Damn, I really, really, hate Bubba......

Dropped the steering column to get to the headlight switch to fix the courtesy light line.....
Dumped a bunch of wiring on my face. Wire taps that weren't closed all the way, about 5 wires hanging down not attached to anything, I can see (but not yet reach) at least 2 pair of wires twisted together wirenut-like (but without the wirenut) taped together, at least one wire hanging down with a complete spade connection with no wire in one side (he loved crimping the plastic instead of the metal), and the actual wirenuts, the mystery wires that come out of the wiring harness and hook to nothing, Especially the mystery wire that has a U terminal hooked to the left upper screw holding the front cover of the lower dash on, the bare wires, the single wire dash lights that the center conductor hangs out of where the light should be, the spade connectors where he stripped an INCH of wire and then crimped the PLASTIC part of the connector on, the FEET of electrical tape that should have been butt connectors.......
I shift the dash and more wires rain down having pulled from their connectors!

Why, oh why did I look?!

Whereas most of you just cuss Bubba, I just emailed him regarding his wiring. He emailed a week or 2 ago wondering how the car was coming along.

I swear I don't know how the boy has stayed alive this long!
My job title is electronic tech. Granted I rarely do component level stuff anymore....... but I am deeply offended.

 

Aaahh as the old saying goes. "What doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger." Were you serious in your comments about still being in touch with the PO? If so, we will all sign up to be character witnesses for you at the trial.

 

sounds like a fire hazard!, almost time for a new harness

 

Yikes! At least you have electrical know how. I'd be cursing and scratching my head!
Bubba is an @hole for sure.
Good luck sorting it all out.

 

IIRC it's Jughead in here whose sig says, "That which does not kill me will probably hurt like hell....."
Oh, there's plenty of cursing and scratching going on.
Bad thing is, I have to take a nap and go to work tonight.
Gotta do triage on the dash, bolt the column back up, and hope it gets me to work. Then have to go thru the whole thing again in the morning when I get home.
The only good thing was, fixing the courtesy lights on the HL control was a 5 minute job resulting in a couple more hours today and tomorrow of scratching and cursing.

________________
ran a separate ground from the HL switch housing to my ground busbar in the console.

 

I found Bubba had worked on my car too. When I pulled the drivers door panel, I found the door lock actuator arms were held in place with twisty ties instead of clips. $2.00 for a box of clips from the local parts store and Bubba thinks "hey I'll use these twisty ties off the bread bag".

 

just keep humming that old Dean Martino standard to yourself

you know the one:

Every Bubba
Loves some Bubba
some timmmmmmmes

 

Thanks, now I will be humming that all weekend.

 

I don't think Bubba has heard of ol Dino. Bubba plays the Banjo. The song he knew best was dualing banjos.

 

Just ask Ned Beatty, "Paddle Faster, I hear banjo music!!"

 

I would say that electrical (wiring) issues are one of the most common (previous owner) complaints around here as well as one of the most frustrating repairs.

Almost all C3 owners face at least some problems regarding creative wiring. And in my case this headache will go on for a very long time. Its not easy straightening out 35 years of multiple owners' quick/cheap patch jobs on electrical components. Also, most of the fellows here don't rank wiring high among their list of corvette restoration skills.

Simply put: You've got lots of company...........

 

Sounds like its a miracle that ANYTHING FUNCTIONED as it should have, and quite a fire hazzard ta' boot. Probably the best investment if anyones wiring is suspect is a quik dis-connect for the battery and a good hefty fire extinguisher, handy at the first hint of smoke or the stench of wires burning, I'd rather clean up the mess a fire extinguisher leaves then ash's (angel hair) from fiberglas being burnt. Peace,,,Moosie

 

"Creative wiring". Don't know that I would go so far as to call it creative tho.
Been looking at one of those Battery Brains. Remote can kill all power. Remote can arm so it trickles current for the clock/radio/settings but won't let major currrent thru to start it. Also monitors the battery and cuts all power if it goes below 11.9v, so you always have enough power left to start it later. The best option tho, is if it detects a sudden short, it kills all power. May be a small price to pay for my piece of mind. A small piece but it's all I've got.

Last night another cascade of wiring came down on my feet on the way to work. I was afraid to push it back up in there.
Tach didn't work on the way to work or back this morning. Sat on 500 RPM like it does with no current before I start it. Perhaps that is what the empty spade connector had going to it. Glad I didn't push the wiring back now. Might have gone to work without the speedometer too. Guess I'd better get at it. I expect an ordeal.

 

I feel your pain. The po got into the wiring on mine. He screwed up the ac wiring, the car can start in any gear, [auto] there are wires that go nowhere and coming out of the firewall bulkhead are extrawires that god only knows where they once went. I am in the process of pulling the motor and trans replacing the ac and steering new dash guages so new wiring is in order as well. I did not want to spend the extra money, but I got to thinking I get the car all fixed up and Bubba's wiring adventures eventually burn the car to the ground.

 

The other part to this mess is that you know how creative the PO has been, because you can see his work, but you dont know what else he has done to the rest of the wiring.


kdf

 

I can relate, mine was slashed and burned too. I have replaced most of the harnesses, some are a pain and some are easy, just to have the peace of mind that its not all gonna go up in smoke one night. I also have the battery disconnect, makes for a peaceful sleep.

 

While I understand the reluctancy to spend the money for a new wiring harness I think that in view of your wiring problems it is the best solution. There are several reasons for this:
1. Fire hazzard- the current bubba electronic system is a fire hazzard. Rather than trying to purchase equipment to limit damage in case of a fire wouldn't it be better to eliminate the problem?
2. Time and effort. The time and effort that will be necessary to put the wiring system back together and figuring out what wire controls what and where it goes could be well spend doing other things.
3. Future problems- even if you repair what you see what is there lurking that you don't see? That harness is over 30 years old and has been subject to years of abuse it is likely to fail somewhere else.

Sometimes spending money to do it right is the cheapest solution in the long run.

 

Why, oh why did I look?!


Ha ha ... I just removed some wire wrap from my engine bay and found a large bundle of wires, actually it was one wire 10 feet long, looped round and round itself to shorten the span from the wire harnes to the electric choke. Now why would someone loop all that wire then tape it up when they could have just cut it to length?

why oh why did I look too!

Good luck with your tron chasing, I feel your pain.

 

just to throw some of my "woes" out there... bubba told me that his can had all kinds of problems with the wiring.. well, i got the car and started looking. almost everything was disconnect.. problem number 2. problem number 2 was that the fuse panel was so rotted nothing was making any kind of connection..
supposedly the alternator was bad, there were ground problems every where.. come to find out half the fuses just werent making any kind of connection.. stupid bubba

 

Think I would have freaked if I crawled up under the dash and found the fuse box........."rotted".