67 Mk1 GT6 restoration

[byakk0]

Picked up a 10 fuse block with LED indication for an open fuse for cheap, but it only has a single hot lead in. I want one with 3, so here goes...


Here is the schematic. I'll make new circuits, cutting at the red lines.


with the internals exposed. The cover is just held in place by tabs, and they easily release.



The power bar removed. I had to unsolder the black wire that supplied power to the LED's.
I'll cut at the red lines and I added mounting holes where the blue circles are.


before cutting I reinstalled it so I could transfer the new holes to the base.


The main power was fed around the perimiter of the circuit board. I severed it at the red X's to create my three circuits for the LED's. Then I jumpered the power, indicated by the blue. Power was supplied to the board from each section at the yellow circles.
You can see the power strip cut and each section bolted into place.


With the circuit board back in place. I attached supply wire to the power strips. Red for the top 4, black for the middle 2.


I added connection terminals to all three.
Testing it here. With a good fuse inline the LED does not light.


And with an open, the LED lights. I tested all points, and it works as intended.


and the final product. Not too shabby.
The question now is, how to mount it. Do I replace the OEM block or mount it under the dash and leave the OEM block in place, but unpowered and keep the stock look? Time will tell.

[byakk0]

On the carburetor front, I think I've got it going decent for now. Something funny about by tach, whether the tach itself, the cable, or the connection at the distributor. It's working for now, and that's really all that matters.
Need to make some adjustments to the butterfly on the rear carb now. I can get it to idle down around 1000 if I force the the trottle further towards close, otherwise it wants to idle about 1500. I'll get it there eventually, next time I feel like pulling the rear carb. (I bought a 1/2" wrench just so I modify it for the carbs.)

Been having issues with my car starting. I've had to connect the battery charger to get it to turn over, even with a full charge, so something is funny.
I cleaned the connections, verified everything, and still no luck.
On top of that I had issues the other day with my truck not starting. Needed a new battery terminal and was hoping that was the problem, so I cleaned it up. Thinking maybe the corrosion had kept the battery from recharging I tried jumping it with my GT6, but no luck.


I hauled that battery and my GT6 battery to a local place for testing and both passed with flying colors. My truck battery is even 17 years old and still going strong. Replaced the terminal end, which was severely corroded and about ready to split in two. Still no start.
Ended up being the starter so I got that sorted.

So, with the starter on my mind I dug into my GT6 starter. I noticed a few months ago sparks coming from the end of the armature (the rotating bit that pokes out the back end) so I ordered a new set of brushes and with them on hand now decided to pull it and replace them. (It's an L25079, so I ordered accordingly)

Don't mind the color scheme. It was a crazy attempt of engine beautification back when I got the car. I had to replace the bendix and painted it while I had it out. Yeah, the follies of youth.


With the brush cover pulled off.



close up shot of the commutator. NOt surprised but not what I wanted to see.



I've got an incomplete spare starter, so I pulled the armature out of it.
My boy noticed before I did the bendix end on the spare is a clip on, while my current one is threaded. Well, that won't work...


Here's the brushes, old and new, and a side shot



replaced the brushes. Desoldering them was a job.I had to drill a pilot hole to center and then drill a larger hole. I think I used 5/32". Then I could put the tip of my iron into the hole and desolder.
You'll notice the broken spring...oops. Good thing I had a spare.


De-soldering these were a littler tougher. I couldn't do the drill trick. But, I was able to get them removed and replaced in the end.


I dressed the commutators with 80 grit, 120, 240 and 600.


All back together execpt for inserting the brushes. (notice the stripped case)


Inserting the brushes. I had to lift the spring up with needle nosed pliers and then insert a screwdriver underneath to lift it out of the way.



Then I was able to slide the new brush into the holder and release the spring. Repeat for the other 3.


Inverted, but here you go, with the brush cover replaced.


And...repainted.Looks a bit better, don't you think?


But...I'm afraid this isn't the end of the story. While I have yet to test it I'm concerned I've got an issue with either the battery terminal or the brush wires (or both) shorting to the case, so I checked the continuity from the case to the battery terminal, among other areas and get continuity. I don't think I want to test it in a live circuit yet...

There is a plastic non-conductive bushing between the case and the battery terminal, but none of the washers are non conductive, so I think this may be the culprit. I'll check when I have the time.
...the saga continues.

[drofgum]

Hazen,
That motor will have a very low resistance anyway. Any normal ohmmeter will read continuity through it. Either take it to the place that tested the batteries for you, or just connect it and try it.
                                                                                                 Regards,
                                                                                                 Paul

[byakk0]

Sheesh, I'm way overthinking this stupid thing.

I finally bit the bullet and just connected it to my jumper cables as Paul suggested and vrooom. Spins easier and faster than before the repair. (That's the whole idea, right?)
Next job is to reinstall. Just need to customize my el-cheapo 9/16" wrench so I can access the bolt head on the inside easily.

[byakk0]

Reinstalled the starter.
I bought a cheap 9/16" wrench and bent it so I could access the starter bolts from the engine side.
Then a friend mentioned just welding a tab on the head of the bolt to keep it from spinning. Worked wonders.



I recall R&R-ing the starter back when I was driving it and it took forever.

My battery needed a bit of a charge but it fired right up without the charger connected.
https://youtu.be/xu3OMy36tMk

[JohnD]

Nice one, byakk!

Installing the starter is one job where the arms aren't long enough.
I've glued a spanner to the bolt head before now to 'hold' it while i tighten the nut on the other side of the bulkhead, but this is a very good idea.

Another job that requires a modified spanner is the front-under exhaust manifold nut.      A cut-off 9/16" allows enough swing past the engine mount, but drill the shaft as well and wirea short length of 15mm copper pipe around it, so that you can put more pressure on it comfortably.
John

[BiTurbo228]

Great work! It's inching steadily closer and closer

Great idea welding tabs onto the bolt as well. I'll have to remember that one...

[byakk0]

Thanks guys! A little at a time. I'll eventually get there.

John, I was able to use a long extension on my ratchet to get at that nut. Great idea though.

Along the tool modification lines, I customized a 1/2" wrench for my carbs. I'll put up photos later when I take the rest of the set.

[byakk0]

I changed locations of my temporary mirror mount and like that position a little better (pics later)

Also, I somehow melted a reverse lamp wire in my rear loom, so today I unwound it (all that hard work!!!), only to discover the only place it was melted was just last 2". Thank goodness. I spliced in a new end of the correct color combo and just need to re-wrap the loom.

Still having troubles with it easily starting. I'm suspecting the battery at this point. I need to swap batteries with my Corolla (same battery) and see if the problem persists. I get about 1-2 seconds of good cranking but not quite enough to start. After that it struggles until I top it off with the charger.

If it's not one thing, it's another.

[byakk0]

Did the battery swap and the results were as I had expected and hoped--thank goodness.
My GT6 battery started the Corolla easily, but after a few tries it quickly got to where it was struggling (and this without charging the battery to full beforehand). The Corolla battery fired the GT6 up quickly, a number of times. The only one who loses out in the end is my son, as he now needs to reset his clock and radio presets

So although the battery does indeed seem suspect, is the starter drawing too many amps and will this problem remain even with a replacement battery? (I'm hoping the joint I bought it from will swap me for another)

[BiTurbo228]

Hah! I read that last sentence as 'I'm hoping the joint I bought him he'll let me swap for another' :S

Do you have an ammeter to test how much the starter is pulling when it's engaged?

[byakk0]

Hah! That's funny.

Ammeter...yes and no....I've got two and they're both messed up. I've got a new one on order, should be here any day.

[rotoflex]

Are you using CDSE carbs?

Look at the face to see if there's an additional hole.  My CDSE's are of that type, & they require those spacers & gaskets with the slot running from the center opening.  They allow the additional hole to share the same atmosphere as the butterflies.  They won't function properly with the gaskets & spacers without the oblong slot running from the center hole.  

Sorry, can't provide photos & excerpts from manuals, I'm confined with a wrecked ankle.

[byakk0]

Bill, look back up at the first post on the previous page.
I do have CDSE, and you'll see the gaskets I'm using, with the proper cutout.
Unless you mean an additional cutout, then I'm afraid I don't know which gadgets you mean.

[byakk0]

Got a new battery-the parts store swapped me. It was less than 3 months old and dead already.
Starts like a champ now.
Got a new volt meter too. It's a Klein tools knockoff I picked up on eBay for next to nothing. Should be sufficient for my needs. At least it is auto-ranging

[byakk0]

ok, so the battery holds strong. Takes quite a few cranks (30 seconds, maybe more) to fire, but it's been sitting for nearly a week without being started. Is this normal? I don't recall it taking so long. Still working on getting the carbs just right, so maybe that is a contributing factor.

Anyway, I reinstalled the rear loom this past week. I pulled it to look for damage as I melted the brown/green wire (reverse) right at the lamps. I wasn't sure how far back the damage went so I pulled it to inspect, which involved un-wrapping and re-wrapping). Luckily only one wire was damaged, and only just the last 6". Phew.

This time I snaked it through the little hole in the inner sill. That required taping all the ends as close to the main harness as possible. I then fed a feeder wire up through the hole and taped the wire to to the loom so I could just pull it through. Took some persuading in places and in the end worked nicely but took some time. Makes me wonder how the factory did it.

I was afraid I'd have to use my new fuse block but I connected everything with the stock fuse block still in place and everything but the turn signals work, not even the front. All other lights work, including the dome light.
Chasing that down is another day's project. I hope I didn't ruin the switch when I melted the reverse lamp--something shorted somewhere but I'm not sure what.
I did discover I neglected to put the little black boots on the back of the lamp holders the previous time, so I'm thinking I caused an inadvertent short. I got them on this time, so perhaps that was the fix.


At least I can put off installing the new fuse block for now as I want more time to think up where I want it and how to mount it-I'm leaning on the inner A-pillar, but I want to build a speaker box there I can mount it to.

[Mark E]

If mine sits for more than few days it's hard to start unless I prime using the little lever on the fuel pump. Three or four pumps before I try to start and it fires almost immediately (I'm assuming you still have the mechanical pump?)

[byakk0]

Seems to be the consensus. Back when I was driving it, it was my daily driver and never sat long enough to require the priming lever, so I don't have a point of reference.

[byakk0]

Discovered the issue with my turn signals is my switch. I couldn't verify if the flasher was the problem or not, and as I suspected the switch I jumpered the flasher and the turn signals worked just fine. That pinpointed the switch.
The thing that drives me bonkers is I bought this particular switch off of someone on ebay back in 2004 (ish) along with a new chrome liscense plate cover and glass lens. Fortunately they were a good price.

So, I pulled the column out---again. I needed to loosen it and recenter the wheel anyway.

Anyway, this is what I found.
You can see a circular shaped crack around the center hole. This allowed some flexing and loss of contact.


The old lube/grease was dry and brittle, surely adding to the symptoms.


I've got the old grease cleaned out here. I hit the contacts with 600 grit lightly enough to clean any corrosion away.


I had a broken switch in my spare column so I dug it out and thankfully the housing is intact.
I used a dremel to remove the rivets on both. Then I carefully pulled them apart, not knowing what to find inside. There is a spring and a bearing, and thankfully they didn't go shooting across the garage on either one.


Spring and bearing shown here


I lubed it with white lithium grease


Then reassembled with a small bolt, but a long rivet would work as well.

[byakk0]

Finally got the time to complete the welding on my passenger side rocker. I had to add some metal as backer, so welding from underneath was needed. What a pain, but I succeeded. I only needed about 1/4" but I cut the strips wide and trimmed them to fit after the fact.

before.


Underside shot. You can see the different I need to make up.


I cut some metal strips about 1" wide. Easier to work with than a 1/4' strip.


After welding I trimmed the excess off. Just need to clean up the welds a little more, maybe. I had the passenger side of the car up on stands over 1 foot and welding was still a pain. Thankfully not many people will see how bad it looks.


I would have hit it with primer but I'm currently out. I'm at a point now where I can do bodywork, so I'll likely leave it as is because I plan on stripping everything back to bare metal and epoxy priming, then I can do the mudwork a panel at time. I don't anticipate much filler, but I guess we'll see.

Wrapped up the day with a quick run down the street.

[byakk0]

I've needed to adjust the alignment of my front left tire ever since I put the rolling chassis together. I just slapped it back together and the tie rod only threaded on less than an inch. I was concerned but diced to tackle that job later.
Maybe
I should have done so sooner. I didn't really bother as I know I need new tires. I didn't realize it was adversely affecting the rotor. Look at the groove I found from the new tie rod end rubbing-and this a brand new rotor too.


So, I dug into it a little deeper and jacked it up. I couldn't figure out why the end would thread on any further as there was plenty of threads left to go.
So, I pulled it off and hit the town. not much open after 5 on a Saturday that would sell a 1/2-20 tap. The FLAPS only had a 1/2-13. The local ranch supply store had one in a kit, but I didn't want to spend more than the cost of the tie rod end in the first place.
So, I've got my car on stands and I needed to get it back together and in the garage, so I priced out new ends. No one stocked one (shocker) but for a very hefty price they could get one in. No thanks. I'd rather go through Spitbits.

So I bought a 1/2-20 bolt and cut 2 slots to use it as a thread chaser.


Worked like a charm-look at that crud that came out. The rod rend threaded all the way on this time.
The only problem is I wore a hole in the new rubber boot. Think regular bicycle tire repair patches will work on this?

Just for kicks, here's a shot of the inside of my old driver's side A-pillar. Nasty nasty...I was cleaning out my garage and decided it was time part with all the unneeded rusty bits.


Moving on, the past few weeks I've been stripping the top of all the previous bodywork and paint. Layers of bondo, primer and paint.











Funny thing about all the bondo. I only found 2 small areas in real need of filler

Found some blemishes on the sail panel too. I'm using Evercoat Metal2Metal, so I mudded up one of the small dings on the top, one on the passenger side sail panel of my own creation, and the driver's side sail panel as well as the emblem panel on the back. I got that area as good as I will ever be able to get it with metal finishing (At this point in my skill anyway) so I figure I'll get a better finish this way.

I since sanded most of these but those pics will come later.




Next immediate step is epoxy primer and some serious sanding with my longboard to see where the true blemishes lie.

[BiTurbo228]

Looking really nice Hazen!

Apart from that balljoint wear on the brake disc :s I've always thought they were a little close for comfort. Props on the home-made thread chaser though. Must remember that trick.

[byakk0]

more progress. Got a layer of epoxy primer down. Brushed it on as I need to sand it looking for imperfections,




I've since sanded the rear emblem panel and it is a bit wavy. Hopefully some high-build primer will be sufficient.

[byakk0]

I've also discovered my hatch needs to shift to the left about 1/8"~3/16". Anyone have any ideas how to do that? I've loosened the bolts at the hatch-to-spring and the spring-to-roof and there doesn't seem to be any sort of right-left adjustment.

[byakk0]

Just me jumping around. I scored a full sheet of 1/4" hardboard at work today so I cut out the rear deck boards. Needs a little more fettling but they'll work.
(Ok ok, it's 3/16". Stupid nominal sizes. No one sells full 1/4" hardboard anymore.