Boy! Am I lucky! Or should I say blessed?
maybe stupid is a better term for what ALMOST happened to VIN 1758 Yesterday
morning at Orange Coast College...
I parked my Brick and decided to use the portable 12 volt air compressor i had
bought to tide me over until i get the air door kit. The compressor was
modified by me so I could wire it directly to my 800 amp battery, since Bricks
lack a cigarette lighter. I also swapped out the on/off switch for a
momentary contact pushbutton.
If only i would have known ahead of time that ALL metal parts on a car are
grounded!!!!!!
My center console was smashed to peices and gone forever, leaving the metal
part of the emergency brake exposed more than usual.
I opened the door just enough to get out and set the compressor down without
giving it much thought. After getting out of the car I started to wonder how
so much dust could fly around without a gust of wind...
Then i thought that the car facing mine was smoking, and I almost failed to
think twice, but the unknown source aroused my curiosity...
I traced the smoke to the inside of the Brick, and i knew immediately what was
going on...
As I quickly and carefully moved the wire and air compressor to the back of
the car my life flashed before my eyes and so did the $10,000 my dad and I had
paid to buy and fix up this car....
I stepped away from the car and prayed, "Please, God! Don't let this thing
blow up!"
It took me forever to get my heart out of my throat....
The wire from the battery to the air compressor had melted and bonded itself
to the carpet. I removed it and surveyed the damage. Oh, well, I was gonna
eventually get new carpet anyway! At least the Brick is okay...
>From now on I will be much more careful when dealing with electrical!!! And,
yes, I subsequently removed the air compressor to prevent Deja Vu.
Anybody know where I can get a 12 volt DC current circuit breaker to hook up
to the battery? I see there is a place in the fuse panel that would have
prevented this disaster....I didnt know it was missing! Something must have
got rigged before I bought it...isnt the car suposed to not work if the fuse
marked "batt" is missing?
I dont know what type of fuse to get for it...there are other things missing
in the fuse panel that are not fuses and I have no idea what they are... can
anybody send me a list of parts to get so I can replace all the items in the
fuse panel?
Also, I need to know which bolts to remove under the hood to gain access the
the back of the guages. I removed the screws and the Tach and Speedometer are
apparently attached by a bolt under the hood... Somebody changed the guage
setting to 6 or four cylinders which makes my speedometer read too high and my
odometer move too quickly. I need to get behind the guages so i can fix the
problem.
The key for the door is labeled "chicago lock company". are they still
around?
I know somebody still makes keys and locks like this because I see them in
laundromats and vending machines all the time. I want to buy a set of two
locks that will match my current key. Any ideas?
Lastly I do not want to pay $275 for the new center console!! anybody have a
used one in good shape? Send me an email if ya do =)
Riley Marquis III
VIN 1758
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