I had a job in Mobile this morning so I only got to spend a little time on the car. When I got home, UPS had delivered my new 8-Pin Bonnet Plug. I have been anxious to get it wired up. I didn't quite know what to expect, the original ones I have seen in the past don't look to be too conducive to rebuilding. They are usually extremely tattered and often completely broken. Mine was in pretty bad shape. Since everything else on this car is looking so good, I decided to bite the bullet and get a new plug. I was pleasantly surprised when it came in. It was fairly easy to assemble, a tremendous improvement to the OEM one. I had to solder each wire on the end, and put it into a screw-down pin and tighten them up (also had to make sure that the wires in both pieces of the plug were in the same holes) I got it put together in a couple of hours, with coffee breaks along the way. Now I can install all of the bonnet harness, horns and lights and complete the bonnet.
I also received the dash harness that I was missing. I had to pay a little more for it than I wanted, but the cheaper one would have taken 4-6 weeks, so it was worth it to me. Getting the wiring all in the main body of the car is going to be the next big step. I don't have any jobs for the rest of the week... at this point anyway... so I'll be able to devote a lot of time to the project.
I took the aluminum radiator to a welding shop nearby to adjust the angle of the lower pipe. With that done, I will be able to use an original set of hoses. While he has it, I also asked him to put a drain in the bottom. It is an aluminum racing radiator, for a Ford, I think. As I mentioned a few days ago, Ray Livingston wrote an article about it and I decided to give it a try. It was hundreds of dollars cheaper than one specifically designed for an E-Type.
Other than that, I got to install the bonnet latches on the firewall and Stuart was here so he took a break from dismantling the Stag so we could scratch our heads over the dash wiring. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
Make sure to slather the latch pins with copious amounts of grease, and plan on disassembling them and cleaning them yearly: they get rusty, at the best of times. I took my shafts and turned them down a bit then fitted custon brass sleeves to them so I no longer need to worry about then seizing up.
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