Gus Electrical Update
With the sale of our house and moving out and then moving into the
Lodge At Timber Haven, I've neglected to finish my current series on Gus service work. I feel caught up enough that now I can
finally get back to Gus updates.
I had previously detailed service work on the fuel system, brakes, coolant and now I'll detail work done on various electrical components.
Here are some pictures of the wiring harness that poor Gus had to suffer with until Lou and I could correct it.
That was the original cloth insulation covered wire that has some age on it.The blue tape was placed over places that had bare, exposed wire
In retrospect I'm lucky Gus didn't burn to the ground long before he came into my life. It was a mess, just an electrical fire waiting to happen.
That's why you disconnect the battery from older cars when you park them and leave them unattended, especially those that still have their original wiring more or less intact.
With the shop manual, which had an excellent, detailed electrical wiring diagram, placed open on the Barn Bench, ...
...and some spools of color coded wire, new electrical busses and some split loom...
...the old wire and busses were removed and replaced. This was the result.
You can see where a nuts were placed under the electrical buses to lift them up from the fender and provide space under the electrical bus. Remember, this is
service work,
not restoration work. It's functional but not appearance correct.
Turned out the generator was just about worn out and wouldn't recharge the battery so that was rebuilt...
...and the wiring harness to it was updated with correct color and gauge wire as well.
This is how the old voltage regulator was wired up previously...
...after this is how it looked after Lou and I replaced the old wire and installed a proper ground wire which was missing. The old voltage regulator inside the cover was replaced with a new, solid state regulator which fit under the old cover so it doesn't stand out.
Under the hood things are starting to finally shape up. Some of the wiring under the dash was tidied up and there is more wire work to do but none of it urgent. Gus now has a stable and reliable electrical system that will charge the battery and isn't in danger of shorting out unexpectedly.
He is getting better all the time. I've done additional work which I'll post if you want to check back. Thanks everyone for dropping by for a visit.
Thomas
