Trunk Pop

Light duty today. Just a little task to get done and I did it. Got the trunk pop solenoid engineered, installed and wired. All done. No holes were drilled in the making of this improvement. I don't know when a factory trunk pop option was first offered on Pontiacs... I know my '69 GTO had one.

Chief Gets His Head!

His lighted hood ornament finally went on in place of the base ornament he came with. He looks just fine wearing his new ornament.

So, on to other items...I received a replacement for the left power vent motor and that went in today. Working just fine now. So I had to finish up making the hole for the vent switch on the driver's door panel. With that done, the panel went back on and except for a little straightening up and putting the kick panel back on, the windows and locks are done.

Next up was replacing the radio antenna.I *thought* there was enough room in the cowl space right behind the right kick panel where the antenna mounted through the sheet metal, but there was a body brace connecting the dash going right through where the mast would have to sit. After much thinking, I found I could drill an elongated hole in this brace and feed the mast through it. The motor might interfere with the very top of the kick panel when it gets put back in, but I can work with that. So, power antenna is in though not wired up yet. Sorry, no good pictures of the inside to show you how the unit fit in.

And finally, some thoughts about the steering... I ordered a 605 box but I'm not so anxious to swap it out now. I guess a little time spent actually driving the Chief will tell.

Keyless

Made good progress in spite of limited time today. I now have all 4 window wire harnesses wired together and tested. I connected up the rest of the goodies that the keyless box provides like turning on the dome/courtesy lights on unlock, flashing the parking lights, and the trunk pop circuit. Of course, I don't have the trunk solenoid mounted yet, but the circuit is ready. As part of the keyless dome light feature, I had to get the dome lights working. The orange feed wire had been disconnected at the fuse panel. I put a fuse in the circuit for the clock and radio, which let me find out that the radio buzzes and tubes light up, but no sound comes out. The clock still didn't work and I found the purple wire that had been disconnected and taped off was the problem. Apparently the wire had been taped many years ago. The terminal was green and the tape was very brittle. Now the clock works again, but how good it is at keeping time remains to be seen.

More Windows

Well, the power vent window kit is a problem... the left hand motor died within minutes of installing it. The right seems to be holding up fine. I've contacted the seller asking about a replacement for the left. Meanwhile, I got the wire channel/looms installed and got power run from the engine bay to the left kick panel where there is a 20 amp breaker tap.  This will power the lifts, vents, locks and keyless. Obviously not everything will be in use at once so 20 amp should be OK. To my horror, when I removed the right kick panel, it crumbled! The left one was a replacement in a thin, dense foam. I guess the right one has never been off before. Oh well, eBay has some repro ones similar to the left one. I'll just need to paint it... and I have some paint coming already.

So now the locks are all connected, keyless partway in and functional... but I'm stuck because the wire harness from the right rear window is not long enough. I also ran out of blue crimp splices. Off the the store tomorrow so I can continue!

Driver's Door

Changed out the regulator and added the glass bumper stop easily enough. Predictably, the door was not made to accept the 4-gang window switch so some careful cutting was in order. Similarly performed surgery on the trim pad to accept the new switch, being careful to line up with the cut in the door. I installed and adjusted the door lock actuator as well, mounting it in the same spot as the passenger side door. The driver's door lock pull is not as stiff as the passenger's side, as you might expect. Then the biggie, cutting the holes in the door jamb to run all the wires. About this time, UPS showed up with the reproduction wire channel/loom that will guide the wires through the door jamb. On the passenger's side, I had to guess a little. But with the channels in hand, I was able to see my guess was pretty good and to do the full hole cutting on the driver's side. (I'll go back and address the passenger's side later. Right now, I can't get to it as the car is against the wall of the garage on that side.) And that's where I left things. I got a lot accomplished this weekend and I was feeling the fatigue. Better to take a break and come back in a few days to finish up.

Passenger's Door

Today was spent finishing up the door lock, creating a replacement glass bumper for the bottom travel of the window, and carefully cutting for the wiring to go through the jamb. I have a pair of reproduction wire looms for the jambs, but of course they are not here yet. I improvised for now. Driver's door is next!

Left Rear, Right Front Regulator

Finished up running the wire for the right rear up the side of the car to the dash. I ran a speaker wire there too for later use. Then I did the left rear. Got that all done and ran the wire, and added a wire to run the trunk pop later. Then I put the rear seats back in and took a break sitting in the back seat with Forrest for awhile. He was having a grand old time licking his paws and didn't want me to leave, but I wanted to start on the right front door. I swapped out the regulator easily enough, but the one screw holding the rearward edge of the window to the sash channel is stripped. I test fitted to the door lock plunger while I'm there. That looks like it will be very simple and straightforward.