I took last week off work to do a few of the jobs that I've had planned for a while.
The first jobs were electrical. The headlight relay kit I'd installed a few years ago had blown a relay, leaving me with no high beams. I decided to replace the full front section of their wiring, using some sections of a replacement looms I've got, along with new relays. At the same, I fitted the twin electric fans from the firebird and wired up with the Summit kit, also with a pair of relays, removing the stock clutch fan at the same time.
All is now working fine, although the on/off temps are a little high, and I could do with wiring them to a permanent live instead of ignition.
The next job was a little more physical, to say the least. I removed all of the front suspension and replaced with a set of arms with poly bushes, new ball joints and new springs. It took me 3 days in total, having to ovefrcome a few obstacles along the way (who would have known that I would need to remove the headers on one side to get the top arm out) I'm so glad I had the correct tools (spring compressor, ball joint press, ratchet straps) as it was hard enough with them, I can't imagine doing it without.
With everything reinstalled, I then set about sorting the suspension geometry to something better than stock. Again, having the right tools to set camber and castor was a godsend.
I'm happy to say that these changes have transformed the car, it has a much more positive feel and gives me much more confidence with it. I was hoping to have sorted out the rear axle alignment at the same time (to really sort the handling) but ran out of time.
The final job was less of a success. I started to fit the electric window kit I have, but ran into a few issues. The first I found was that the 2 way switch for the drivers side wouldn't control the passenger window (appeared to be a switch problem, as the wires tested OK). Then I found that my drivers window is badly adjusted and there is too much resistance for the motor to raise the window. The final issue, and the one that stopped play, was that there is no hole between the door and the body to feed the loom. To drill it in the correct place I need to remove the door! I decided to leave it at this point, assist the motors to get the window in the up position and leave it non-operational until I have more time to investigate.
Overall a reasonably sucessful week!
