I have decided it would be best to go ahead and replace my '61 dash harness. Thought I would seek some advice in advance. Frank has already told me that I will need to remove the drivers seat (and get some good pillows to lay on), and I should order the large, laminated schematic diagrams from Dr. Rebuild. Wib told me that I should replace the instrument panel light bulbs while I am at it. What else can anyone add? What should I be on the lookout for as I am removing the old harness? Take the dash out or is it not necessary? Does everything just plug in (or screw on) to something or do I need to buy some connectors? Who should I buy the harness from (I see where many offer them -- Lectric Limited, MH, Dr. Rebuild, etc.). Any and all advice is most appreciated! (as you can probably tell, I am not looking forward to this!).

Thanks!

Tim

 

There is an intangible premium when you drive your car later on and absolutely know (because you DID IT) that the systems are in perfect shape with no problems...

Yes - replace all the light bulbs when you do this job. Also buy some electrical tape..the REAL STUFF...there is no adhesive on the genuine article...not like the sticky junk the usual hardware store sells.

I bought a wire label kit from Radio Shack: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...uctId=2103486#. I labeled each wire and put the corresponding numbered label on the back of the dash where the wire goes and wrote a legend to keep track:

#21 gray wire....left turn signal bulb;
#23 red wire...driver side ammeter gauge.

Will save you tons of trouble later on. I believe Lectric Limited provides instructions with their harness but you need to carefully note the routing of the wire bundles...there are many moving parts on your original '61. Wiper transmission pulleys and cables, cowl vent actuating arm, etc.; you don't want these items rubbing the wiring. Digital pictures before you start are a great idea.

Get a nice powerful LED light for working under the dash....its no fun getting under the dash with a hot incandescent bulb three inches from your face.

Double (hell triple) check everything before applying voltage and chop power if ANYTHING (smell, smoke) etc should occur. I would power up with an empty fuse box and stick in one fuse at a time

Be EXTRA careful when wiring the ammeter as the old wiring diagrams have a mistake and the wires are shown reversed. (No biggee but your ammeter will read backwards!)

You are a lot bigger guy than me Tim so its up to you if you remove the steering wheel for better access..personally I would avoid it. I put a thick towel over the driver's side of the deck lid so I could rest my feet up there while working.

The attached picture shows the Dr. Rebuild schematics and the wire label kit in actual use (note the little white labels on the ends of the dash wires).

Get some Advil or Motrin...your back will hurt when you finish. GO SLOW - ASK QUESTIONS HERE AS NEEDED!!!

Everything plugs in or screws on and you do not need to remove the dash cluster. Start a "restoration log" (I've attached mine as an example), take pictures as the work progresses, and keep a receipt folder for all work like this that you do. This documentation should travel with the car and the record keeping adds immense value for a potential buyer.

 

Tim, I just replaced engine harness and dash harness in my 67 Coupe. I believe Lectric makes alot of the harnesses that people sell on E-Bay.
Do a search on E-Bay and look for the best price and someone who has free shipping. I bought mine from "thepartsladi" he had best price I could find at the time and had free shipping. Dr Rebuild diagrams are a must IMO. I also bought one of those lights like an underground miner that fits around your head. Worked great when your flat on your back looking up light goes where you look, about $10.00 in Lowes. While at Lowes I picked up a fire extinguisher about $18.00 luckily I didn't need to use it. I did take my steering wheel and drivers seat out, gives you some extra room to work. I wasn't looking forward to it either, but if you just take your time it really isn't a bad job.

 

If your wiring is original, you are probably way overdue on complete replacement. Lectriclimited has basic and deluxe kits, recommend as minimum the basic kit with five harnesses, particularly the engine harness. Frank's suggestions are good, to include pillows, good cool lighting, noting old wire routing and supports, removing seat(s) and steering wheel as well. Note the moving parts around the wiring and also potential abrasion points at firewall. Also make sure wires by steering column are not hanging down low to where your feet can hit them. Get a variety of 1/4" drive deep and shallow sockets and extensions with flexes to work on gauges. The light switch wiring may be hard to reinstall tightly, you may want to remove switch to get it to snap in good, then reinstall light switch. Not much room there. Find someone with long fingers to pop in the cluster lights, that can be challenging.
I have lost two engine harnesses due to shorting out and the good news is that the wire burnt itself apart before catching car on fire. Current new engine harness now has a fusible link by starter.
Check new fuse block thoroughly to make sure all connections are good and will not pop loose.
Also get a high quality (NAPA) battery disconnect while you're at it. Overall job is really quite easy.

 

I am curious as to how the dash harness connects to the wires coming from the firewall or does the harness actually go through the firewall. Below is a photo from my current harness as it goes to the firewall. All the wires were crimped together. Is this correct?

[IMG][/IMG]

 

First of all I see you have the parking brake alarm switch to the left in the picture....great luck...used these go for $175 to $200 and there are no reproductions made.

The crimped butt connectors in your picture are well done but not original and the bundles should have been rewrapped after the crimping...if they aren't giving you trouble...leave them alone for now.

My harness goes through the firewall in one piece wrapped in electrical tape (no butt connectors). I don't see a bulkhead connector on the firewall...the harness appears to just come through a grommet into the engine compartment.

HOWEVER, I think the wires going into the engine compartment are not part of the fuse box harness (or certainly not all of them) but they are 'wrapped' together on installation into a single bundle.

 

I took off the kick panel to get a better look at the harness. I unwrapped some of the tape to see what I was dealing with. After looking at it, my wiring is definitely not the original stuff. In fact, a lot of it is in good shape. There are some wires and connectors that look old, but most of it is in good shape. I don't mind replacing the harness if it needs replacing, but I certainly don't want to go to the expense if it is not necessary. The one thing that I definitely need is a fuse box. They don't come built. I would have to buy the kit and put it together, including attaching the wires to it (or have an electrical expert to that part for me). Thoughts??




(from behind the cluster)

 

Well the fuse box repair kit is about $110 from what I can see and then its all a matter of being able to attach the clips to the box and the wires to the clips....I think you could handle if if you are careful and take your time... I've replaced them in old Mustangs but not in a vintage Corvette... Sometimes the clips are riveted in place and you have to get those 'tight and right'...you can't have anything loose or touching other connections at the fuse panel.

 

Frank, what are your thoughts on the quality of the existing wire. I know it is different looking at photographs.

(from behind the cluster)
[IMG][/IMG]

 

I usually judge the wiring by flexing several wires back and forth and looking for cracking and/or brittle insulation or signs of overheating. Then I randomly examine the major connectors to see if there is serious corrosion (corrosion increases resistance which causes heat which can cause fires -- not counting electrical problems).

Then I try to determine the amount of 'butchering' that has occurred to the wiring over the years. Even relatively good wiring is problematic if it has been spliced to death or has had multiple bad spots repaired due to fraying/rubbing/overheating etc..

If all that checks out good then I'm pretty comfortable that the wiring is safe and functional. From what I can see you have a lot of butt splices in your wires for some reason. Not necessarily a problem if they were well done but I would be very careful in examining them...and then make a determination.

I would prob replace the harness just because I'm that **** about things...what you have is probably ok though. I generally solder wires together when splicing and insulate them with a double layer of heat shrink tubing....its just how I was taught to do it back in my avionics days...I avoid crimped terminals whenever I can.

 

Your harness is trashed and needs to be replaced. If I was you, I would make sure the battery is dis-connected when you park it and you have a fire ext. when you drive it.

Original harness' have a 10 year service life. Yours are almost 50. I replace EVERY wire in every car I restore. Anything less is just asking for trouble.

Hey FTF, I hope my post didn't influence the name change. I really like it. Of course, that's coming from a "Snake".

Jim

 

From memory, and personal fire experience, I can confirm the harness that runs from the ignition switch to the starter is separate from the main harness, as is the small generator-to-regulator harness.

 

The one thing that I definitely need is a fuse box. They don't come built. I would have to buy the kit and put it together, including attaching the wires to it (or have an electrical expert to that part for me). Thoughts??


When I bought my main harness from Electric Ltd a few years back it included and was wired to the fuse box. If considering replacing any bulbs, be sure they are NOS, new replacement ones made are mostly junk and the ones already in the car would outlast them ! When I did my harness I start with the longest pieces first, snaked them next to the existing one and hooked up the new connect after removing the old one (checking with the diagram to be sure). Once everything in the old "length" is unhooked it can be pulled away. Keep working in that order, longest first, and it's not a difficult job. I did not remove the seat or steering wheel, but I didn't have the few extra pounds I now have !

 

Yeah, I agree. It needs to be replaced.

 

I know you are dreading this job Tim...but once you are into it I think you will find replacing the harness is not all that bad. Hell, you already have the fuse box loose and hanging down and that's 10%-20% of the job done...

Also, wiring is a big deal on these cars, if you DO ever intend to sell its a big comfort factor for the buyer. I don't know where you would get a bunch of NOS dash bulbs....I used Autozone bulbs and that was a year ago and no problems so far. The bulbs are not THAT hard to replace if they burn out in any case.

Jim - yes you are semi responsible for the name change....I looked at 2009 pics of the NCRS meet and I'm parked under the same graffiti (so that's two years running)....so somebody's telling me something ?!

 

[/QUOTE] When I did my harness I start with the longest pieces first, snaked them next to the existing one and hooked up the new connect after removing the old one (checking with the diagram to be sure). Once everything in the old "length" is unhooked it can be pulled away. Keep working in that order, longest first, and it's not a difficult job. I did not remove the seat or steering wheel, but I didn't have the few extra pounds I now have ![/QUOTE]

I am a little confused on this. Are you saying attach the new harness to the old one and as I undo the old one, connect the new one? In other words, I don't want to just completely remove the old one then install the new one?

 

I believe instructions come with the new harness...personally, I'd follow 'em...

 

When I did my harness I start with the longest pieces first, snaked them next to the existing one and hooked up the new connect after removing the old one (checking with the diagram to be sure). Once everything in the old "length" is unhooked it can be pulled away. Keep working in that order, longest first, and it's not a difficult job. I did not remove the seat or steering wheel, but I didn't have the few extra pounds I now have ![/QUOTE]

I am a little confused on this. Are you saying attach the new harness to the old one and as I undo the old one, connect the new one? In other words, I don't want to just completely remove the old one then install the new one?[/QUOTE]

No, take the longest part of the harness and lead it along the route of the old harness When it is in approx the same area/position, then as you pull a connection off one wire of the old harness, then attach the new harness to where you took the wire off. Do it for each of the other connections on that strand of the harness. When you have all of them done on that strand, then you can pull the old strand out of the way. Then go to the next longest strand/segment, etc. Because you seem to have some pieced together with other non color-coded wires, doing it one by one (and following the color coding on the diagram) it's hard to make a mistake. The idea is as you take one old wire off, you reconnect the new wire, that way you don't have a bunch of disconnected wires that add confusion to the process

 

I am a little confused on this. Are you saying attach the new harness to the old one and as I undo the old one, connect the new one? In other words, I don't want to just completely remove the old one then install the new one?[/QUOTE]

No, take the longest part of the harness and lead it along the route of the old harness When it is in approx the same area/position, then as you pull a connection off one wire of the old harness, then attach the new harness to where you took the wire off. Do it for each of the other connections on that strand of the harness. When you have all of them done on that strand, then you can pull the old strand out of the way. Then go to the next longest strand/segment, etc. Because you seem to have some pieced together with other non color-coded wires, doing it one by one (and following the color coding on the diagram) it's hard to make a mistake. The idea is as you take one old wire off, you reconnect the new wire, that way you don't have a bunch of disconnected wires that add confusion to the process[/QUOTE]

I gotcha. And there is room up there for both harnesses to be under the dash at the same time?

And I will definitely see what the instructions say.

Thanks.

 

I gotcha. And there is room up there for both harnesses to be under the dash at the same time?

And I will definitely see what the instructions say.

Thanks.