nrt69

Looking for some suggestions...

1. The two harness connections from the engine bay where they connect to the fuse block at the firewall are worn out and won't stay clipped/attached. Is there a way to better secure them without replacing the harness itself? I suspect the metal connections may be part of the problem but mostly the worn out plastic surround.
2. The fire block "special screws" won't tighten to the firewall. One is stripped I think. Not sure if a larger screw will fit through the hole in the fuse block. Maybe bolt in place?

Thnx

Frankie the Fink

The two firewall bulkhead connectors are equivalent to where your spinal cord attaches to your brain stem. If they aren't 110% good-to-go; it'll show up as weird problems and possibly a nice long 'walk of shame' some dark night....

You can half-*** it I guess.... When my connector clips broke I just went and bought the Lectric Limited bulkhead connector housing repair kit and moved all the wires (retaining the original pins) under the dash to the new housing. You need the pin removal tool for the Delphi-Packard Twin Lok connectors as shown.

Tedious, nerve-wracking but the right way to do it...

nrt69

my dash wiring harness is new including the bulkhead connector/housing. The problem is the engine wiring harnesses that plug into it in the engine bay. But I'm guessing I could do what you suggested with the engine side of the firewall also...

Bluestripe67

Why not replace the engine side wiring harness. It will fix your problem and prevent future issues. Dennis

Frankie the Fink

Yes, a new engine/headlight harness aren't that tough of a proposition.. Merely routing the wire and plugging things up...

leif.anderson93

Compltely agree with Bluestripe...for less than $400 you can get the new engine harness and the forward lamp harnes.
https://www.lectriclimited.com/forwa...-harness-98225
https://www.lectriclimited.com/engine-harness-99935

I'm assuming this is for your '64

Crunch527

Been here...my 67 had a new dash harness installed by PO (thank God) and I did the engine, light and rear harness...no electrical issues what so ever...

nrt69

A new harness would be a good idea if I had hundreds of dollars to throw around. But I'd like to see if I can just get it to stay connected for now since I don't have any other issues.

Frankie the Fink

You can 'cheap out' if you want but its a 'see me now, or, see me later' deal....
Those Delphi-Packard connectors at the bulkhead depend on absolutely tight, friction fit attachment. Search on here for 'red wire syndrome' to see what's waiting in store for you...

Mikado463

Frankie, nice pic 'walk through' ....

nrt69

After watching two Corvette failures this weekend (the C7R at LeMans and my 64 not starting after church) im giving in and ordering a new engine harness and hope that solves my sometimes starts, sometimes doesn't start, issue.
But I have a couple of other questions: what gauge wires should be attached to the starter? Would oil spray in that area cause hard starting issues? and how do I fix a couple of pushed in pins on the bulkhead connector (I have a new dash wiring harness and after f-ing with the connections on the firewall I think I screwed up a couple pins)?

Frankie the Fink

If you have screwed up pins in the bulkhead connector, a new engine/headlight harness may not help... If any of the pins look pushed in, corroded, bent over or missing a small piece its bad news.

nrt69

two pins are definitely pushed in and wont stay put when I pull them back out.
what is supposed to keep them in place?

427Hotrod

look at the pins closely. There's a small tab that hold them in place. Sometimes it gets bent without breaking and can be pried back up to lock properly. If not just the pin end can be replaced

jim

427Hotrod

In a pinch I've seen wire ties looped through and pulled tight to hold them to the bulkhead connector/fuse block.

Jim

buns

The twinlocks have a pair of ears that keep them from getting pushed back, and another one on the bottom to stop them from coming out.

kingwoodvette

I have a wire tie on mine permanently ;no surprises since.

DZVette

Nice pics Tim! And you too Frank!
Added to my collection.
DZ

jtranger

Can the guys that did the zip tie fix post a photo of how the did the zip tie fix. Would help me and a few others.

kingwoodvette

I simply looped the wire tie under the connector and then over a screw through the firewall that was directly above the connector and pulled it snug.
I am attaching a picture of the area( pretty hard to get a good view). I hope you can make sense of it.