The Wires Must Go

Since my first major goal is to remove the body from the frame, disconnecting the wiring is an important step.  Although I pulled out the headlights and most of the front wiring harness, the fact is that it won't affect the body removal because that harness is contained within the body.  Not so the rear wiring harness, which of course runs through the body to the engine and rear lights.  I didn't really have to remove the lights, but in the interest of stripping things off for the long run, I went ahead and pulled both taillights out.

Not only are they old, and cracked, but after removing them I realized just how ugly they are.  Ugly, that is, when I saw the nice clean and sharp line that is left when the bulky red-and white plastic lens had been removed.  Seeing this line got me to thinking about how I would and can customize this car as it goes back together.  I don't want to build everything, or even most things by hand, since that would take more time and effort than I have or am willing to part with,  but I am intrigued by the idea of making this little car unique.

There have been a lot of improvements to automobile engineering since 1974, and while most of them can't be retrofitted to an old car like mine, there are many things that I can do, like sound and rust proofing, new instruments and above all, a new set of wiring harnesses.

I think I said it before, but this wiring harness is shot.  I have way too much experience--all of it bad--trying to diagnose and fix electrical wiring problems.  I would rather pull out the whole thing and replace it with brand-new wires, connectors and insulation.  It'll take a lot of work to re-wire this thing, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Not only the wires, but the relays and voltage regulator are also beyond repair and will be replaced.  It feels good, actually, to strip out the old nervous system without even facing the nightmare of figuring it out for now.
There had been a fire in the engine compartment sometime just before the car was laid up last; the melted insulation on the heaviest wire in the system--the battery cable--says it all.

Thanks to some kind of clamp or hook holding the wiring harness inside the right rear quarter panel I haven't been able to pull it out completely, but that isn't necessary to pull the body off, so I will leave it till then, when I can no doubt get a better look and angle on removing it.  For now, the wires connected to the engine are off and that's what counts.  I also disconnected the steering wheel from the body in front and removed the shifter.

Brake cables and lines will  be next, then I can start working on those body bolts.

Who knows?  Maybe it will come off tomorrow!