Amazon: 1964 Amazon 122S restoration project

[Steve 940]

Many congratulations on getting it running, a tribute to your work, and your resourcefulness is seemingly endless👍👍
Cheers
Steve

[Juular]

Back on its feet.



Electrics. I've essentially had to rewire the car as nothing worked. It's not the wiring as such but the multiplugs were in a terrible state, and it appears that they used screw connector blocks and scotchloks from the factory.

What a mess.



Didn't even bother trying to sort it out. I took a knife to it and started again, using spades and heat shrink.





Same in the rear. I actually ran a new loom under the carpet as the original was hopeless. The fire didn't help.



Tidied up. Oh yeah I fitted new horns too.



Had to redo the bulb contacts in the rear lights as they had all fallen off. Blobs of solder were perfect.



New wiring where necessary.



Professionally resilvered using foil tape!





The mechanical / ether temperature gauge was long dead. I decided to make it electronic.

I bought a generic electronic gauge for £8.



Grafted its guts onto the original backplate.







The final piece of the puzzle is to tap the insides of the 5/8 UNF sensor collar to 1/8 NPT. This allows the electronic sender to screw into it and adapt it to the head.

[Laird Scooby]

Excellent work there! Should have a reliable electrical system now!

Very nice job on converting the temp gauge too to electrical operation!

[Ron Kwas]

Juular;

Nice work, nice pix...

The factory did tie the Hornwire to the rest of the harness, below the Steering Box, with a crimp, but there were NEVER any Scotchlocks from factory...and we thank them for that!! Scotchlocks work on an insulation displacement principle, which in itself is not the end of the world, but they also work by CUTTING into conductors (not to mention the MINIMAL conductor cross-section at the actual point of contact...there, I did mention it!), which is THE LAST thing you want in a vibration environment like a car! See also: https://www.sw-em.com/Wiring%20Notes...ne_connections

Nice restoration of Tail-light fixtures...I hope there you will be adding some sleeving to keep open terminals electrically separated...OK on the restoration of the reflectors (someone has been visiting the sw-em site I expect!).

Very good on the Temp Gauge...I have done the precise same rethreading of a 5/8 UNF adapter to allow fitting the electronic Tempsender.

Cheers from Connecticut!

[Juular]

I assumed the scotchloks were factory as the donor Amazon had them in exactly the same place! I have also seen them on other Amazons. I wonder if there's variations based on where they were built?

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Juular

I assumed the scotchloks were factory as the donor Amazon had them in exactly the same place! I have also seen them on other Amazons. I wonder if there's variations based on where they were built?

I think Scotchloks were only invented in the early 1970s so wouldn't have been fitted on an Amazon

Can't find any online corroboration to confirm other than the opening line of a pdf that doesn't want to download for me and that starts "Over 50 years ago......" and goes on to say how the first Scotchlok IDC was invented.

Obviously the Amazon OE electrical system has problems in the areas where they've been used, hence the use in the same places.

[Juular]

From exactly the same location and wire as the donor Amazon (1966).



Either way I'm glad to see the back of them. Horrible things.

Of course everything was shrink wrapped individually and then loom taped after being crimped. I'm very particular about wiring being robust and safe.

[Juular]

Interior going back in.



I used two instrument panels to make one good non peeling one.









Does anyone know of a source for the small coloured lenses?





My better half made new door cards and fitted a new headliner to replace the stuff I set on fire.

We decided to replace the stretch pockets with proper door pockets. Those came from my 240 when they inevitably snapped in half as they do.

[Steve 940]

This must be one of the best parts, actually putting stuff back in😀

Regarding the coloured lenses, I’ve no idea how they fit, assuming you can’t source from another or a breaker then it’s probably a find a fix, something you are rather adept at.

Just try

https://www.google.com/search?q=elec...&client=safari

A few options, but depends on if they could be ‘modified to fit.

Or,??? change bulbs to a coloured led, or perhaps use felt tip to ‘colour’ the bulb glass on a normal one, and have clear plastic cover. Hopefully you could sand or shape something that will fit.

Cheers
Steve

[Othen]

Excellent. I think your principle of fixing things properly but to a budget is really sensible. It would have been easy to throw money at the Amazon and make it like new, but I think what you have done is a much better solution. The Amazon has been fixed (which was sensible) rather than restored (which would have wasted a fortune).