Well it's been a while, but I am still working on RT. Electrical was not my strong suit, but I am beginning to understand a little of it.
The rear window switch I worked on in a previous post works like a champ with Serehill's harness in the back. So I started on the rear defrost.
I like the stock switch look, but I'm having a devil of a time finding a relay to make it work. Then after hours on internet searches, I found a company in Great Britain that makes a relay that is supposed to power on with a momentary switch, and stay on for 10 minutes and it is designed to "provide power to the rear defroster". So I ordered one. I have the wiring set up so that when it arrives I can plug it in and test it. If it works, I'll post the details.
I also looked into Strode's fix. He did a very good write up on that and so I found one of the 91 Explorer rear defrost switches just in case the foreign relay doesn't work.
As I also posted, I have been trying to figure out the Viper alarm wiring and the NiteLite auto headlight controls. Well, after some starts and stops, I got the Viper to lock and unlock the doors. HUGE accomplishment for me. I got the NiteLite to turn on the headlights, but so far I have not gotten it to turn off. Of course, I have not rolled RT out into the daylight to see if it works.
Here is the "fancy electrical bar".
The two relays on top, they were necessary to convert the negative pulse Viper to power the positive pulse door locks. The left side is the Viper, the right side the NiteLite. The 3 relays in the middle, the one on the left is where the "defroster" relay goes and the two on the right work with the NiteLite.
The bar bolts to the back side of the grab handle on the dash. Leaving enough room for the Vintage Air mock up unit between it and the dash.
Well, every once in a while I get fed up with wiring and have to do something fun. So I thought I'd do the bumpers.
Fun isn't necessarily what I'd call mounting a 3 piece bumper by yourself. That was a major PITA! All loose and floppy until you get it bolted up to the frame so you can then start aligning everything. But at the end of the day, I think they look pretty good.
For today, it's back on the differential. The front one seems to have almost stopped leaking oil, but not the back one. I finally got the last of the torx bolts out of it using a hammer and a cold chisel. About 3 hits with a 2lb hammer and it was loose enough to take out with pliers. Now to get the cover off and reinstalled. Maybe this time it won't leak.