Not me, I'm doing fairly well these days. I was tinkering around on the Supra last night, finally figuring out how to get the main fuse box separated from the wiring harness. I'll have much more room for cleaning that rusty area with the fuse box unplugged from all the cables.
And then I found this:
It's a junction box (or was a junction box) that lives underneath the main fuse box. The wire exiting the box on the bottom left side goes directly to the positive battery terminal, and feeds the entire car via the two wires exiting the top.
This particular area is prone to rust if you don't blast it out yearly to wash away the acid vapors that a NON-sealed battery produces during it's normal charge/discharge cycling. The residue from the vapors mixes with water that splashes up there while being driven and forms a pretty acidic mix. I'm very lucky that the car came from the Riverside area, which is dry and hot. I've seen these cars with huge chunks of that area just dissolved away, requiring some pretty extensive repairs.
I doubt this part is available these days, so I'll have to fabricate up something new. The car stereo people have tons of similar parts, so I'll start looking there. I'm also going to add a small relay box for my Photon Torpedo high-beams, and the electric fans I'll be installing, when she goes back together.
Also drilled a 3/4" hole through the foundation and into the basement workshop so I can run some new cables in there. I'll have one RG-6QS cable for my FM antenna, another one for the GPS antenna that feeds my Master Timebase, and two spares.
Gorgeous day outside. Blue skies, sunny, 70* temps. I don't want to get caught with half-finished stuff outside like last year, so I have the chainsaw batteries on-charge, and when I finish up the cabling, I'll saw some of the wood left from the huge limb the broke off the ash tree a couple of years ago.
Nice to know all that electrical stuff.
ReplyDeleteCrazy to have something so small for such important work. Planned obsolescence?
You all be safe and God bless.
More like a lack of engine bay cleaning in this case.
DeleteGood to hear you are back to being able to do physical tasks.
ReplyDeleteFeels good here, too! Took a couple of weeks, but I'm doing much better.
DeleteGlad you're doing 'things' and out and about!
ReplyDeleteThanks, NFO. I'm fining out that last incident has slowed me down some. I don't have the stamina like I did before. Hopefully, that will improve.
DeleteI'm sure that Toyota has a replacement on a shelf somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI have to find a part number for it first. Things like this are pretty much unobtainium direct from Toyota since the car is so old. SO....since the USA warehouses have been 99.5% depleted of New Old Stock parts, I have a few Japanese and European sources I can check. I've seen some for around $50, but they don't have a picture of it, so I'm not sure if it's an exact replacement or not.
DeleteAhhhhhh....the joys of repairing old Japanese cars!
Just put a little WD-40 on it!
ReplyDeleteGotta figure out how to answer a comment with big, whacky smileys!
Delete2001 Cavalier, and some other cars-the windshield washer pump is located in the plastic jungle under the battery. They don't live long. Longer term, the battery shelf in the Cavalier rotted away. I was chasing electrical problems until I noticed that the battery ground cable was attached to the shelf on the way to the block. When the shelf rotted away enough, the body ground became intermittent. Problem solved when I "hot wired" the body ground to the block.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've seen what battery acid and road salt can do to mid-80's Japanese cars and American cars, too.
DeleteThere is a Toyota parts guy on Facebook that goes by "Joe Joe". He is active in the First-gen Sequoia and Tundra groups. He isn't just a parts guy but a helpful enthusiast. He might be able to help you track down the parts that you need. Also, Faye Hadley at pistonsandpixiedust.com might have a source. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteThanks, MS! I haven't been able to locate an exact (NEW) part, so one one of the guys on the Celica Supra Forum is pulling a few out of the junked cars he has.
ReplyDelete