1971 HLS30-14938 "Lily" build

[bartsscooterservice]

Hey Chas,

No, that was from American Autowire, but they don't maken one for Z's. But this brand is Painless, I think it's more of a universal wiring kit, but it will work fine, if you got the time to do it right.  Could be that American Autowire also has universal kits, check their website.

Gr Bart

[Patcon]

So as an update. I tried softening the rubber caps that go to the fuel sender. I tried silicone spray like Mark suggested. Nothing...

Now these were rock hard, we were afraid to flex them for fear of breaking them. I wish I had made a video...

So I tried Wintergreen oil but instead of water and heating them I used denatured alcohol 1:1. I heated the rubber parts slightly with a heat gun. Let soak overnight.

AMAZING!! They were tremendously soft. I mean really good. It has been a week since I pulled them out and they are still nice and soft. I ordered some more oil because I needed more volume. I am going to try it on Cody's Goon's filler neck. Sort of an unobtainium piece...

[Namerow]

I truly hope that the results prove to be long-lasting.  Imagine being able to treat the S30's unicorn side window 'squeegee' rubber strips (typically rock-hard and chipped) and have them come back to life!  Think patents, Charles.🙂

[Patcon]

There are a couple of challenges with this method.

Wintergreen oil is expensive! Buy the commercial version not the essential oil version.

Also you have to use a lidded container to prevent tthe alcohol from flashing off.

The rubber boots are marginally larger than the petrified version. It's possible they're swollen or maybe they were originally that size and shrunken with age. Difficult to know...

But so far so good.

[Patcon]

Here is some more info

I believe this is the before measurement

This is my setup to soak it. I had a lid with a weight on it to keep the alcohol from flashing off. I turned it morning and night every day for about 9 days. It takes four rotations to get the whole part soaked. That is why it isn't totally even. Would have taken a good bit more wintergreen to have enough to fully immerse. This part was rock hard and is pretty thick. I think that is part of why it took so long.

This is the after measurement

It does swell it some and when it's not fully immersed it will distort the part some

Before video

 

After video

 

[Patcon]

I did a little work on the car today.

Finished assembling the rejuvenated clutch master.

I also worked on the engine bay harness. I laid new wires into it and replace the firewall grommet. What a pain in the ...!!!

You have to depin most of this to get it on. And some of those wires don't want to depin, even with the correct tools. I did finally get it. Hopefully I got them all back in the right spots. Otherwise SteveJ is gonna have a fit finding it!

[SteveJ]

10 minutes ago, Patcon said:

I did a little work on the car today.

Finished assembling the rejuvenated clutch master.

I also worked on the engine bay harness. I laid new wires into it and replace the firewall grommet. What a pain in the ...!!!

You have to depin most of this to get it on. And some of those wires don't want to depin, even with the correct tools. I did finally get it. Hopefully I got them all back in the right spots. Otherwise SteveJ is gonna have a fit finding it!

Plug and pray

[Patcon]

!!!!!!

[Namerow]

I wonder whether they were able to install the wiring harness at the factory with the firewall grommet and end connectors already in place?  If so, I'd like to know how they did it.

[jwtaylor]

I believe the grommet was installed on the harness when the harness was built.  At least on my 12/70 240 I have removed and installed the harness with all the connectors installed.  You have to feed the connectors through the fire wall one at a time twisting the connectors to fit.  The firewall hole is pretty tight with them all in. You can then seat the sealing  lip of the grommet if your grommet if it is soft.

[Patcon]

I'm confident it was put on before the plugs when new. Just makes replacement challenging

[Namerow]

When I did my installation, I first tried with the grommet installed on the harness.  I could not get the grommet to seat in the firewall.  I then went to Plan B:  I removed the grommet from the harness and then detached all of the engine bay connectors from their wires.  With this done, it was easy to install the grommet in the firewall then thread the wiring out into the engine bay, working from the cabin side.  Then I reinstalled the individual wire-end terminals into their connectors.  You need a good-quality terminal-removing tool to make this strategy work (two different sizes required).  I got mine from Vintage.