Nomad final assembly

[TrifiveRichard]

You guys have got me thinking about where I want the fuel line connections on the Corvette. There?s currently one on top of the bell housing, kinda like yours Laszlo. I may rethink that.

[Troy]

Hey Laszlo, Aren't those fittings just "AN" fittings? I would think that anyone that makes them would follow the "AN" specs. Anyway I wish I had the money and energy to build what you've done!!

[Rick_L]

Troy, "AN" fittings are standardized for the areas where they couple together, and for tubing. Hose fittings can (and should) be different for the hose interface because hose dimensions and sealing requirements vary.

[chevynut]

Hey Laszlo, Aren't those fittings just "AN" fittings? I would think that anyone that makes them would follow the "AN" specs. Anyway I wish I had the money and energy to build what you've done!!

Yes they are AN 37 degree flare fittings. I have found that Aeroquip, Earl's, and Russell hose ends for PTFE hose are all identical based on my measurements of the OD of the hose end tube, the ID and OD of the "olive", and the threads on the locking nut. All three of them use brass "olives" which are not re-usable because they crimp down on the hose liner against the tube on the hose end. Stainless braided PTFE hoses are good for a lot higher pressures than rubber hoses with a typical -6AN PTFE hose having a maximum working pressure of 2500PSI and burst pressure of around 9-10,000 PSI. A -6 stainless braided rubber hose max pressure is 1000-1500 PSI.

This is what an "olive" looks like if you haven't seen one...it goes between the hose liner and the outer stainless braid.

Here's what the PTFE braided stainless hose looks like...




This is how it goes together. The steel tube on the hose end goes inside the PTFE liner and the olive goes outside of it. The nut on the left crimps the olive.

[Belair-o]

Hey Chevynut,
Great documentation - very clear with the detail pics!
Thanks, Doug

[Rustaddict]

C-Nut, I rarely post but I'm enjoying watching your car come together and the detail you show. It's turning out to be super nice.

[chevynut]

Back to working on electrical verification and everything is going well but I found a slight problem. When I wired the door lights I decided to run one wire for them through the hinges and into the doors for the lights, instead of two like the dome lights use. I was trying to keep the number of wires through my hinges as low as I could but still ended up with 10 in the driver door hinge and 11 in the passenger door hinge. I don't have any 12V constant wires inside the door so I had to run switched 12V to the lights. This required a relay to switch power to the doors when either of the doors opens. I'm using a Dakota Digital PAC-1300 headlight/dome/ACC light controller which fades the dome lights. Each door switch wire goes to the controller separately, and one "DOME" output grounds the dome lights and brightens and dims them "softly". I connected this output to the relay coil, but wasn't sure at the time whether it would work. It did work, but as the voltage ramps up and down it caused the relay to buzz, which is what I was afraid of.

Ironically when I installed the door hinge wiring, I added a "spare" wire in each door which I could have used to carry constant power into the door for the door light, and the "DOME" function would have worked just like for the dome lights. After looking at what would be required to wire that up, I decided instead to connect the relay wire to the passenger door input of the PAC-1300. In order for the driver door to also turn on the door lights, I had to add a diode between the passenger door input and the driver door input. This is because the retained accessory power (RAP) function can be used for either the driver door only, or both doors. Since shorting the door inputs together would have caused the RAP to turn off when the passenger door opened, I decided to add the diode to prevent that.

That's all finished now, ready for testing when I get power turned back on. So instead of dimming the door light like the dome lights, the door lights will just turn on and off. The PAC-1300 turns the dome lights off after "a while" but the door lights won't turn off until I close the door. It also allows the dome lights to stay on for a programmed time after the doors are closed, and turns on the dome lights when the keyless entry unlocks the doors. Pretty cool module.

I have also finished wiring and installing the cable on the power hood release and tested it with the hidden switch I have inside the car and it works great. I have come up with a way to open the hood if the solenoid fails, or if the cable breaks. I still have to test it with the key fob from the security system when I get to the point of testing that.

I tested the fans all the way to the Dakota Digital PAC-2750 fan controller outputs and they work as designed.....low speed on the first setpoint, and high speed on the higher set point. I will adjust the setpoints lower when I start the engine again to test the controller.

Pretty much everything forward of the firewall has been tested, except for the Vintage Air heater control valve which I can't really test until I install the heater controls and run the heater. I've tested the door locks, vent windows and cutouts all the way to their respective switches and everything works. I haven't tested the window controllers but the window motors work up to the connector in the cowl area.

I am in the process of "flipping" the coolant level sensor signal to the VHX computer, adding an e-brake warning switch which also goes to the VHX computer, and wiring up the power antenna.

I don't know if anyone has ever made a power antenna that looks exactly like stock, but I did it a while ago. Most of them use different bezels and nuts and don't look original. I had to do a little machining and adjustment inside the motor assembly to get it to "park"correctly, but I think it looks good and even better with a new bezel. I was never a fan of hidden antennas inside of cars because I don't think they work very well, and I wanted to be able to retract the antenna to prevent vandalism of it like I've seen so many times. I listen to the radio about as much as I listen to other music media so I want good reception, plus I wanted to maintain much of the original look outside the car. That's why all my stock emblems and scripts are still on it.

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[BamaNomad]

.. really like your power radio antenna... Nice work!~ (Of course all your work is really nice)..

[Custer55]

I don't know if they would work with your set up or not but they do make time delay relays that you could use for the door lights.
I think I saw them on Delcity.net

[chevynut]

I don't know if they would work with your set up or not but they do make time delay relays that you could use for the door lights.
I think I saw them on Delcity.net

interesting idea and I didn't know they even made them for a 5-pin socket. I assume that a delay-on relay would do nothing as the voltage to the coil ramped up, until the set delay was reached. If so, that would have worked. But I think I got it fixed with re-routing the coil wire and adding the diode. We'll see when I power it up. Thanks for the idea, and I'll keep it in mind for other applications.

[WagonCrazy]

still need to get a power antenna for mine, and configure it like you did there. Do you remember what power antenna you used?

[chevynut]

still need to get a power antenna for mine, and configure it like you did there. Do you remember what power antenna you used?

I have put together a spreadsheet with all of my part numbers on it in case I need to replace them. I thought I had the antenna number on it but I don't. I'll have to look on the antenna itself or the box it came in. I'm packing up to head to Montana this morning so I'll try to remember to get it when I get back. I had to do some machining on the top brass nut and thread the top of the antenna housing, and enlarge the hole in the new bezel for the nut, but it wasn't hard. I'll try to remember to post some pics of the modified pieces too.

[WagonCrazy]

That would be great. Thank you Laszlo.

[Troy]

Hello Laszlo, That's what us engineers do!! I have a spread sheet for my parts as well, the last column has red and green color. That way I know what I already have in hand and what I need to get as I move through the restore! Actually I'm not an engineer, I'm a Principle Engineering Associate (mechanical designer). I really appreciate this thread I see a lot of things I'd like to do!!!

[chevynut]

The antenna I used is GM part number 88891017 made for or by Delco. I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure I bought it at Autozone and it was packaged as a Metra part. I assume they were the manufacturer for Delco at one time. The GM part has been discontinued but I see one for sale here and there. I recall they were used on C4 Corvettes and other 80's and 90's GM models. Other models of Metra antennas might work but I can't guarantee that they can be modified the way I did it. If it has the same chrome top nut it should work.

Here's mine:

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