Make sure to put some rainbow unicorn stickers on your charge piping. It will go great with the purple!!
MONTE CARLO "COPO" Monte Carlo SS - Turbosaurus Build (Swinging Dick Racing's c*ck got bent... she bounced a little too high & hard, & came down awkwardly)
- Thread starter motorheadmike
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The last week has included a lot of "Infantry eating crayons" jokes. This is a weird world.
How else are my good little infidels supposed to be able to effectively close with and destroy?
No, it just a deductive reasoning tool. We're probably going to end up with a doctor and an engineneeeeerd.
After spending my day as a chauffeur/coach/donkey to skating and BJJ, and then orchestrating an epic unicorn-themed pool party (and being beaten by little girls with balloon swords)... I mustered up enough reserve energy to drag my battered self into the garage.
First thing I did was assemble and set-up a new Crappy Tire workbench I picked up on sale. Reason being is with all of the electronics going into this car I need it closer to the car and the parts/tools on hand to avoid all the back and forth (it eats up time and breaks focus - look up the concept of the kitchen work triangle (storage, prep, cook)).
I managed to build a break-out harness for the factory gauges (volts to the alternator, oil pressure off the factory sending unit (I put a 3-wire pigtail (has power, ground, signal) and in there for future use), and the 3-wire CTS. The idea here is it allows the main harness to be removed without cutting any wires.
Still so much more work to do.
First thing I did was assemble and set-up a new Crappy Tire workbench I picked up on sale. Reason being is with all of the electronics going into this car I need it closer to the car and the parts/tools on hand to avoid all the back and forth (it eats up time and breaks focus - look up the concept of the kitchen work triangle (storage, prep, cook)).
I managed to build a break-out harness for the factory gauges (volts to the alternator, oil pressure off the factory sending unit (I put a 3-wire pigtail (has power, ground, signal) and in there for future use), and the 3-wire CTS. The idea here is it allows the main harness to be removed without cutting any wires.
Still so much more work to do.
I goofed a little. According to this I could have added a few other things to that break-out harness (ie. CEL/SES through the brn/wht wire, and I can turn the choke light wire into the tach signal by moving the pin at the cluster connector):
Oh well - it shouldn't be a long term problem.
Oh well - it shouldn't be a long term problem.
Man... I am so full of sh*t. The SES wire is yellow, not brn/wht, and there are two of them! One to the ALDL and the other I learned (after much digging) blindly terminates on the PS of the dash. Yup, it goes to nowhere. In fact, of that entire branch of wires (about a 12 or so) only 3 go underhood for the TCC. WTF?!
Actually I get this car was pre-wired for an ECM... I just want it to be simple.
Speaking of not simple... ever compared an idiot light dash to a gauge dash? Nothing alike. So I guess I get to repair and repaint the busted old shadow box.
For now I replaced all the old bulbs with LEDs, and now have some testing to do.
Maybe I'm stoopid or something, but I can't see much difference other than the PCBs. You can't make it work?
I looked up the part numbers for the PCBs last night (you know just because I hate myself enough to know what things cost, and to see if they are even available), and new PCBs are available at $100+ US. Truth be told, I would just build some harnesses with leads to the gauges and call it a day before dropping any coin. I am just doing this for giggles (a 6000rpm tach? Seriously?! LMFAO) as the gauges "stopped working" the second the 305 came out of the car back in 1999, and I installed those sweet Sport Comps in their place (that oil pressure gauge sprung leaks and ruined many a pant leg). I didn't mention it, but did anyone notice that is a vintage Zeitronix NBO2 gauge in the lower right pod? My grand parents got that for me (it wasn't cheap back in the day) - it was my first "gauge". Seems I've been a data geek since forever. Maybe I should reinstall it and run the simulated-NB02 lead to it from the SCG-1? Because nostalgia.
EDIT: I completely forgot to sh*t all over myself for those vintage wiring sins. Seriously, I was dangerous. It gets better with age and experience, kids - I promise!
I also checked to see what a used replacement shadow box would cost - about $125 US (with gauges). Nope. I am just going to epoxy this thing back together and reinforce it on the inside and call it a day... she ain't no show car. Anyway - it is all good, I have some grey plastic dye/paint sitting on the shelf for just such an occasion. Probably paint the centre console and uncracked dash while I am at it. Mission creep!
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