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1976 Gauge Lights

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Old Jan 28, 2018 | 11:49 AM
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Default 1976 Gauge Lights

My wife just bought a 1976 Corvette and I'm sorting out a few things on it. I haven't dug into the dash yet, but wanted to get feedback on this before I do.

The gauge backlights appear to be tied to the ignition ON circuit. They come on when the ignition is turned on, and turn off when the ignition is turned off. On my 79 and my 75, those gauge lights are tied to the headlight switch and only come on when the headlight switch is turned to either ON position.

Should I be looking for some bubba wiring when I tear into the dash, or is the gauge light wiring different in 76?
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Old Jan 28, 2018 | 12:03 PM
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Hi dmv,
The 76 dash lights were originally controlled by the headlight switch in the same way as the 79 and 75 you mention.
Someone has modified the wiring in some way.
Regards,
Alan
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Old Jan 28, 2018 | 12:29 PM
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Definitely modified by bubba. Although, on the surface, it's not a bad of a mod. There some cars out there that could use this mod, not sure about the Corvette though.
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Old Jan 28, 2018 | 12:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Alan 71
Hi dmv,
The 76 dash lights were originally controlled by the headlight switch in the same way as the 79 and 75 you mention.
Someone has modified the wiring in some way.
Regards,
Alan
Thanks. That's what I thought, but wanted to verify.

I just loooove it when Bubba gets into electrical wiring
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Old Jan 28, 2018 | 01:11 PM
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"wife bought a Corvette".........
<KEEPER> !!!!!!!
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Old Jan 28, 2018 | 01:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Lagonia
Definitely modified by bubba. Although, on the surface, it's not a bad of a mod. There some cars out there that could use this mod, not sure about the Corvette though.
The DeLorean A/C panel operates this way by design. Originally, the AC panel was going to be completely blacked out, so it would need the lights on to see the markings. The production panel was not blacked out, but the wiring stayed.
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Old Jan 28, 2018 | 01:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Jeff k
"wife bought a Corvette".........
<KEEPER> !!!!!!!
Yep! Though, she bought it because she wants to autocross (awesome!) but doesn't want to drive my Corvettes because they're all stick shift (not so awesome lol).

She also owns a DeLorean (and I ended up with one, too), so we each own our favorite car and our spouse's favorite car.
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Old Jan 28, 2018 | 01:38 PM
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Hi dmv,
Does the light switch still control the brightness of the dash lamps and interior courtesy lamps?
Regards,
Alan
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Old Jan 28, 2018 | 02:22 PM
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If I had to guess I would say the rheostat portion of the headlight switch was bad and he just bypassed it. Just had to replace mine to get my dash lights to work.
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Old Jan 28, 2018 | 09:08 PM
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Old Jan 28, 2018 | 10:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Alan 71
Hi dmv,
Does the light switch still control the brightness of the dash lamps and interior courtesy lamps?
Regards,
Alan
The headlight switch does control the interior lamps (dome light and footwell lights), but does not dim the gauge backlights.
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Old Jan 31, 2018 | 09:56 PM
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I tested the headlight switch today, and the interior light contact did not have continuity with the power supply when the switch was pulled. So, I ordered a new switch (among other things) and will figure out how to fix the wiring.
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Old Feb 1, 2018 | 01:04 PM
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Update: I discovered that the Inst Lmp fuse is no good (in addition to the headlight switch not activating the instrument lamps). Instead of fixing the problem, they joined the LMP plug on the fuse panel with the IGN plug. Once I ran some continuity tests, it wasn't too bad to figure out, but there is a spaghetti mess of wires down there lol.

What, if anything, is supposed to be connected to the LMP plug on the fuse panel?
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Old Feb 1, 2018 | 01:18 PM
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Originally Posted by dmruschell
Yep! Though, she bought it because she wants to autocross (awesome!) but doesn't want to drive my Corvettes because they're all stick shift (not so awesome lol).

She also owns a DeLorean (and I ended up with one, too), so we each own our favorite car and our spouse's favorite car.
So....any chance you have a daughter who's into cars?? 😂
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