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patrickstars 1983 242 4.8L/AR5 swap

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Pretending it runs and drives. The CORE short shifter feels great
 
Friday off and the weather was nice, so I got some work done on the 242. Picked up some tools from Harbor Freight and received some stuff in the mail as well.

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Kaplhenke panhard bar installed

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Dual 40a relays for the headlights. Found this perfect mounting spot next to the radiator

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Using this braided PET loom wherever I can. I pared down my rear wiring to just what is necessary and ran this loom until just before the taillights

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Got a lot done today. The whole headlight harness is finished other than the grounds. The relays have been mounted. The ARC 8000 PDM has been mounted.

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Headlight harness

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I'm a little concerned with that kink seen at the red heat shrink, but the wires didn't come apart when tugging them and still feels solid. Probably just overthinking things again.

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ARC 8000 mounted on the passenger side fresh air vent panel. It fit perfectly and will be out of the way, but still accessible
 
Were the fresh air intakes blocked off by '83? I've always been tempted to use that real estate but with the kick panel vents open and the rear quarter windows popped out so much nice air moves through the car! (important when you never bother to make your HVAC work again)
 
Were the fresh air intakes blocked off by '83? I've always been tempted to use that real estate but with the kick panel vents open and the rear quarter windows popped out so much nice air moves through the car! (important when you never bother to make your HVAC work again)

I think all LH cars had the ECU over the blocked off passenger kick panel vent? My diesel has vents on both sides. Finding space for my ECU was tricky, wound up putting it in the glovebox.
 
Were the fresh air intakes blocked off by '83? I've always been tempted to use that real estate but with the kick panel vents open and the rear quarter windows popped out so much nice air moves through the car! (important when you never bother to make your HVAC work again)

Yep, there was never a vent on this side. I believe John told me that the diesels and maybe the 260s had passenger side fresh air vents, but I don't remember. I'll probably regret blocking it eventually, I don't think I'll ever have functioning AC in this car.
 
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A few boring things came in the mail. Some busbars, a small 4-fuse panel for the taillights, IPD GT strut braces, Seals-It split grommet, and a TEMco large gauge crimper. Heading out to the shop tomorrow, hoping to get the ARC panel wired in and test the headlights out
 
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GT braces installed, headlights completely wired, chassis harness organized/cleaned up. Need to get the Terminator X tuned and get the taillight wiring finished up
 
Ordered a black carpet kit from Rockauto tonight. ~$40 cheaper than eBay. The aftermarket carpets without pre-cut holes work better for me, because I need to cut the shifter in a different position anyway. Sparco sprint driver seat, some trashed 242 seat for passenger, and the factory brown backseat
 
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Installed a few grommets in the firewall, one for the main Terminator X harness, one for the headlight harness, and one for the starter wire. Also drilled a 1.25" hole for a bulkhead battery terminal.

Forgot to take pictures, but I brought the intake pipe, interior panel and lower chassis braces to the powdercoater today. I've never gone to the trouble of getting stuff powdercoated for my projects, I'm excited to see how it all turns out.
 
Nice! You will like the powdercoating. I used to do it on my own stuff with an Eastwood kit and an oven in my garage. Would be fun to get into that again sometime. I did several brackets and my valve cover, it still looks good after 20 years.
 
Nice! You will like the powdercoating. I used to do it on my own stuff with an Eastwood kit and an oven in my garage. Would be fun to get into that again sometime. I did several brackets and my valve cover, it still looks good after 20 years.

Man, that would be so sweet to have a little powdercoat setup in the shop. I was looking around at anything metal I had laying around thinking "That would look much nicer in wrinkle black..."
 
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Intake installed. I much prefer the wrinkle black over the polished that was in there before. Worth the $$$

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Getting the cockpit tidied up. Carpet kit should be here Monday, and then I'll put the dashboard in.

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Wiring the taillight fuse panel and was very satisfied with this crimp/heat shrink
 
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