Well, I have put this off since I got the car over 6 years ago, but now dammit, here I go! The inside wiring in my 69 vert is a mess. Tach, Oil pressure, clock, radio, Cig lighter don't work... most inside lighting, spotty at best. The Heater and vents.... One vent works nice, the other parts, not so much action. In looking underneath the dash, the wiring is a rats nest and the fuse box looks like the fuses in it are rusted in place....

So today I took step 1 (after getting a wiring diagram), I started taking things apart. I am being a careful as possible, labeling screw in bags and hoping I can get it all back together.

I have removed the instrument bezel, right dash and shifter console, but am having problems with the left dash. Do I have to drop the steering wheel? Is this difficult? Can I screw up the steering If I do it wrong.

I have everything unattached accept the wiring to the Speedo and Tach and that is what is holding me up.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

A side question. Can i create a "project" thread to continue to post progress and questions or should I post each seperately?
Thanks.

 

Yep, you have to drop the steering. It doesn't have to be completely removed. On my 68 there were 3 bolts that hold the column up to the dash support. It may be different on a 69. In addition there are 2 bolts at the firewall column support that should be loosened to move the column out of the way.

 

What about unhooking the Tach and Speedo, is that easier with the steering dropped?

By the way a few pics so far...

 

Hi TS,
You've taken on a SERIOUS project.
If you don't have the 69 AIM (ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTION MANUAL), and the GM CHASSIS SERVICE MANUAL for 69, I'd like to suggest you buy them. Most of the larger vendor's have them and they're well worth the $$. They'll have lots of helpful information you'll need.
Your car looks REAL nice!
Regards,
Alan

 

I have the Assembly Manual from Mid America (I think), but i have to say it was a disappointment. It looks like the pictures (at least most) were photocopies of photocopies of photocopies and are very tough to see any detail on.
Did you find one that is better? I will get the Chassis Service Manual.

By the way my wife was behind me when I opened your reply, all she saw was the "You have taken on a SERIOUS Project" and she laughed... at me.
I may be in over my head, but I'm gonna give this an Eagle Scout's try with all of your help.

 

Hi TS,
The AIM from Corvette America is still easy to read, at least for 71.
The project you've taken on IS serious, but NOT impossible. You need to take your time and make lots of notes and diagrams. You'll be glad you have them when it's time to put it back together.
You can do it.
Regards,
Alan

Show her these pictures...my first time... and I got it back together. Notice all the tags.

 

I got my AIM from Mid America and it also sucks. I have to buy another one from another vendor.

 

Thats one hell of a project you have on your hands!

I just replaced all the bulbs on my dash the other day.. the best advice I can give you for pulling the left dash out (mine is a 74, so its slightly different..) is to unhook the speedo cable from the transmission and feed it back through. After you drop the column and go to pull, it makes it much easier with some slack to get it to slide out farther. Much easier to unhook the cable from the back of the speedometer when you can actually get your full hand in there.

 

I'm in the same boat but I have everything off. I just hope I can remember how it all goes back in!

 

I'm not sure your 69 vet is available but I believe WILCOX( a supporting vendor) has a CD of the AIM.
You could print the pictures yourself and get good copies.
Hope it works for you!!

 

If you are installing a new harness, take the steering column all the way out as it will make it a little easier. Also remove the seat, the more room the better. Here's what my 71' looked like.
Before


After

 

Does the new wiring harness come labeled in terms of what wire connects to what.... I see those blue tags on your wires.

 

Get yourself one of the Oh So EZ laminated easy to read wiring diagrams for your car from Doc Rebuild. It will make your life so much easier than trying to read the wiring diagram in the AIM or the factory shop manual.

The blue tags were put on by the owner to know what goes where.

 

No, but "most" all the connectors are different so you can't plug the wrong ones together (the blue labels are tape that I wrote on). But, it makes it easier to route the new harness if you label the old one as you take it out, then transfer the lables to the new one. That way you will know if the wires go to the center console, dash right, speedo etc. I got my harness from The Last Detail (and it was made by Letric Limited)

 

I just got off the phone with them. I ordered a wiring diagram as well as a Vacuum hose diagram. Doc Rebuild's diagrams were recommended to me by my local Corvette shop as well. They also recommended a Lectric Unlimited wiring harness.

I will be ordering that from them as well.

 

If you can afford it, buy the forward lamp harness and engine harness as well since it has the big connectors on it that plugs into the back of the fuse box (which comes with the dash harness). The engine and lamp harness is not near as complicated as the dash harness.

 

I can afford it, but was not ready to tackle that project until next spring. Am I creating a lot of work for myself if I do that wiring at a different time?

 

No, they are seperate with the only common point being the plug in to the fuse box. I did my 71' in 3 stages: Dash, Forward lamp&engine, and rear lamp. The harnesses come with the fiber optic cables as well. To be honest, I found doing the wiring rather fun as it's mostly plug and play. The pain is reinstalling the center console.

 

The wire harness’s are pretty much plug and play when new! It’s always smart to keep the old one in the car until you have the new one ready to install.

We have the Aim’s in PDF format on CD if you are interested, you can zoom in, print pages, enlarge and so on. . . Much nicer than the printed version of the books.

Also, we just added the 69 wire harness’s to the forum special section of the web site. http://willcoxcorvette.com/advanced_...page=1&sort=4d

Duke is right, you can do the inside main first and then move forward (or back) from there. The only problem you may have is if you have any melted wires inside that were caused by a problem with an associated harness. For example, if you had a short in a power window harness, or a problem in the rear harness that feed forward. You do run this risk, but it’s only something you would know when you removed the old harness.

Willcox Inc.