Let there be light!

So, a side from being frustrated with my friend's minivan, I've had to deal with car issues of my own. I drive a '93 Legend coupe. It generally has been very reliable, even if it has been bat up by neighbors and friends who can't park. Lately it's been pitching a CEL for an issue with the ignition signal, and up until yesterday I haven't been able to figure WTF is going on with it. But, I did find out what is generally wrong when I was poking around, actually poking and proding, the wiring harness and when I moved the harness nearest to the ICM (Ignition Control Module), the idle settled down into a normal, smooth, lovely healthy V6 burble. *sighs* I have a loose connection somewhere in that section of the harness. I'll poke around a bit more after I get home for Father's day this Sunday to spend time with my dad. 

Continuing a theme with electrical issues, I was working in my "shop" in the garage of my friend's place and the lights went out. Just the lights. So, I walk over to the light switch and flip it off and on again, and the lights flickered for a split second and then went out again. ARG! I did actually happen to have a new switch as one of the other switches in the house went out a while ago and I had picked one up on my last trip to Home Despot. I swapped that in and everything was fine, but . . . I was curious. 

Here's the switch:

Anyone who's done any wiring in the last decade (and paid attention to things) will be able to tell that this is an OLD switch. It is not up to current NEF standards, as there is no provision for a ground. It is part of a three way switch system. Modern switches have 4 screws, this has three. The good thing about this being an old switch is that it was made to be taken apart. Instead of being riveted together, the top plate has bendable tabs that secure it into place. I bent the tabs back and pulled it apart and found this:

That brass looking thing is the actual circuit selector. The end is clearly worn. Here is what the inside of the switch looks like:

The copper tabs on the inside are where the selector contacts on both sides of the switch.

here you can see the lcoking tabs on the top plate, the switch body and the mounting screws:

There is also a spring that fits in between the selector tab and switch tang that I totally didn't bother to take a pic of. 

The final pic before I put it all back together is of the selector in the switch body. The spring rests on the center tang of the selector and also the tang on the switch. It forces the selector to either side when you move the switch. 

If you look REALLy carefully, you can see that I simply bent the tabs inwards until they could make proper contact with the selector. I put it back together and swapped it back in to the receptacle and BAM! It works! I never thought I would fix a light switch, but hey, there it is! It's easier than more modern ones, but I would imagine the internals of newer switches are similar, as least on the cheaper ones. You'd have to drill out the rivets and find a way to re-rivet the body together, but I know if I really was stuck I could do that. I mostly enjoyed the fact that I took something that most people would have thrown in the trash and brought it back to life with simple adjustments. Who knows how long it will last, but, I suspect that it could be years before anyone needs to mess with it again. 

Blech. I dislike transverse mounted V6s. Especially Chryslers.

Let's start with the obvious: No start, low compression. Why? Oh, maybe because a valve stem is poking through a rocker?

W . . . T . . . F . . . Evidently this is not rare. Brilliant, Chrysler. F U!

Blech. What a mess this is.

I'm very concerned because both sets of rockers, front and rear, get progressively worse farther from the belts, and this could be part of the reason:

That's just one screwdriver full of gunk. I don't want to know what the bottom end looks like . . . I am going to have to clean up everything I can and then do something about the rest of the junk. I may just idle it with ATF for a while then change the oil immediately. Dangerous, but, I think that it is entirely warranted in this case, as I don't think the engine will last much longer with the current amount of neglect showing. 

Here are the rockers on the front side from right to left:

My other huge concern is the valve stems. I don't like what I see. Again, these are right to left and I think I skipped one:

This one is really uneven on the top:

I really detest working on this engine in this vehicle. Everything is designed poorly. Nothing makes sense. Everything seems to be at just the wrong place to either cut up my forearms or make it difficult to take anything out. I'm mostly just whining now. Stuff needs to get done. It will get done. Or, the thing is getting sold as is probably to a junk yard. 

Seat Pan, Part 1.

Yesterday was quietly productive. Well, mostly quietly. I did make some noise with the band saw and hammer, but that wasn't too much time during the day. 

A lot of the technique I used was exactly the same as making the battery tray. I didn't take a whole lof of pictures, just a few to highlight things.

I love it when layout reflects "reality!" It really helps reinforce that your part is going to fit when you can take your template and have the layout lines fit this nicely:

This piece is only slightly more complicated than the battery tray, since the sides to be folded increase in width as they mover towards the furthest end:

I think I've got my technique down:

Yes, that's a dark picture as I was intentionally trying to capture any light coming through the frame tubes, and since there isn't any you can really tell, that's good fitment!

All trimmed up and ready to bend:

Basic shape of the seat:

Note the slight rise towards the top to clear the lip on the tank, and how the slanted front edge just clears the lip, too. 

Top view:

Here's the layout for the front seat support:

I made a couple last minute tweaks to the measurement and it fits extremely well:

Every once in a while, you'll need to tweak a weld on the frames:

 Don't default to a grinder! Sometimes a hand file is more effective and being precise.

Detail of why the front edge needed to slope back:

I still have some more bending to do as you can see here:

This is basically what the whole thing is going to look like, minus the gap on the seat pan to frame rail:

I cleaned up and got ready for the most challenging part of this build! Dun dun DAAAAAAH!

Curves. 

Today is going to be challenging in all the best ways possible!