Dutch Zimmer GS tutorials & mod's

A Zimmer Golden Spirit is for most owners a pretty old car, lasting between approx. 50 and 30 years. Only the very rich among us can afford to have a new Zimmer build for them. And old cars suffer from : ... bad wiring ! (This is a Zimmer mod.) Our #620 sufferd great at the headlight section. One day we would have 2 dim lights, the other day we would have only one high beam. Or worse, no Dim but 2 High beam. Also the fog lights would or would not come up, not to speak of the city lights that might run on 1/25th of power on the right side and full on the left... .  So first I started to completely rewire the Dim/High beam for the H4 bulbs.    While diagnosing the problems, I noticed that all H4 wiring was running through the steering column, apparently, as there were no relays in the Mustang Service manual electrical diagrams. So I started designing a safe , fused and relayed circuit.  I used 2 relays,  Rel#1 gets its trigger from the main lights switch, if pulled in the 2nd position. 

This post is about the Zimmer Golden Spirit Badge Bar. (This is a Zimmer mod.) This nice touch was standard on Zimmer up to 1985, after which it became an 'option'. It must have been an expensive option, as lot of Zimmer do not have it. But fortunately, ours is 1983, so the bar is present. The badge bar is a nice chrome tube of undefined USA measurement, but comes close to 42mm, for which we can buy professional tube clamps at a good hardware store. Below you see the clamp on the bar. It is a split clamp that bolts together. But no facility to attach something, unless within the bolt, or by glue. The first candidate is the AAC club logo. (American Automobile Club). Unfortunately there are no club badges. But from the archive I managed to obtain a nice sticker of the logo. So why not make a badge out of that ?  So my dear friend Ewie cut a nice stainless steel oval, same measurement as the sticker.  And the sticker sticks, so no problem attaching the two :-)  I glued the plate t

  (This is a Mustang mod.) Yes, you will all get to this point somehow: Your Heater Core will give-in ! And when it does, you can not drive until you have replaced it. Or....... You make a bypass in the cooling system, which I did.  This is not a 'Zimmer' mod, but generic Mustang. Below you see the components of the bypass. both hoses (In and out here different diameter, beware!) must be cut so the bypass connectors can be placed. It is a "H" shaped construction, containing 3 valves.  When the cooling system is ok, both outer valves are open en the middle valve is closed. When there is leakage in the core, the outer valves must be closed and the middle valve open. Now the flow can continue, bypassing the interior circuit. Below a close look how the bypass is mounted to the original shock retaining body panel with one screw and some kit. The stainless steel lever (made by my good friend Ewie) keeps it from moving due to resonance etc. securely mounted and ready for dri

You must have seen those courtesy lights that appear from the doors when you open them ? Or even before that, when you approach. Most luxury brands have those, projecting their logo on the street. Unfortunately, that is a recent gadget, not available at Zimmer construction time around the 70' s So, what did I do? (This is a Zimmer mod.) I bought some of those universal sets on alie xpress and I copy-pasted a Zimmer logo from the internet. That logo was imported in the LightBurn software that I have to control my NEJE Master II Diode laser machine. I instructed the laser to cut an acrylic shape (Transparent red) and engrave the Zimmer logo onto it. The shape fits the laser projector.  This is the result.   I still have to build it in the Zimmer. It will use a magnet sensor to project o door opening.

Hard to get by, any accessories from the old days. Unfortunately, my left interior light case was cracked and the logo fell out. The Zimmer logo medal has the same diameter as a leather key with medal chain I owned.  So what is easier than matching both ? (This is a Zimmer mod.) Well, the other option is to go to Germany and steal the room key at departure :-)

The Zimmer GS has an overflow taak for the coolant. If it expands, it will flow coolant into the tank, if it cools down, it will suck the tank empty again into the radiator. This process only works if there is some coolant in the tank, above the end of the hose. However, you can not look into the tank, as it is closed and covered by a body panel.  My idea was to open a peek hole. (This is a Mustang mod.) Below is the body panel that covers compressors and both the washer- and the coolant tank. Remove it by the 5 screws. Next remove the top cover of the tank combination. Search for a plastic jar with a lid and saw it below the lid. Drill a hole in the tank cover that will allow the new jar-lid to pass through, (but tight) and glue both together.  Now you have a cover with 2 lids instead of one :-) Replace the cover and drill an additional hole run the cover panel. Now you can accesss the overflow tank as well as the washer tank.

 This post is targetting the hood ornament, that so well represents the Zimmer Golden Spirit looks. (This is a Zimmer mod.) If by any chance, the eagle needs to be replaced, or it has come loose and wiggles during drive, note that it is hard to reach for dismount and remount. You need to remove the panel that covers the compressors and the tanks for washer and coolant. After that, there is a small square hole in the body, which is to small to work through. No wrench can be applied. So my solution is to use the side-saw and enlarge the hole.  Beware: the polyester is sharp after cutting. Make sure you sand it, to prevent cutting yourself while reaching through the hole. (I did :-(  ) Now you can reach the nut from below. mind: there are 2. Than you can take the base off, incl the eagle and the eagle can be removed from base.  The Eagle is fixed to the chrome mount with a screw and the mount is fixed to the grille with two bolds and nuts. My Eagle started to wiggle during drive. The caus