I went to 1337ssei'* house and took pictures of some work. We did the plugs, plug wires, took off and cleaned the ignition coil area, and replaced the ignition coils. Then we took off the door panels again and installed another set of aftermarket speakers. He got a pair for $40, and we put on the recently rediscovered XTC speaker baffles. Now we both have some!

I classily arrived in the Aerostar. It'* the choice of the professional winner and ladies man.


The work begins! The NAPA Belden plug wires fell apart in the front, but the rear set held up fine. The warranty probably covers that, but NAPA doesn't want to exchange these.


A while ago, he got a new motor mount. Have a look.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/CIMG0087.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/CIMG0105.jpg

In this picture, things are still mostly in place. The old coils and some plug wires are still there, and you can see the "professionally" mounted PCM.


Here, the new ignition coils are in place, and the strut bar has been removed for the arm hatred ceremony, AKA rear plug work.


Finishing up...


TA DA!


Our arms:
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/CIMG0112.jpg

Here are the fallen apart plug wires:


Ignition coil removal:
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/CIMG0094.jpg

New ignition coils:


New spark plugs:


Interior shots:




We healthily busted a fluorescent bulb while working. Here'* a picture.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/CIMG0109.jpg

Speakers!



EDIT: Wow! My hand looks weird in this picture! I'm trying to replicate that, but I can't. I don't know what angle that is or why my thumb is doing that.


A door panel coming apart:



Another one!


I'm still getting used to the camera. More speaker pictures.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/CIMG0126.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m...e/CIMG0127.jpg

An XTC speaker baffle!

Why was this in Your Other Ride? Please read the forum descriptions before posting.

I've had two belden wires come apart on me like that. Both times it was the #3 cylinder. They warrantied it the first time and I just bought a spare non-belden wire the second time.

EEEE.... Those valve cover gaskets need changed. Caked on oil + heat = potential fire.

Good write up and pics.

You can repair the belden wire at Napa for $0.40, bring the wire and boot and they will crimp on a new stainless retainer. I had 3 done this spring.

And WASH your hands before working on interiors, better yet wear latex gloves.
Those greasy finger prints are a bear to get out. :P

Just curious,
What is the gauge on the column? How is it mounted?

Ooh, no...you didn't pull the panel with the window strip attached...that panel is never gonna fit right again...
When you pull that panel, the weather strip disengages from the door by lifting the panel and pushing in on the weatherstrip with the window open. It should come loose with some coaxing. As is, you pulled it loose of the staples that hold the panel tight at the top...if you haven't put it back together yet, you need to try and fix that, or the top of the panel will be loose.

BTW, I have come to the conclusion that any Bonneville owner who changes their own back plugs is emo...only a cutter could enjoy that job enough to do it twice...

EDIT: It looks like the strips were loose before you started, I guess. I'm not sure how to fix it, but if you do, you will be much happier with the way your door panel fits.

Thanks for moving this, vital. I'll see about returning the plug wires. Do you know if we can just take the wires in? I'm not sure the boots are all there. The valve cover gaskets really do need to be changed. We took 60 grit sand paper to a valve cover, but it did nothing!

The gauge on the column is a mechanical boost gauge with a wider range. You can't see it in the pics, but there'* a 2-hole A pillar pod mount on the side, and we just haven't yet shoved it into the car. When that goes in, the gauge will move and accompany a transmission temperature gauge. The wire for that pod is that green wire you might see running along the strut bar.

It looks like someone had already gotten to the driver'* side door panel. There were missing pins, and someone had put masking tape along the top of the inside of the door to hold some insulation in place. Though the passenger door was fine, the little black strip was starting to come off. We took it all off and are now planning to put a stock looking but more flexible bunch of stripping on the door panels. When the time for that comes, expect another meet writeup.