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Thank you to those who responded to my earlier (and first) post titled "Couple of new guy questions", it was helpful.
I am trying to track down the switch/harness assembly that attaches to the left side control on the steering column, and activates the wipers and bright lights.
Here are a couple of pics... Corvette Central commented that this part has been discontinued. Any ideas on where a person could track one down? Maybe requires buying the entire steering column if one can be found?
If you can, try to determine what failed and how badly damaged that part is. The fried wire could be due to a failure inside that part or in another part of that steering column...or it could be due to a short somewhere else in that electrical circuit. You will have to be the judge of that.
If that part can be repaired and reused, that would be your best alternative. But, you must feel confident that your fix is almost as good as the original part. If that's not possible, you can try contacting some outlets for Corvette salvaged parts, shop at some Corvette part swap meets, or scavange one from a junked steering column with that configuration. It could well be that most other Chevy models used that same design, so don't limit your search to Corvette only parts.
That looks like a '77 dash. I believe that '77 was the ONLY year to have wiper controls in the steering column. That's likely why those parts are so difficult to find. Before '77 they were in the gauge pack above all of the gauges, from '78+ they are above the headlamp switch.
That looks like a '77 dash. I believe that '77 was the ONLY year to have wiper controls in the steering column. That's likely why those parts are so difficult to find. Before '77 they were in the gauge pack above all of the gauges, from '78+ they are above the headlamp switch.
Is '79 a typo?
Nope, according to VIN it is a 79. Guy from Corvette Central mentioned something about this particular style of switch either coming out- or going out, mid year in 79. It was only on the models without Cruise Control.
Car previously had a small under-hood fire, which likely contributed to the current issues. Owner replaced the engine harness, and "most" of the electrical controls work. When investigating why wipers did not work, I found the fried hardness in the Column.
While it will be a PITA, I can likely re-wire the column harness, but will make life easier if I can find a replacement part...
Again, what I can see of that dash sure doesn't look like a '79. In '78+ the tach and speedo are combined into a single rectangular unit. In '77 they were separate round fixtures like I see in yours.
Do your doors lock with a rotating **** in the door panel or a pull **** in the armrest? Do you have map pockets or a glove box?
Did a little research and I can say with complete certainty that in 1979 the windshield wiper switch is NOT in the steering column. There were some early/late production changes in the '79 but DEFINITELY not the wiper switch as it moved to the dash (above the headlamp switch) in '78 when the interior was significantly redesigned.
Surely you do have the big fastback rear window instead of the little vertical window used before 1978. If not something very strange is going on
For your reference here is a picture of my '79 interior.
Notice the great differences with yours: the dash, the door panels, the seats. The only similarity is the center console/gauge pack. This is how I am CERTAIN that you have COMPLETE 1977 interior as it was a one-of year!
Seriously--that is not "some" of a '77 interior that is "A" '77 interior!!!
I won't say that there's any problem with a '77 interior in a '79--see this thread of someone wanting an early interior (at least the speedo and tach) in a '78--but heaven only knows what you can expect to find. And, unfortunately, you have that one year only wiper control in your steering column. While rather new to this forum I've noticed a number of laments regarding the inability to find that switch.
Please post a photo of the rear of your car! Strange things happen and if the windshield surround of a '77 was rusted out it could have been replaced (along with the VIN tag) from a '79.
Just a concern for future electrical fires when doing this type of work, Please Disconnect Your Positive Side Battery Cable.
There were two different switches used on the 1977. Without Tilt and telescopic #7827123. With Tilt and telescopic #78127152.
Want sticker shock:http://www.ebay.com/itm/1977-Corvett...xXH-cX&vxp=mtr
Recently I saw the 152 switch listed on e-bay $400 obo. It lasted less than a week.
Last edited by bmotojoe; Aug 15, 2016 at 08:00 PM.
The wiper switch harness is not very long, there should be a disconnect plug less than half way down your column and should be visible on the side or bottom. A couple questions, Can you tell if the wire that fried is a #18 Black with White stripe? From the plug it should change to a solid black wire, is the wire after the plug also fried?
I can send a nice color wiring diagram for the wiper control for the 1977. My concern is, although the connector for the wiper harness may be the same on the 1979 they may have landed the wires in different locations on the plug going to the wiper motor for the 1979. Seen this happen between different year cars.
The center dash bezel is from a newer 1978-1982 design, note the missing side flaps and the gap created between the dash bezel and the lower dash pad.
The column is a 77 column for sure... 1978-1982 cars had the wiper switch on the left side of the dash and like Bmoto said, finding one will be costly.
Please post a photo of the rear of your car! Strange things happen and if the windshield surround of a '77 was rusted out it could have been replaced (along with the VIN tag) from a '79.
Hear is a pic. I can only assume that somebody made "two cars into one" at some point in time.
I can send a nice color wiring diagram for the wiper control for the 1977. My concern is, although the connector for the wiper harness may be the same on the 1979 they may have landed the wires in different locations on the plug going to the wiper motor for the 1979. Seen this happen between different year cars.
Thank you for the suggestions! Here are a couple of pics. The column harness seems to line up (color wise) with the wires going to the dash harness. As seen in the second pic, there is one "mystery wire" coming off the bottom of the switch, which was not attached to the connector, and is completely fried of all insulation. Was this possibly the ground wire?
If you have a color wire chart, that would be a big help!
The colors in that connector are nothing like what was used in '79 for either normal or delay wipers. If you have a '79 cabin wiring harness then the wiring leading out of the column should be spliced somewhere.
Does your fuse box use glass or plastic fuses? In '79 they were plastic, in '77 they were glass.
If you can, try to determine what failed and how badly damaged that part is. The fried wire could be due to a failure inside that part or in another part of that steering column...or it could be due to a short somewhere else in that electrical circuit. You will have to be the judge of that.
In that vein and given the hybrid nature of your car I very much suggest that you get wiring schematics for BOTH 1977 and 1979. The factory service manuals give individual schematics and component locations for each circuit which I suggest will be much more useful to you than the full electrical system schematics.
Glass fuses, and no splices in the harness. Looks like they used the entire 77 dash harness, etc, which should make life a little easier for trouble shooting. Car had an under hood fire damaging the wire harness, which I assume is when this assembly burnt up. But, what came first, the chicken or the egg....
I will need a 77 wiring diagram to figure out where the loose wire went coming from the column, and should be able to go from there.
What a great learning experience for my first vette project! Thanks again for the assistance.
1979 Wiper Switch Assembly??
