Finally, we're blogging in real time!

  Ah, the last post brought everything up to date, so starting now, my entries will be on things that have happened within the last 30 days or less.

  Steering was next on the list. Hard to know what I would find once I got into close inspection. Having once been certified as a suspension tech, I've always been fascinated by the wide variation in steeirng and suspension systems. Of course, that experience has taught me that GM steering systems, if a few years old, almost ALWAYS have at least one worn component needing replacement.

  The steering system on this car is different than anything I've seen before. The sector shaft on the steering gear actually comes out horizontally, toward the passenger side of the car. An arm and pushrod connect it to a bellcrank-type member, which has the tie rods connected to it.

  So, I got the front end up in the air, and began the process of shaking it down, looking for worn components, and lubricating all of the grease points. Shockingly, I could find not one part with any visible sign of wear! Everything seems tight, and the steering gear doesn't show any slop, either. The only parts I found that needed replacement were a few zerk fittings! I greased everything up, got it back on the ground and looked again for any slop or play. None was found! I'll need to road test it to be sure, but for now- it's time to move on to a big monster- electrical.

  I knew the wiring was a mess before I bought the car. But, if the electrical system was in perfect condition as it came from the factory, I'd still have a major problem with it. As Chevrolet made the car, it had no fuse panel! The only method of dealing with an overcurrent sitation was a fusible link or a fire. In addition, as built, the car did not have turn signals. Now, I understand that most idiots on the road consider their use optional, but I'm kind of fond of using them.

  And, of course, the electrical system was a LONG way from being "as built." Between the problems with the original design,  60 years of use, and at least one owner who didn't let the fact that he's a blithering idiot stop him from doing "repairs" that he had no business doing- I have only one intelligent option- total and complete replacement.

Old original wiring, and crap added later. Wire nuts and butt splices- classy

Why solder when you can use Sta-Kon's? It's not like it's going to be subject to the elements or vibration!

The jury-rig under the dash in place of the ignition switch

  OK, so where do we start to deal with a mess like this? Well, the car starts and runs, and fixing the wiring will disable that possibility. I like being able to start it up and pull it outside when I can, so the first step is to do a quick jury rig so that I can still start and run it while I'm routing and connecting wires. So, I laid out and wired up a quick start-run-charge circuit. It's entirely under the hood, and therefore almost completely out of the way of doing the proper electrical work.

No, it is NOT proper. It is only for pulling the car in and out of the garage!

    So, with the car NOT disabled, I can take my time with the rewiring. I briefly considered pulling a fuse panel from a newer car at a boneyard and building my own wiring harness. I compared the cost of that route to the cost of buying a premade universal harness, and the universal harness won out very quickly on cost. In addition, it's a huge winner in terms of labor. A little shopping around and asking others who have used them led me to buy the Rebel Wire 9 + 3 harness. It probably has more circuits than I'll ever need, but better too many than too few.

This might look a bit daunting. It is, but it's so much easier than other options.

  So, the next step is going to be to rip out all, and I mean ALL of the old wiring. This should be fun!