Rear Defogger Switch

One of the options my car did NOT come from the factory with was the rear defogger.  It sold for $27.  It involves a dash mounted hi/low/off switch, a blower mounted under the rear parcel shelf and ductwork that supplies air from the passenger compartment through the blower up onto the rear window.

I found the switch a few months ago.  I haven't bought the blower or the ductwork yet.  I think the rear parcel shelf may need to be modified or replaced to accommodate the blower.

Today I installed the switch.  I'm on a mission to get the car drivable again.  That means the dash has to go back in.  And the switch needs to go in first.  I figured this was a simple enough task to get done in a few hours today.

I was discouraged at first since there was no knockout in the instrument cluster to accommodate the switch.  So I hesitantly cut into the aluminum with my trusty Dewalt drill and jigsaw.  Some careful filing produced the hole for the switch.

I'll save the wiring for later when I have the blower.  Just glad to get even the little things done.

Windshield Washer Bottle

Last week while wrestling with some vacuum lines under the hood, I noticed that the windshield washer bottle was empty.  So I filled it to the brim.  It promptly poured out the bottom of the car.  Damn.

Two easy access bolts released the bottle.  It had a massive crack on the outboard side, not the side exposed to the engine heat.  Go figure.  Some knucklehead before me had tried to patch the crack with tape.  No way that was going to work.  The crack was about 4 inches long and a 1/2 inch wide.

I'd heard that these bottles were difficult to find.  But after an evening on ebay.com, caddydaddy.com and a few other sites I use for parts, I found not one.

Plan B.  Stopped by Pepboys and picked up a fiberglass repair kit.  The kit included the fiberglass cloth, resin, a stir stick and a plastic pan to mix the resin with some hardener.  Easy enough.

Two layers of fiberglass later and I was VERY happy with the repair.  The resin even cured to a color very similar to 44 year old washer bottle plastic.  I filled the bottle and let it sit on the counter overnight.  Unfortunately, it seemed to weep a bit, although I couldn't really tell from where.

Two more larger layers of fiberglass later and another overnight soak.  Zero leakage.

Overall, a very easy repair.  If the crack wasn't as large as it was, I don't think you'd be able to even see the patch.  I'm very happy.

Now to clear the fumes from the house before she gets home.

Back on Track...Hopefully

I'm embarrased to say I don't think I've even started the Eldo this calendar year.  That's just horrible.

So today I spent a little time in the garage with her.  I was afraid she wouldn't even start.  But after about ten seconds of cranking she fired right up.  I let her run on fast idle for about 30 minutes.

In that time, I checked all the tires, vital fluids, trunk latch, seat motors, antenna motor and headlight doors.  The power windows are out of commision until I rewire the driver's door.  The power door locks are half installed.  The dash is still on the roof.  The trunk is filled with parts, not the least of which include two very rare black leather buckets and the matching console.  Oh, do I have big plans.

For the first time I connected the A/C compressor solenoid wire and tested the operation of the compressor.  I've always knows the A/C didn't work properly, but hadn't even begun to worry about it.  At least the compressor turns freely with no noticable or objectionable noises.  The Freon charge could be completely flat, or worse.  A project for another day...

Next weekend I'm going to tackle the rewiring tasks.  It's not a very difficult task.  But it sure is tedious and time consuming.

I promise to write more often.

I need to get this car on the road!

Production Stats

I found some statistics in Ward's Automotive about the production numbers for the 1968 Eldorado.

98.8% of them had the automatic climate control.  78.9% had the tilt telescope steering wheel.  96.5% had either the 4 way or 6 way power seat.  Vinyl top, 86.6%.  White walls, 99.1%.  Tinted glass, 99.2%.  Cruise control, 29.1%.  And paint color white, 10.8%.

My car is now black, which was 5.5% of production and if I install the bucket seats only 3.2% had them from the factory.

Headlamp Switch and Doors

The '68 Eldorado is unique in many ways.  Only the '67 and '68 had hidden headlamps.  The doors are vacuum actuated and rotate DOWN when the lights are turned on.  The '67 does not illuminate the parking lights when the headlights are turned on.  This is what the doors on a '67 look like in action.

The '68 leaves the parking lights on with the headlights.  This means the '68 headlight switch is not common with any other year, make or model car.  Damn.

Here is a picture of the headlight switch.  The knob is removed but mounts on the left side.  You can see the vacuum ports on top.  One of them is a vacuum feed from the engine.  When the switch is pushed in and off, vacuum is fed to one of the other two ports, pulling the headlamp doors up and closed.  When the switch is pulled out and on, vacuum is fed to the third port, pulling the doors down and open.

My headlight switch hisses when the switch is pulled out.  Hopefully the switch is not bad.  I'm praying for a cracked or loose vacuum line.  The doors still open and close, but a little slowly.  Also, there should be enough vacuum stored to cycle the doors two or three times after shutting off the engine.  Mine does not.

Also, my driver's side door is slightly misaligned.  It really bugs me.  Not sure what I'm going to do about that.

If I successfully install the Twilight Sentinel option, the headlamp switch is no longer used to port the vacuum to open and close the doors.  The switch stays in the off position and a photo sensor decides if it is dark enough to warrant the lights.  An amplifier takes the photo sensor signal and through a relay turns on the lights.  There is also an electropneumatic valve that takes a signal from the switch and ports the vacuum to the actuators to open or close the doors.

Power Windows

I'm very lucky in that all four power windows work.  Each switch works and the windows move reasonably quickly.  Now you don't want to try to raise more than one at a time.  And it sure helps if the engine is running.  There is a driver's door mounted lock out switch to prevent passengers from operating their windows.  This is common on many cars.  However, on this car, there is a third position on the lock out switch as well.  You slide the switch to Emergency, hold it there, and you can operate all four windows from the driver's door without having the ignition on.

This trim panel that houses the mirror control, the window lock out switch and the window switches will have to be replaced with one that has an opening on the bottom for the power door lock switch if and when I install the vacuum door locks.  This also means I'll be running vacuum feed lines to both doors and vacuum open/close lines to each actuator.  At that time, I'll replace both of those wire/hose conduits that connect the doors to the body.

Also on the Eldorado, the rear windows slide back into the C pillar instead of down like most cars.  I think this is really cool.  But I'm a huge nerd.  Check it out:

The Letter "O"

Remember my front right fender was missing an "o"?  Well, all I could find was a complete set of "Eldorado" letters.  Even though I only needed one letter, I thought it prudent to buy the set.  Each letter has two pins and is attached invidually.  A very easy repair.