72 TA : New Project

**njsteve** · #1 01-23-2006, 04:35 AM

Got disgusted watching all the Barrett-Jackson stuff so I went out in the garage to play with the T/A this afternoon. Hooked the battery up just for fun to see what works. All the gauges actually still worked! I had worried there for a while after the initial engine run in without the right ground straps. I thought I had burned out the temp and volt gauges from the voltage feedback but they all seemed to work properly when the key was turned on today. Even the factory radio worked when I hooked some speakers up. That leads me to this question: Do you have to run 10 ohm rated speakers with the factory radio? I have the original 10 ohm dash speaker hooked up but the rear speakers were 4 ohm rated. Will this hurt the radio?

**tom406** · #2 01-23-2006, 05:50 AM

How are they wired? If they're wired in series (non stereo) for an 8 ohm load, they'd be just fine if there's a second set of outputs. Basically, its my understanding that whenever you drop the resistance (ohms) by half, the current the amplifier tries to deliver is doubled, and these high currents are what get you in trouble. I'm not familiar with what the factory did when you got the optional rear speaker on some of these setups. I would look at the factory wiring diagram, and just try to keep the ohm loads withing at least 60 or 70% of what the original setups were, and then avoid cranking it up excessively.

**njsteve** · #3 01-23-2006, 05:24 PM

It should have an AM/FM stereo unit (very hard to find) but I found a nice non stereo AM/FM and put that in. I connected the rear speakers off of the single speaker output wire that comes out of the radio. So I believe that would be in series, giving me one 10 ohm dash speaker, and two 4 ohm rear speakers for a total of 18 ohms of resistance. It sounded fine in terms of volume and clarity. So hopefully it won't burn anything out.

**njsteve** · #4 01-29-2006, 01:17 AM

Here's a tech tip for the day: I've been trying to figure out where the short was in the wiring for the blower motor. I got so frustrated after an hour or two under the dash that I gave the damn motor a smack with my hand and what happens? It starts working. Typical. I then sprayed the heck out of the internals with WD-40 and it works fine now. So remember when all else fails, smack it with a bigger hammer...it just might help.

**Dave Rifkin** · #5 01-29-2006, 01:33 AM

I have to say that this has been my favorite thread to watch throughout the past few months. I love to watch the progress and see the various tips and tricks that are being used to restore such a nice TA.
Keep the updates coming........I really look forward to them

**njsteve** · #6 01-30-2006, 01:16 AM

The last thing to do before taking it off the jack stands was to adjust the subframe and tighten it up. I loosened the bushing bolts and then used a tapered 3/4" brass drift to align the holes in the subframe mounts with the pilot holes in the body mounts. It worked great. I then tightened the 4 bolts to 95 pounds. I finally was able to put the T/A back on the ground again and then rolled it out of the way to sweep out the garage and clean up the workbench. I found all the little clips and nuts and things that have been flinging out of sight over the past 6 months or so. It's amazing how they all migrate to the center, underneath the car.

I Hooked up the battery and cranked the engine over just to get the oil pressure up. The factory gauge is actually still accurate. After about 5 seconds of cranking it was reading 75 pounds, which is the same as the mechanical gauge I had hooked up.

**njsteve** · #7 01-30-2006, 01:19 AM

I unbolted the rear spoiler, tail panel, rear lamps and bumper. You can still see where the remnants of the original set of tape stripes were. Interestingly, the factory was about 3/8" inch to the left of center. So much for assembly line precision.

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