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2025 C2 of the Year ('64-'66) Finalist - Unmodified
2025 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C2 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C2 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2021 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
St. Jude Donor '25
Originally Posted by R66
These cars are almost as expensive as wives.
Now that's funny!
Ya, the 2 harnesses and the switch seemed pricey. But a couple of days ago when the wife was in the car on top of the lift and the garage was filling with smoke and she said it's on fire in here - money wasn't on my mind, lol. I'm just happy this wasn't any worse than what it is, and at least it happened at the house. This will be my first time installing full wiring harnesses. I'm concerned that I still haven't positively isolated what caused the short. I've only seen the fried wire going to the ballast resistor, but I'll keep an eye out when I pull the instrument cluster. .
I didn't realize you had smoked the harness. It is unlikely the ballast resistor was the cause as it is not grounded. I would continue to look down stream at the distributor, coil, solenoid and starter, etc. before I pull the old harness. Look for arcs and smoke marks on the distributor shielding if you have it on. Not fun, but you will have plenty of time while you wait on the new harnesses.
I can't help with the installation of the harnesses, but there are plenty of guys on here that have done it and some excellent threads with pictures. You might take pictures of everything you can before you disconnect it and put tape to identify the connections. For old guys like me, remembering 30 seconds ago can be challenging.
Six, Do yourself a favor & get Doc Rebuilds OOSOEZ wiring diagram. I had taken my car apart 20 years ago & had marked all the connectors, but they had faded badly & were difficult to read. Doc's chart made it a breeze.
Darin
Six, Do yourself a favor & get Doc Rebuilds OOSOEZ wiring diagram. I had taken my car apart 20 years ago & had marked all the connectors, but they had faded badly & were difficult to read. Doc's chart made it a breeze.
Darin
I rewired my '65 coupe (all wiring). Doc's wiring diagram's with the factory coloured wires and pictures of the plugs on the ends of the wires it made things go real smooth.
Measuring resistance on an ignition switch is only helpful for shorts and opens, but it does not speak to contact performance.......which a voltage drop test is best.
I have a used '65 switch I'm going to install. I did an ohm test, it was ok. I should try the voltage drop test.
Voltage drop, if you put 12v in, would not anything less than 12volts be a problem?
2025 C2 of the Year ('64-'66) Finalist - Unmodified
2025 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C2 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C2 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2021 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
St. Jude Donor '25
Originally Posted by DSR
I rewired my '65 coupe (all wiring). Doc's wiring diagram's with the factory coloured wires and pictures of the plugs on the ends of the wires it made things go real smooth.
I looked at Doc's website the other day and couldn't find those full color wiring diagrams. Does anyone have a link to it?
I suggest you add a 15A fuse holder between the main feed harness terminal(12G Red/18G Blk) and Bat+ at solenoid before your first power up after your work. This will allow you to test everything.... except Engine Crank.(>15A).
If you have a wiring error it will blow the 15A fuse instead of frying your new harness. If it does blow then you have a problem and can troubleshoot root cause.
I'll do a diagram....
Last edited by rich5962; May 16, 2026 at 11:20 AM.
I have a used '65 switch I'm going to install. I did an ohm test, it was ok. I should try the voltage drop test.
Voltage drop, if you put 12v in, would not anything less than 12volts be a problem?
Every wire or device (switch, etc.) will have some loss of voltage from the input to the output as such.
The voltage drop test on a switch is similar to a resistance check, but with the known voltage input and then measure the output lug of the switch. Basically, the internal resistance of the contacts in the switch will result in a drop of the voltage output. How much is allowed, I don't know.
Here is an article I found that may help. https://www.alldata.com/sites/defaul...est_122718.pdf
Thanks Leif - and everyone. I've ordered one up. I've already received both harnesses from LL The ignition switch is still awaiting shipment.
I found this article by John Hinckley that should get me started. I'm still looking for more articles on replacing the wiring.
Do you have this one?(see attached at bottom) Buns(Tim W) and DZvette(Dave Z) did it. It's a very good reference. I'm pretty sure it's the latest revision.
On all my C2 restorations I connected the Harness to the cluster, tested all circuits on the bench, then installed it as a assembly.
On some, along with the dash.
Last edited by rich5962; May 18, 2026 at 07:01 PM.
2025 C2 of the Year ('64-'66) Finalist - Unmodified
2025 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C2 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C2 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2021 C5 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
St. Jude Donor '25
Originally Posted by rich5962
I suggest you add a 15A fuse holder between the main feed harness terminal(12G Red/18G Blk) and Bat+ at solenoid before your first power up after your work. This will allow you to test everything.... except Engine Crank.(>15A).
If you have a wiring error it will blow the 15A fuse instead of frying your new harness. If it does blow then you have a problem and can troubleshoot root cause.
I'll do a diagram....
Originally Posted by rich5962
Do you have this one?(see attached at bottom) Buns(Tim W) and DZvette(Dave Z) did it. It's a very good reference. I'm pretty sure it's the latest revision.
On all my C2 restorations I connected the Harness to the cluster, tested all circuits on the bench, then installed it as a assembly.
On some, along with the dash.
