[njsteve]

Those A/C thermal limiter fuses can get pretty warm and tend to heat the prongs enough to melt them into place.

Is the new harness built for a unitized ignition with a direct 12 volt feed to the coil and no resistor wire?. I figured I'd ask since I ran into one that was manufactured wrong for my 1972 T/A a few years back. Took me a year to figure out that they left out the resistor wire and it fried points on a weekly basis. You don't want the opposite where you get too little voltage and it ruins that NOS coil.

[Bentwheelbob]

It wasn't fused together, it was purely a mechanical connection and due to the design of the fuse there is no real way to get a trip tool into the assembly to release it.

It is the correct harness for a unit distributor.

[4birds]

Very nice. That is a work of art!

One question Bob, how do you get the coil springs in without gouging them up?

[Bentwheelbob]

Originally Posted by 4birds

Very nice. That is a work of art!

One question Bob, how do you get the coil springs in without gouging them up?

Use a coil spring compressor like the one pictured in the link below. Remove the sliding set of arms and only use the threaded arms. Insert the threaded rod through the upper shock mounting hole and grab the coil spring three or four coils up from the bottom. Before starting to compress the spring hook a ratchet strap to opposing ends of the subframe on the side opposite the spring in question, with the strap wrapped twice around the coil spring one coil down from where the compressor is hooked. Begin compressing the spring and as it nears the point where it is compressed enough to start moving into the spring pocket start putting tension on the ratchet strap to pull the bottom into the pocket. Slowly alternate between compressing the spring and tightening the ratchet. As soon as you possibly can get a floor jack under the lower control arm to firmly hold it in place at the highest elevation possible. Once the spring is in place use the floor jack to compress it enough to get the spindle installed.

A few keys:

1) These springs were powder coated which of course is more durable than paint.
2) Even more important than that is "prick punching" or stippling the the inside of the compressor fingers with a hardened punch. As new, these arms are very slick and tend to want to slide around the coils which destroys the finish. By prick punching the inner surface of the fingers you create a surface covered with sharp bumps that bite into the finish and spring metal, and eliminate almost all tendency to slip.
3) In addition to the ratchet strap we also used a rubber coated heavy steel choker for safety.
4) Grease the threads on the compressor liberally.
5) The ratchet end of the strap should be located in the direction you need to pull the spring bottom.

Hope this helps. A lot of this is widely known, but I've seen very few folks abrade the arm surfaces to eliminate slippage.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Coil-Spr...754920&vxp=mtr

[4birds]

Thanks Bob! That is great detailed information. My last 2 sets I installed I compressed from the bottom, and had a hell of a time and scratched up the powder coated springs. I will give this method a try.

[njsteve]

I just installed a set on my Gramma's 75 Firebird last week. They were powdercoated and I didn't have any scratch problems. Used the old style internal clamp compressor and just clamped between four and five coils.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...gramma&page=17