Nice big update for you today: After I posted last night I did a little cleaning: the door locks had been greased with something truly awful that rendered the manual lock pins black and sticky, and the windows didn’t roll as smoothly as they ought. So I worked over the rear door on the driver’s side – the others will follow as time permits. I removed the inside window trim, cleaned that, degreased the lock pin and its screw, then added some judicious WD-40 to the window (and door latch) mechanism. Also removed, cleaned, and reinstalled the metal strip that holds the carpet down at the door. I forgot to take before-and-after pictures, but I intend to remember in the future.
From Sirrotica’s video, also, I discovered that this car must have been fitted with the windshield wiper fluid canister, because there are capped-off lines running from the receptacle to the windshield. I shall have to see about getting that working, farther down the project list. Sirrotica’s video shows that the wiper fluid can be converted to run on the electric rather than the vacuum system, so that’s another thing to look at. It looks like CPR offers a bunch of parts for either system.
Today, I checked the indicators – all worked except the front passenger one, which is odd because that light illuminates correctly when the parking lights are on. This was a perfect excuse however to open up the front indicators to see what was going on – the gaskets were bad on both, but so seriously decayed on the passenger side that there was rust inside the housing. Two of the screws were rusted fast and only yielded to serious persuasion – but I ran to the hardware store and got replacements. I also checked the rear indicators, to see what they looked like, and found two more dessicated gaskets (before and after photos below). Finally, the glass covers for the reversing lights are loose in their fittings. So I ordered all 3 types of gasket from Ames.
And the horn! Bill Hanlon is a prophet. When I connected that wire, the horn worked so well it wouldn't turn off! My initial guess was a faulty spring or switch in the steering column, but rubbed-off insulation certainly qualifies. That will go on the list for a later project, but I assume the only way to rewire that without taking the whole harness apart is to somehow tie a new wire to the old wire and pull it through.
Lastly, I cleaned the outside of the gas tank with water and some degreaser, and sloshed some new gas around the inside, then redrained. Pulled the sending unit to see what was going on, and picture below, let me know what you think. The fuel line was totally plugged at the tank end – a good inch or so of semisolid molasses. After removing that, I could blow through the line no problem. Below you will also see a picture of the tank’s interior, I’m not sure what that odd block is in the middle of the tank floor. Another big thank-you to Bill Hanlon, who not only tells me how I can test the float, but gives me the part number for the new gasket I need!
Edit: It seems the forum decides - totally at random - in which orientation it wants to display my pictures. How do I rotate them to be right-side up?