Step-dad's Mondial almost ready but....

This is still the same "surprise" car for my step-dad. Just driving it around town to make sure all is taken care of prior to delivering it to him - the surprise is "scheduled" for Thanksgiving Eve in Houston. Right after I present him with the car, we'll also let him know he's going to be a grand-dad for the first time. Should make for a fun Thanksgiving

Anyways, driving around last night, I suddenly lost all dash lights. They could partially, very faintly, flicker back on if I played with the headlight switch but nothing consistent. I'm going to drive it again tonight to see if it happens again and I'll have some more time to play with it. Nevertheless, I've reread the manual and can't find anything about a dimmer switch like there is in my '89 328(this is an '88 3.2 mondial). Am I missing something obvious or does this sound more like an electrical short.

Norwoods in Dallas has been EXCELLENT in restoring this car and bringing it up to date. I wish I had some before & after pics but even James Patterson commented how this car is unrecognizable mechanically & cosmetically from when I first dropped it off back in early July. I don't really want to bother them with this problem so hopefully this dash light issue is an easy fix - otherwise, back it goes.

Thanks for any pointers

 

Dave - thanks for the offer....since I'll be out in Midland, I know he'll have questions and/or need some assistance that I can't give him so I'm sure your phone will ring.

 

Last night it was doing the same thing so I happened to push in a little on the whole instrument cluster and voila - bright lights! The car went back to Norwoods today anyway for a couple of minor things so they are going to try and secure it down a little better. we'll see. pics forthcoming

 

oh but if you only knew what I put him through these last 20yrs so you might want to hold on to that Step-son of the year award...

 

Thank you Sir; I probably will take you up on that after I talk with the future owner to see how he wants to handle it.

 

Well, I've had the car back all weekend and everything "seems" sorted out. Turned a 6/10 car into a 9.5/10 in 4mos. I sure hope he likes it because I've got way more into it than it's worth. If he doesn't like it, I've got an extra garage spot out in West TX

Pics of said surprise will be forthcoming...

 

All taped up and ready for the drive tomorrow evening. I'm sure hoping painter's tape isn't too bad for the car. Just want to protect it from rock chips prior to delivery - want it to be as perfect as possible. If it rains, will that have any effect on the painter's tape - will it harm the paint much like a wet bra?
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Well, we were still facing a cold start issue but Nrowoods had a distributor overnighted in and put on first thing Wed morning prior to me leaving that afternoon. Unfortunately, I hit some nasty weather late in the afternoon about an hour out of town so all of the detailing work went for nought. My step-dad was picking up my wife at the airport so I could cruise on to their home and tuck it away in the garage before he got home. Well, after 2hrs of weather delay, my step-dad finally returned from the airport sans my wife. We were going to wait for her until we did the "unveiling" but my youngest sister went to the garage fridge and opened the door as my step-dad happened to be walking by. So thus began an impromptu surprise late Wed night...

He didn't say anything for a few minutes and just walked around the car in utter disbelief. He would start to say something but it would trail off into some unintelligble form of language that was hindered with excitement and happiness. Finally, we could make out, "I can't believe it, I just can't believe it" He came over and gave me one of the longest hugs I'd ever had. It was interrupted by my cell phone ringing with my wife saying, "Hey, I've landed. What are y'all up to?" I left to go pick her up while the rest of the family prepared for Thanksgiving for 45 family members who were coming over the following day. So the first drive would have to wait.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving morning. Everybody feverishly working preparing all the dishes and one of several last second runs to the grocery store manifested itself. I told him we really needed to take the mondial so I could teach him about the car as this might be the only time - I was leaving that evening. So off we went after a quick tutorial in the garage. I told him the front was extremely low compared to his other car so take steep grades at an angle. Well he took that over the top and we couldn't go up anything unless it was at 45degree angle He was driving it like a grandma and I told him it may be old, but it'll get even older if you don't drive it like it want to be driven. We did a quick run up and down 59 between Weslayan and Kirby, he learned about 2nd gear having to warm up, about not being able to slam it through the gears, about how to pop the gas cap, about how to work the A/C and how to raise the antenna - but he said he'd never turn the radio on when he's got those 8cylinders behind his ears. He also learned about how he's not 20 anymore and it takes him a few seconds to get in & out of the car

During thanksgiving, nearly everybody somehow heard the whispers and made their way out to the garage. He has 4 brothers/sisters and all 3 brothers were beyond words. They all wanted rides but the line of cars in the driveway precluded any driving. Alas, I left for the airport and returned home safely. I've already received two text messages from my step-dad repeatedly thanking me. My mother told me that he fell asleep last night in bed with his reading glasses on eating a bowl of ice cream and reading the manual....

I wish the surprise had happened a little more controlled but all's well that ends well - no pics