clinton70

I can't find the part for this. The top part is stuck. The right driver door works.
I'm not sure if they quit making them?

Lady72nRob71

These are pretty hard to come by and are not reproed.
Here is a primer thread:
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-actuator.html

When removed fromt he door, do they move easily when you push and pull them? If not, they need to be overhauled, cleaned, and lubed. If they move easily, Check power source. These current hogs want 7A minimum EACH.
To run them out of the car, connect one bottom terminal to positive and the case always to negative. Connect the other bottom terminal to positive for the reverse direction.

To disassemble them, the bottom crimp needs to be straightened and the innards will pull out. Careful in doing this - note where parts are as they are extracted.
There is an up coil and a down coil, and a circuit breaker at the bottom.
First 2 pics below show the innards.

If you have to replace, the solenoids are the same from like 1970 to 1976 or so. The brackets welded to them are different from car to car.
Heres an article about a guy with an A body Buick whole replaced his solinoid by transferring his bracket by drilling and spot welding.
http://www.buickperformance.com/pdl.htm

I had got two fronts from a 75 Chevy Caprice. See the first two photos below for the guts...
One was rusted solid, due to torn boots and water filling them while the car they came from was in the junk yard. Even after that, the coils were fine. I restored those two (less the boots) but were not installed in my car - they are actually for sale.
I bought a different set that had a more adaptable bracket for my 2 door and had intact boots (third picture below).

Hows the rest of the rewiring going??

clinton70

The plunger on top is stuck. I believe that is the problem. I'll try to get it open.

Window for driver side jiggled but screws were loose. Tightened and better but not perfect.

Wiring is good, brakes work, turn signals seem to work. Instrument panel and courtesy lights had a dead fuse, doing that later. Loose purple wire in the trunk that went nowhere was for the defroster apparently. Just gotta make sure they didn't rid the defog relay.
Found two wires in the backseat that go to nowhere, a blue and a brown. Not sure if those are old speaker leads. I don't see anything pertaining to the back half of car in those colors in the wiring diagram (a seperate brown for the tail lights is hooked up and accounted for already).

The blue wire hanging about in the engine bay is already justified for, I think. They installed a oil pressure gauge for the dash which i guess replaces the blue wire. There is still this lead in the same area with two greens. Engine temp is already wired though. So yea... LOL

Lady72nRob71

Be very careful witthe rubber boot to prevent damage, When you get the plunger out, sand away any corrosion and rust with 600 grit paper and clean well with WD40. Try to do the same in the core. I coated them with a light layer of motor oil to help prevent future seizing.

The blue and the brown wires in the back seat were positive speaker wires. The Toro had two rear speakers for stereo, unlike the Cutlass. Blue was right, brown was left. Negatives went to chassis ground. Any speakers back there now? Better yet a stock radio?

Glad you got your wiring straightened out for the most part.

Did you add the relays for the upper level brake lights?
If you want to try to avoid doing this, I bet you could replace all the bulbs int he upper level with LED replacements and just tie the yellow to yellow and green to green, ignore the orange, and ground the negative sides of the lamps (black wires). LEDs add very little load to the circuit, causing little to no effect to the flashing and current draw. Just an idea...

clinton70

The whole thing is seized up. Nothing wanted to budge. Had to beat the hell out of it to get it open. Grease and WD40 did not unseize the plunger. I'm just going to get a new "used" one. Found one on ebay. it's for a right door but I don't think that really matters, does it? Or a two door aftermarket lock kit for 10 dollars more?

Where could LED lights be acquired on the net?

edit: Some one was in the process of putting in new speakers in the back. They are there and have aftermarket speaker wires going towards them. I assume I should can the brown/blue wires to avoid confusion in the future?

Lady72nRob71

Let it sit, twist it around, more WD40, twist and pull more...

It will open - trust me...

Mine was one of the worst I have seen but after a while it opened and it works fine now.

Most of these things have side-specific brackets on them. You can use the right door one you found, but you will need to drill off your bracket and weld it to the the new one.

Aftermarket will work if you rig it up right. However, you have to see how it wires up.. If it is a reverse polarity type, then getting it to work with your existing switches will be a challenge.

LED bulbs are popular. Motorcycle shops and many auto parts stores stock them. On the net, they are all over.
I have not bought any, so i cannot recommend a place. Do a search here for them and you might find some good threads.

If you have a stock radio, you cannot use the aftermarket speakers or you will fry the radio's amp.

Do you plan to use a factory radio or aftermarket? That will be a factor in how you proceed with all this.
If you plan to use the factory radio and speakers, use the original wires as intended.
If going aftermarket, then new speakers and wiring will be needed.

clinton70

Probably aftermarket. Radio is LAST priority though. New speakers ain't hooked up though so all is well.
LOL, ground wire to the fuel sender is SEVERED. More fun, haha.

Plunger is still stuck in the solenoid, I think it's finished for sure. Was able to get the casing off.

I imagine LED lights are probably more reliable too than these older bulbs. :P

Lady72nRob71

Trust me, with some patience and coaxing, they WILL come apart. I cannot imagine them worse than the rust hunks I got from the yard.

I was at a yard today that had a bunch of these solenoids, but they were all in 4doors. Brackets would need changing, OR, since you have them apart, change the casings! Put some new good guts into your original case! Never thought of that...... So that one you had a lead on should work.
Only kicker is how to do the boots...

clinton70

Emailed you the pic of it. It's toasted.

Not sure whether to get the new used one on the net (guy says plunger works) or just get a whole new system. Just gotta make sure it could hook up to the door switches.

Lady72nRob71

I think find any used working 70-75 solenoid, remove its innards like you did with yours, and put the good innards into your case, close it up, add a boot, and reinstall!

I saw a bunch of these at a distant yard yesterday - I should have got some...

clinton70

There's a few junkyards around here. Going to check up on it. My 01 Buick needs a front right mirror too because it hit the garage (I'm not a bad driver - garage is just pathetic small :P ).

Found some more screwups today.
Hoses for the vacuum regulator and carb are interchanged. Cruise control box to intake manifold is missing a hose.
Found out where the loose hose from the air filter box goes, someone had it's place.
No gasket between the carb and air filter.
The biggest one of the day however, the idle solenoid was not hooked up. Finally that green wire hanging out is accounted for. The other side of the connector was hidden under the alternator brace and stuck. Not sure if it was a big deal but I imagine it is.

Carbon Canister was rusted stuck to the bracket that held it and the filter is filthy.

Noone took care of my baby before me. This is fun stuff for me, fixing up peoples mistakes but I feel more bad about the poor car itself.