MasterDave

If any shops even do this any longer. C2 main dash harness, what would be a fair labor price after the $400ish cost for the Lectric Limited harness?

66jack

You talking 'Per hour' or complete job of R/R?

MasterDave

That's a good question. Complete job or per hour could be different in these old jalopies. (Did I say that?) What do you think either way?

66jack

Guess i should have also asked, is this "you" doing the job or you 'paying' to have it done?

I would not charge nothing less than 60/hr...and i have no overhead..

Its an easy 2+ day job with no interruptions...if you have all the parts...

bluzrocker

I just finished dash restoration and new dash harness if your steering column is out its one time frame....took me a couple of hours to pull steering column and remove dash (USED THE 6 ea 1/4"x 20 x6" bolts to hold the dash......it took me two hours to wire up the dash with new harness on the work bench......it took about 4hours to install the dash with all the wires hooked to the dash and another 4 hours to get the fuse box,brake light SW ,shove wire through the fire wall,hook up clock,radio,heater fan,courtesy lights,glove box....and don't forget to hook up the purple wire that goes through the fire wall to it male reciever....it's the neutral safety SW and has to be hooked up even tho or if you have manual gear box......so. Cost of new dash harness about 500 hundred from LECTRIC LIMITED ....YOU WILL NEED A DIAGRAM DR REBUILD HAS THEM AND THEY NOT ONLY COLOR BUT HAS A START PLACE AND EVERYTHING SET IN ORDER TO DO IT IN SEQUENCE....8-10 hours if your lucky and don't break anything ...un hooking tach and speedo cable along with the oil pressure line....disconnect battery BEFOR you begin....STEERING COLUMN OUT WILL SAVE LOTS OF TIME....I ALSO HAD BOTH MY SEATS OUT TO DO THIS RE-wire job...and I had a super good helper assist me especially inserting the dash and the additional wires in behind the dash as it slips in BACK OVER THOSE 6ea 1/4x20x6" long bolts with the heads cut off.....holding the dash in place till you get ready to install securing screws in one at a time after removing one 6" long bolt at a time....when you get ready to do the door jam courtesy light hook out ...contact me for a neat trick someone on the forum taught me...saved bunch "O" time

Bluzrocker

mark6669

I replace complete car wiring a couple times a year it's about 20hrs labor, just the dash harness would be about half of that. Remember any quality job of that nature is a time and materials job if you want it done right, you don't want someone racing the clock on a job like that, these cars are 50 years old!
Mark

Frankie the Fink

Dr. Rebuild diagrams are great...GM schematics have mistakes and can be followed but not nearly as easily as the color Doc Rebuild schematics -- which show pics of the connectors and how the wires are routed to some extent. Great for the do-it-yourselfer.

Mark is right about time and materials...a pro will be methodical and correct other problems he may find as he goes along. Its easy to spot other things that should be corrected in the dash area while you have things apart. Plus an expert will get it right the first time. How many amateurs will forget that ground lead that goes W-A-Y up on top of the rear of the cluster on a nearly hidden spade lug ? Do that once and you won't ever do it again.

MasterDave

Thanks, I think you guys are right on with 20 hours. I just did a guys 64 (radio delete) car. Steering wheel out is way easier. I didn't forget the cluster ground either. Almost everything went on too, his heater and wipers now work along with all of his dash and indicator lights. One of his previous issues is still present however and that is blowing the fuse to the brake and courtesy lights. I worked around it but I believe he has a dead short on that system somewhere.Thanks....I need a chiropractor now.

mark6669

Dave
Try unplugging the rear harness behind the kick panel to see it the short is in the rear courtesy light.
Mark

MasterDave

It's a convertible.

mark6669

It still has a courtesy light under the deck lid rear lip.
Mark

MasterDave

Thanks Mark, learned something new today. I'm gonna have to go look at my own '64 now.

KC John

So you installed the harness to the cluster and then fed the wires through the dash? When I pulled my cluster there were wires that went on either side of the "Z" bar behind the cluster. Some wires went above the bar and some below the bar. Do they not take that route originally? I thought I had to install as much of the harness as I could with the cluster removed and install the cluster last.

bluzrocker

yes wired up dash on bench first....the wires that are going behind the Z bar is to the fuse box and courtsey light sw ....the other ones...one small set of wires go through the fire wall to the wipers and the outher ones go to the radio and dash switches glove box and other courtsey light ...

the lights that go in the bacck of cluster may have to be tightend up as they may wanr to come out after its in place....and when you install tach and speedo cable...I un screwed my tach cable to give it more length to plug it into dash while its still away from the final mounting place...inserted dash fully after pre routing fuse box and remaining loom to radio and on....you can put in the loom first and then plug in all the wires.....but if you notice most of the wires go into the dash....and yer not laying on your back upside down to to that task....but still have to lay that way to hook up oil line ...I had all my dash lighter,lights, and wiper already in the dash and just had to plug them in... also on the bench way easier for me to pre wire the dash and mess with the remaining loom after the dash is in

MasterDave

Mark, is the rear courtesy light on the vert a two wire (black/white stripe and black/orange stripe) like the door lights? Where does it come out of the body to the deck lid? Trying to figure out on a fiberglas car where that wire would short out. Thanks

MasterDave

Ttt

66jack

If you cannot see the wires that come out of the rear harness that's under the carpet, you'll need to pull it back and find the 'broken off' wires...

It should run along he lip of body and over to the 'hump' on drivers side and down to the harness...