After receiving Bill's wiring diagram and some additional testing of the connections to my tach I decided to send it to Nisonger Instruments in Mamaroneck, NY for refurb. They have a rush service that charges $60 to get the instrument back in 4 days instead of 4 weeks so I went with that. I got the tach back in 3 days. It looked brand new and came with comprehensive instructions on the proper installation of the wiring of the tach........which didn't apply to the S4.
I had also ordered a new voltage regulator and voltage stabilizer from R&D Enterprises and had that in my possession for Saturdays work on the S4. I've gotta say, the entire electrical system has now either been replaced or rebuilt so its basically all new, including the battery!
- Rebuilt tach and new voltage stabilzer
Drew came over to help and as he started installing the tach and voltage stabilizer I replaced the voltage regulator in the engine bay. I got done before he did so I moved over to my S1 to install new springs on the front shocks (replaced the 8" 140lb springs with 10" 150 lb springs, that is another story which I will update on my S1 post).
- Replacing voltage regulator
The typical electrical gremlins popped up during installation of new electrical parts. Got the tach working fine, but now the instrument lights didn't work!
- Drew reviewing wiring schematic once again
And because their is absolutely no room to work on anything under the dash, the speedo and tach came back out to determine what was wrong. Drew even took the seat out so he could work from the floor on his back tracing every wire under the dash.
- Speedo and tach out tracing wiring
- Drew tracing all circuits for dash light mystery
Ended up being a missing power wire coming from the new voltage stabilizer so we made one in short order, rewired everything and reinstalled the instruments. Every single electrical thing functions as supposed to and the battery is finally getting the right charge from the generator.
- All instruments and electrical working as new (or better)
Before we took the S4 out for an afternoon drive, we replaced the spark plugs with new ones and off we went. Drew and I took turns driving the car on some of my favorite back roads enjoying the day and making mental notes of little details that need to be looked at. The Elan ran perfectly with great brakes, oil pressure, water temp, no ignition warning light, idled perfectly and has great pick up. Whaa Hoo!
Brought it back to the garage and parked it.
- S4 rebuild complete waiting for paint touchup
Next week the paint guy is coming over to talk about the repair of scratches, the fiberglass repair we made and buffing the entire car.
Getting very close to completing!