Getting more wiring out of there
So my parents dropped off a bucket of tools and old parts from the previous that were stashed at their place, and among them were some of my more niche socket sizes. With that, I was finally able to rip the steering wheel out. It looks like to remove the steering column, I would have to remove the gas tank so that will wait, but for now I went and disconnected all of the wires going to the steering wheel. These all passed through a little hole next to the column, and spread all over the place. A little work with the label maker, and these wires were pulled through.
I also wanted to tackle the mystery wires that were running through the center of the floor pan. There was a foot panel on the passenger side which was just lifted out of position and pinched the wires. The wires passed through the top of the passenger footwell, and into the hood. I found that these wires were power for the amplifier or speaker system. Either way, definitely aftermarket.
I then started working on the headlights, as those were the next easiest nest of wires to remove. The front right head light came out fairly easily with a few slightly rusty screws. Pulling the wires through was more exciting, but fairly easy. Same with the right front blinker. The ground wires for each connected to a screw right in front of the fuel tank. Both were easy to pull out, and the wiring harness for each was labelled and removed.
At this point I got distracted, and started removing the front bumper. It was probably too early to start on this as it may just get in the way, but oh well. Each side was held on by 3 (actually 2 cause one rusted out on each side) bolts behind the front wheels. The horn was connected to the front left bumper connection as well. All of these were removed, and the bumper pulled off.
The last thing I did today was do a little checking for what needed to get done to remove the engine. The starter was already out from previous engine work, so at this point only 3 bolts are holding the engine on. It looks like I just need to disconnect the fuel line from in front of the firewall and remove those bolts. When looking at where the starter should have been, I found that the bottom of the luggage rack was completely rusted out. Looks like the previous owner just riveted a new one over the rust without dealing with the old sheet metal. I don't think this will be too hard a fix, but its another piece that will have to be cut out and welded in later.
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| Steering column wires removed |
I also wanted to tackle the mystery wires that were running through the center of the floor pan. There was a foot panel on the passenger side which was just lifted out of position and pinched the wires. The wires passed through the top of the passenger footwell, and into the hood. I found that these wires were power for the amplifier or speaker system. Either way, definitely aftermarket.
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| Amplifier/radio wires running past the footer, from the foot well and into the hood |
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| Empty Headlight spot |
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| Blinker and headlight wiring on the right side of the trunk. |
At this point I got distracted, and started removing the front bumper. It was probably too early to start on this as it may just get in the way, but oh well. Each side was held on by 3 (actually 2 cause one rusted out on each side) bolts behind the front wheels. The horn was connected to the front left bumper connection as well. All of these were removed, and the bumper pulled off.
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| Horn on front left bumper |
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| Front Right bumper needed some pb blaster on it |
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| Bumper on the ground |
The last thing I did today was do a little checking for what needed to get done to remove the engine. The starter was already out from previous engine work, so at this point only 3 bolts are holding the engine on. It looks like I just need to disconnect the fuel line from in front of the firewall and remove those bolts. When looking at where the starter should have been, I found that the bottom of the luggage rack was completely rusted out. Looks like the previous owner just riveted a new one over the rust without dealing with the old sheet metal. I don't think this will be too hard a fix, but its another piece that will have to be cut out and welded in later.
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| Awkward angle of the bottom of the luggage rack. The starter should be about in this spot, but it is currently on a shelf. |
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| Riveted in luggage rack. You can see some of the rust poking from under the extra blue sheet metal piece. |
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| The front of the bug without its right headlight or bumper |