January 2020 Update: Bodywork Begins!

Body
- I started the bodywork on the car! Just doing simple things at the moment such as cutting holes for the taillights, cutting vent holes, and starting to mount the panels for a rough mock-up. Right now, I have just the sidesail clamped to the car but I plan to throw on some of the other panels soon.
- Bought an air saber saw to cut the vents. This thing is awesome! Cut the vents in almost no time. Highly recommend getting one of these.
Electrical
- Had my first couple issues with the iWire harness.
  - Minor issue is that they did not wire in the A/C input switch that tells the ECU to turn on the A/C fan and idle up the engine.
  - Slightly more concerning is that the car had a weird electrical issue and died when I was trying to purge the coolant system. While poking around, I found three wires on the brown engine harness plug that were completely loose from their connector pins. They pulled right out with almost zero effort. Easy to fix, but cost me a lot of time in troubleshooting the issue.
- Bought some stereo items! This is not high on the priority list to complete but I wanted to do things like mount the speakers and run wiring before interior/body is installed so I didn’t cause myself unnecessary trouble down the road. I purchased a Pumpkin Android head unit, 2 analog cameras (reverse camera and front cam), plus two 6.5″ full-range speakers. I like messing with the tech stuff so the plan is to have all the cool goodies working like a dash cam, track apps, virtual gauges, internet connection, etc. I’m planning to mess with the stereo using a bench setup while I’m at school so it doesn’t interfere with building the rest of the car.
A/C and Heat
- I ended up having to remove the 4-way LS heater valve because the vacuum controlled valve is not compatible with the new Vintage Air units. On the Mini Gen II they use a servo rather than a vacuum actuator and servo wiring doesn’t operate on a on-off voltage signal like a solenoid. But luckily they sell a H-fitting with a small bypass that serves the same purpose and can be used with the standard servo they provide. I also switched over to spring-style coolant clamps for everything. The servo connector did not appear waterproof so I mounted it inside the cabin where the existing vintage air wiring could also reach.
- I will test the A/C seals with a vacuum tester this upcoming weekend. Hopefully I can work with iWire to finish the wiring needed for it.