So I've torn my '71 interior to shreds. Got the whole dash out, repainting this and that and humming right along today, then it came time to replace the headlight switch... I pulled out the switch carefully chosen and ordered from the big online company and - it's wrong??? The new one is missing a tab on the back and the new one seems to have a ground tab on the opposite side. Aren't they all the same? I don't want to put this all back together with the wrong switch if the right switch is out there. If anyone has seen this difference and has used the "new" switch instead of the old, let me know. If anyone has the RIGHT switch or knows where I can get it, post up! I'm going to search a bit more to see if I can find a different switch that is exactly like mine. Here's the difference - new on top, old on bottom.

 

Looks like the vac ports are missing too?

WB

 

The vacuum ports are there, but it's missing the one tab. I see in online parts searches that there are 7-tab and 8-tab switches. I obviously have an 8. Autozone, O'Reilly's, etc. show the switch, but it's interesting... they say "not for cars with hidden headlights". And the switches are listed as being for the Corvette Now as I look on Ecklers and such, I see no differentiation between the 7- and 8-tab switches - I've already got the wrong one; I don't want to get the wrong one again. How can I know I'm getting the right 8-tab/vacuum port switch???

 

My orginal 71 switch has 7 prongs on the side you're showing.
I'm sure it's the original. I'm confused about 7 OR 8. Can you tell from the harness connector how many tabs the HARNESS expects there to be? I'm VERY confused.
Regards,
Alan

 

Alan - Thank God you're on this Forum... I didn't even THINK to check the connectors. You're right - the connector is only looking for 7 wires - someone in the past (Bubba?) replaced the original switch with the wrong one. The new switch I got should work

I love this place. THANK YOU

 

I bought those wiring schematics that DocRebuild made. The switch has 8 terminals but only 7 are used on original '71 switches.

 

I have the rebuild diagrams ordered, but haven't got them yet. My time is too limited to wait until they get here, unfortunately.

On a side note, after fixing the Bubba wiring in the console, I'm happy to report that a trial run of the electronics and lights went perfect, and lights that had never worked for me lit up like day when I pulled the new headlight switch. As soon as I can shrink my hands to get this all back together, I'll post a pic or three. After fixing the flapping sides of my console, I'm finding it a lot harder to get everything back together, imagine that... If I can just get those bolts that hold the side vent cables installed, then I can get those fiber optic lines hooked up, and then I'm home free with only easy stuff to attach. Then a quick clean and I'm ready to roll...when it gets cooler, of course. It's too freakin' HOT here!!! I ain't got A/C!!!

 

After what Early Shark posted I checked again. My 71 switch really does have only 7 prongs.
Before you button the dash back up make sure you TEST the headlight vacuum hook up. The small 'blue' hose goes on the FRONT nipple of the headlight switch. Make sure the vacuum nipples are installed on the switch in the right direction. I've read that some replacement switches have them installed incorrectly.
MAKE SURE YOU TEST EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU PUT THE DASH TOGETHER.
Regards,
Alan

 

Believe me, I did!!! The last thing I wan to do it take this thing apart again... The lights go up and down as they should and the new switch works everything correctly. I noticed that I yanked out a double vacuum connector last night with my foot, so I need to tuck that up and out of the way. That's what zip ties are for. Today I try to button everything up. I'm finding it terribly hard to get the vent cables reattached underneath, followed by the front fiber optic cable. Once that is done, though, it's all downhill from there.

 

The vent cables are tough because they're so stiff they want to go where ever they want to.
The dash is a beautiful thing when everything is right.
Regards,
Alan

 

OMG, the driver's side vent cable bolt is ABOVE the bulky vacuum hose cluster, and I found the only way to attach them was to pull the (bolted in) hoses out of the way, glue the bolt to the tool, yank the heater controls down while pulling up on the console and there was JUST enough room to get the bolt in place. All in all, it tool the best part of two hours for one bolt - mainly because it was 102 degrees

Anyway, my tired old speedo went from this


to this


My wiper controls went from this


to this


And the almost-complete dash assembly with the new heater controls, new neutral safety switch, and correctly-routed wiring looks like this tonight


I would have the whole thing finished, but I broke the fiber optic receptacle when fitting the top plate

It's funny what Bubba and his sweetie Bubbette have done over the years. First I had some freak connector spliced into the neutral safety switch wiring. Then I had one ground taped to the control surround, one just dangling. I noticed that the whole thing has been apart who knows how many times over the years - each time they reassembled it, they drilled new holes for the screws. And gradually the center structure became weaker and loose. NOW the fit is TIGHT, and the whole console area feels like it must have when it rolled out of the factory. It's so solid and all the pieces fit together perfectly. Nothing hanging too low, nothing off center. Just right. One more piece of plastic to get in the mail and it will all be together.

 

How did you do this??

 

Just a suggestion - have you removed the driver's seat to give you more room to work under the dash? It's only held in place by four bolts and it's fairly easy to take them (both seats for that matter), in and out. I'm not as flexible as I once was - I sued to lay by butt on the seat and hang upside down basically to work on the dash of all my Muscle cars in the past.
If you take the driver's seat out you have plenty of room to work on the dash.

 

Hey Irish - Yep. First thing I did. I'm a wide-body, so even that doesn't give much room, but dang, it would be impossible if I didn't do it. I put on a smaller steering wheel a year ago, and now at least I don't have to take that off anymore. I really can't figure out how these things were put together on an assembly line. I really can't.

 

First I wiped down the original piece with xylene, which removed all the original paint down to the chrome. Had to use a stiff brush to get all the paint out of the Corvette lettering area. Then I wiped the whole thing down with Grease and Wax remover (any paint prep solvent will do) to make sure I didn't leave any solvent residue. Then two light coats of Krylon Semi-Gloss Black as a base and two heavier coats of Krylon Semi-Flat Black to finish. The semi-gloss gives a little build to the paint and leaves a smoother surface for the semi-flat to build on. As soon as it was dry (30 minutes) I took a razor blade and carefully scraped off the top edges of the chrome I wanted to show. You can also use a fine sanding sponge to do this, but I found a razor blade does better work. I used a fingernail to touch up any little spots I didn't want to risk scraping with the blade. Didn't take more than an hour or so to do the whole thing.

 

Well, that certainly does look GOOD! Well Done!
Nice description of the bezel paint / chrome trim procededure.
Regards,
Alan

 

Great job

 

Outstanding! Thanks for the info.