caliper is a 97 Camaro driver's side rear.
Pulled out more wires. This looks to be the same wires that were a few pictures back
	De-pinning the PCM is actually easy once you know the trick.
AIR pump, EGR, etc.
	By this point I've got power to the car. Some things work, some do not. Right turn signal is a "no", and it looks to be because the pin in the column connector is bent over. Tried to straighten it, no dice.
I am not convinced that this dashboard goes with this car. Not because of the metric calibration, but because nothing lights up correctly. High beam makes the oil pressure go sky-high (and then Check Gages comes on). Odometer never came on. I don't need it.
	I have adapted the 60s headlight switch to the F-body harness. It works.
Conveniently enough, I had two damaged oxygen sensor connectors. Removed those, and put the other two as the "front" in the PCM.
	Radiator Support Cover (whatever the proper name is) cleaned up and primed.
AC box also primed. It looked better in vaguely sanded bondo; I still have work to do here.
	I made a fake dashboard out of cardboard. This is with the hazards on; note that (as mentioned), the right turn indicator isn't working).
Added a clamp to hold wires away from the headers.
	I got a new set of column connectors (well.. to be fair, I got three different ones). Painless 30805 is a new connector with pigtails and was almost $50. That got returned. American Autowire 510643 is a big kit with a bunch of connectors, one of which is this. I got it and haven't used it. American Autowire 500428 is just the connectors here and was less than ten bucks. The connector opens up like this.
New connector crimped in place (also soldered, not seen here) Also not seen here: The Camaro F-body uses separate bulbs for brake and turn. That'd be.. unfortunate in this case, since my taillights only have one socket. The Firebird, however, uses one filament for both stop and turn. The difference is a connection between C216 P and the brake light switch. Simple enough, since I have the connectors already.
	And with that, my turn indicators work.
These pictures were mainly for me to keep track of what pins had and had not been removed.



The stock 69 AC controls provide power to the compressor at all times when the mode switch isn't in "off", so long as this switch on the mixing box thing is happy. My switch is not happy. At no point does it make contact. So quite a bit of electronic contact cleaner later, and this switch conducts electricity when the lever is like this
	but shuts off when the lever is like this. That corresponds to the diverter door being closed - at this point, the incoming air is entirely what's come through the heater core.
Not pictured, because it wouldn't be easy to photograph and probably wouldn't make sense: I bought some cheap (less than ten bucks for the set) power door lock solenoids from Amazon. With those, I was able to set up the key fob. It works. Not pictured: Unlike the turn signals and the high beam indicator, the Security light is grounded via the BCM and gets power from the fuse box. With that configured, the security light on my cardboard dash turns on for a couple of seconds at key-on, then turns off.
	Time for the big test: Can I chat with the PCM? Yes. Yes I can. It's flaky, quite a bit of that is because of the really low output of this Optima battery. With the charger cranked up, I can connect to it and pull the current data. There's still some funkiness with key position and such but that may be power level, may be grounds... we'll see. This was a really good sign.
My stock controls have definitely seen better days. I got a new lens, but the lens is far from being the problem here.
	The backing is trash and I haven't seen anyone talk about how one replaces this. I assume I'll mask off the chrome and paint it flat black?
I have Had An Issue with the radiator cushions. I bought a set of Nolathane for a 69 with a big block. They didn't fit (not pictured, I returned them). Not surprising, I put the BB in the car. So I bought a set of Nolathane for a 69 with a small block. They also didn't fit, and I returned those too. The top two are old cushions from this radiator. The very top one is just like the third one down and the one I mounted. It fits. The second one down is my other original, and it's unlike the rest of these. The Internet seems to think that the best route is to CUT THE CORE SUPPORT to fit the larger cushions. I am not to that point yet. I'll use my original small one in the other end of the upper here.