Hookup - Part 2 - 05/30/2020

The hooking up continues after I finished rebuilding my deck these last 2.5 weeks.


Speedometer cable gets hooked up.


The engine I put in came from my '72 Lemans which had a mechanical gauge in it for ages. I have decided to go back to idiot lights because I've had this engine running longer than my son has been alive and it's had great oil pressure, so I can rest easy on it for now. Factory gauges will be an upgrade in the future. The harness has no oil pressure monitoring wire anymore as it has been cooked away, but you can still get a close-enough-for-government-work replacement. Despite GM having used this wire connector and cover for the better part of 40 years, the only cars it is listed as being correct for is a 1989-1990 Olds Custom Cruiser or Buick Lesabre (having had a Cadillac and Olds wagon with 307 I knew this part was used and looked it up for both cars). AC Delco part PT196, $8.99 at the time. New oil pressure switch is longer than the factory, but this car is big enough it should have room.


Draining the old oil out of the motor for the first oil change in 6 years. The oil smelled more like gas and more than 5 quarts came out, so it's obviously been contaminated by the failed old pump and super short trips to and from the garages it has been at while in paint jail.


Cracked old Wix filter is replaced with a Purolator L3005, which I was given in a stash of parts. It's about 3/4" longer than the standard filter for this car, so a little extra filtering can't hurt. Oil switch goes on housing and is easily tightened with a 1 1/16" socket since there's SO MUCH room under a B-body.


Transmission cooler lines are blown free of debris and wire brushed off to remove any dirt and rust. PB Blaster'd both ends of each to make sure the flared fittings are nice and loose. All fittings are in amazingly nice shape too.


Stover nut and washer are used to secure the transmission rear mount to the crossmember. Some cars just used a regular nut and lock washer, the '72 Grandville bolt grab-bag I have used these nuts for everything under the car. It's not coming loose!


Transmission output shaft is cleaned up and lubed with fresh ATF to get ready to accept the driveshaft.


Brand new balanced and rebuilt driveshaft (which was NOT cheap) is prepared to go in: cleaned off and locating of the bolts. I can only find 2, so I need to dig further. Not a big deal, just takes more time to dig through all the bolts I have put away over the years (it's at least 5 different cars worth).

Slowly but surely, all the piddly little things that need to be done on a car to get it back in shape. Hooking up the shifter, replacing the fuel tank rubber lines, hooking up the radiator and transmission cooling lines and finally rebuilding the electrical harness is the last of the major work.

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Last updated May 30th, 2020