Build: 40th Anniversary Restoration

[Xland]

Honestly, I just looked at the locked body harness and the unlocked harness. Found the 6-wires in the locked harness that weren’t in the unlocked harness. Then swapped them in one at a time so I didn’t screw it up. That kept everything OEM including wire, wire position, wire colors, etc.

And they were just through-wires? From the rear connection to the main plug under the driver dash? When I harvested the body harness off the donor rig it had a couple lines that were routed up to the shifter column area. I think for the second gear start function (1995+). Lines were routed from the passenger side body harness as well. I’ve lost sleep imagining the locker wires travelled that path somehow and I needed to have kept the passenger body harness..

 

[Charles4x4]

And they were just through-wires? From the rear connection to the main plug under the driver dash? When I harvested the body harness off the donor rig it had a couple lines that were routed up to the shifter column area. I think for the second gear start function (1995+). Lines were routed from the passenger side body harness as well. I’ve lost sleep imagining the locker wires travelled that path somehow and I needed to have kept the passenger body harness..

I didn’t remove my 97 body harness. Instead, I just spliced in the 6 missing wires from the locked body harness into the 97’s unlocked body harness. That way I didn’t have to mess with anything else.

 

[Charles4x4]

Update:
The Antique Sage Pearl 40th Anniversary cruiser is still getting paint work done but I finished up my Black 85 and got it out of the garage. So, the Dark Green Emerald Pearl finally gets to move into the garage and get some work done. More to come soon!

 

[Charles4x4]

The Antique Sage Pearl 40th LC is still in paint, so I’ve been working on the Dark Emerald Pearl 40th instead. Knocked out a ton of small fixes, removed aftermarket stereo and swapped in OEM Equalizer one. Also got the 40th Anniversary Molding on today. Bumpers for it are at paint, but I’m maybe 50% through my list of items it needs.

 

[Charles4x4]

Finally got the OEM Muffler / Tail Pipe sections mated correctly to the Magnaflow Y-Pipe and Cats. First time the Y-Pipe wasn’t sealing to the Manifolds. Eventually I broke a few studs off and one of them I couldn’t get out after welding 10x nuts to it. Had to drill it out and re-tap the manifold. Then new OEM studs and nuts made all the difference. It’s back to factory quality, performance, and sound.

Also did new belts, fan shroud, and and a few other things while I was in the engine bay.

Today I spend an hour cleaning the interior floor pans really well before new carpet goes in. More to come soon!

The Antique Sage Pearl is still at paint.

 

[duece71]

Nice, are you going with some sound deadening before the carpet? This is just another project on the list for me.

Finally got the OEM Muffler / Tail Pipe sections mated correctly to the Magnaflow Y-Pipe and Cats. First time the Y-Pipe wasn’t sealing to the Manifolds. Eventually I broke a few studs off and one of them I couldn’t get out after welding 10x nuts to it. Had to drill it out and re-tap the manifold. Then new OEM studs and nuts made all the difference. It’s back to factory quality, performance, and sound.

Also did new belts, fan shroud, and and a few other things while I was in the engine bay.

Today I spend an hour cleaning the interior floor pans really well before new carpet goes in. More to come soon!

The Antique Sage Pearl is still at paint.

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[Charles4x4]

Nice, are you going with some sound deadening before the carpet? This is just another project on the list for me.

I got the Mass Backing Option with the new ACC Stock Interiors carpet, so that does the same thing as Sound Deadener (but is more easily removed of course). I've had good luck with Mass Backing on my other restorations and really hate installing sound deadening!

 

[duece71]

I got the Mass Backing Option with the new ACC Stock Interiors carpet, so that does the same thing as Sound Deadener (but is more easily removed of course). I've had good luck with Mass Backing on my other restorations and really hate installing sound deadening!

Those Stock Interiors carpet set ups look very nice, my old tired carpet might have to get replaced.

 

[Charles4x4]

Pulled the sunroof as the Drivers side mechanisms aren’t working. Will be diving into it soon.

This is about as stripped down as it gets (I already put the dash and doors all back together but they were apart earlier too)!

 

[Charles4x4]

Realized that I never closed out the Green 40th Anniversary restoration. Here’s some finished product pics. Still have axles, suspension, and wheel restoration left. But we’ve been driving and enjoying it since May!

Exterior:

 

[Charles4x4]

Interior:

 

[ERG80]

Speakers are mostly done. Adding in my Amazon order in case anyone wants to replicate it (only 1 of each is needed - I also bought a set of speakers for my black 1st gen while I was at it).

The Sub was disappointing though. Maybe a) the stock amp isn’t strong enough, b) the lack of a box is killing it, c) the OEM wiring is too tiny, or all three. But other than looking good and fitting nicely, it wasn’t worth the cost so far. I’m going to work on a box that fits behind the rear cargo panel and then might add a new amp if that doesn’t do the trick (the OEM amp cannot be very strong given how tiny it is).

My impressions:
- Sub just not enough bass to justify cost…yet
- 3rd row roof speakers are surprisingly loud and worth it IMO
- 2nd row door speakers have to be glued in and sound good (wish they had a bit more bass though)
- Front door speakers sound amazing but do need longer screws (I just used some I had laying around). Best bang for the buck IMO
- Dash speakers are a big upgrade too, but the passenger side had to be glued in as it hits stuff under the dash when using the OEM screws and tabs

Pretty easy installs, big upgrade in sound, budget friendly, and maintains the factory OEM look and feel. Mission accomplished.

Just gotta solve for a bit more bass in the rear without modifying the OEM cargo side panels.

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Which speakers went in the rear headliner?

Thanks

ERG80

 

[Charles4x4]

Which speakers went in the rear headliner?

Thanks

ERG80

It was the 3 1/2" ones.

 

[ERG80]

Thank you.