'Stinger' update 10/2a

["John W Rosa" <JohnRosa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I spent some time today wiping the car off to remove 
Thursday's rain spots, using a real high-end chamois
my mommy-in-law got me. Amazing how much easier a 
job is with the right equipment!

When done, I had a bit of time left before having to 
leave, so I insanely attempted a 'simple parts swap',
figuring *my* Hornet couldn't be just like Doc's!

I grabbed some basic tools and the dash bezel/gauge 
set I got on eBay (from a 77 AMX) and decided I'd do 
the swap.

The glove box side went nice and easy. The gauge side
seemed to go well, too. I yanked the original set, 
took it's switches and gauge cluster off, then pulled 
the switches and cluster off the new setup. I then 
installed my original cluster onto the new bezel (which 
had an original V8 tach on it), then installed my 
original switches (I knew they worked and my wipers 
have the intermittent feature, which I wouldn't want to 
lose).

I was about to slip the whole thing back into the dash 
when I figured I should check all the operations. Well,
switches worked fine, so I figured I'd start the car 
and check idiot lights, then gauges. OK- idiots lights 
are fine...but the car then cranks without trying to 
spark up. That's when I realize the add-on tach that WAS 
in there was removed with a quick 'snip' of the wires.
But that shouldn't disable the ignition! A quick call
to a buddy had me looking under the hood to find the 
positive lead from the ignition solenoid was cut and 
redirected to the gauges, then back to the coil on the 
positive side! So my 'snip' effectively broke the long, 
silly loop.

So I yanked the added wires, re-connected the original 
wiring as intended and she fired back up on the first 
try again.

I then finished screwing the assembly into place and 
put that car away for the night. Note I didn't try to 
connect the factory tach. I didn't have my TSM with me
nor extra wire. I simply used what I had to extend it's 
wires out the bottom of the dash so I can connect it up 
later. Hell, I don't even know if it works, so better
to wait 'til I have more time to tweak and troubleshoot.

The 'engine-turned' bezels of the 77 AMX sure spruce up 
the car's dash. It looked so 'blah' in "tan-with-tan-
over-tan-with-tan-trim".

Tomorrow they PROMISE me some sun, so new photos then.


John