After procrastinating for too long, I finally changed the fuel sender in the 69 today. Just to make it interesting, I did it with 1/2 a tank of fuel. Made a little platform that drops into the floor jack and fits between the straps. Worked great.
Always be sure to cap the vent and sender outlets before moving a tank 1/2 full. I leaned this on the 67 tank. Removing the old sender and looking inside, the tank appears in good condition. Most would replace it at this point, but it's fine.
Last fall I tried improving the ground in the hope that was it, but no change. Trouble shooting back then, I jumpered the new sender to the 20 Tan wire connection at the trunk latch, added a ground and sure enough the gauge worked and moved with the float.
Looks like the old one is original to the car. Can it be repaired? Maybe, but the inlet tube is pretty crusty. Maybe I'll give it a shot. I now in no way expect the new one to last very long, it really looks like a piece of crap I'm sorry to say. Quality is non existant today in the replacement senders, but for now we at least have a measure.
I did all the wiring for the power antenna. Previously I had drilled the quarter panel hole and mounted the antenna. For the wiring I ran a 10 gauge wire from the horn relay to a 30 amp breaker mounted up under the dash. I plan to use this breaker for the power antenna and power locks, possibly the power vents as well. From there I ran a 10 gauge wire up to a pair of relays, one for "up" and one for "down". I do this because I don't like the full amperage for the antenna pulled through the switch. I've seen too many switches over the years that got hot. From the relays I ran a pair of 14 gauge wires to the antenna.
When I mounted the antenna a few months ago, I put a battery in the trunk and ran jumper wires to the up down wires. It works perfect.
Today when I finished all the wiring, I tested the antenna. It won't move up or down but sounds like it's trying to move either direction as I try it on the switch. Put a battery in the trunk, run jumper wires to it, works perfect. Volt meter shows full voltage at the back when I try the switch but I must be losing amperage. I just can't figure out why or how. After lunch and a nap I guess it's time to start doing a bunch more testing. Weird. I thought maybe it was a bad ground because when I tested with the battery in the trunk of course I grounded the antenna right to the negative post on the battery. Ran a jumper cable from the nice steel bumper to the antenna body but no change.
__________________
1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Are the up/down relays close to the antenna motor?
If no, I'd continue a 10 gauge power wire back to the trunk, mount the relays hidden there, and use the 14 gauge wires in place right now as the relay triggers.
__________________
65 Laurentian post, 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT.
