I finished rebuilding the entire LH lower dash and have a few questions before I tackle the install. My car is 69 convertible so it has the braces to the steering column. I also replaced all the wiring with LL wiring.

1. Should there be a flexible cable holder on the back of the speedo drive like there is on the tach drive? I see in the AIM for the 69 it does show one.
2. Should the flexible cable holders be hanging down or up like I have on the tach now? The AIM shows them hanging down where the dash harness comes into the holder on the speedo then up over the steering column and then back down into the holder on the tach. When I disassembled the dash the cable holder was facing up like I have it now. Seems like this would keep the dash harness straight over the steering column.
3. I know from going through the forum that later models had the dash harness lie on top of the speedo and tach making it much easier to install the dash. I’m wondering if anyone has used LL wiring if the new dash wiring harness is slightly longer so that I could lay the harness on top of the speedo and tach. I also have Vintage Air so I have to worry about routing the duct for that back there also. I’ve seen others use different plugs to make the dash a quick disconnect and also lengthen the dash harness so that may be an option but looking to keep the harness all one unit right now.

Thanks!

 

The flex cable on the back of the speedo is the trip odometer reset-=nothing on the tach. And it does hang down to the bottom of the steering column. There is a plate under the column that the override switches for the headlights and wipers mount to, and that reset cable is on it too.
I spent hours looking at and test fitting the harness behind the left dash- never did get it to where the panel went on with zero chance of rubbing the harness, in fact, I wrapped a piece of leather around one of the dash brace bolts to eliminate any chance of the bolt rubbing into the harness.

 

Thanks for the reply but I’m not talking about the trip reset cable. I circled the ‘flexible hook’ on the tach that I’m talking about. It holds the dash cable as it goes to the center console. I’m wondering if there is supposed to be one on the back of the speedometer also. I circled the hole where I believe it mounts to.

 

My January 69 had no such flex tab on the speedo. There is a hex screw there, I don't know why. I might have pictures of the 'before' but not on my laptop.

I swapped out my tach drive for an electronic tach so that is different in this picture. One tip I will share is the lighting. I jumpered all my lights down to two pins that I could hookup after everything was in place. Can't remember for sure but I probably had to lie on my back for the final connection. It was a lot easier than doing each individually. Also I got much more secure sockets from Summit as the originals kept falling apart and dropping the bulbs down into the canister. Lots of new incandescents down there but I switched to LED's. I'd also stupidly lost track of where the harness was supposed to go and ended up lengthening it. Hope this makes this awful job somewhat easier for you.

 

Thanks I’m dreading the final install but will be happy when its done. According to the AIM there was a loop on both the tach and speedo to hold the wiring harness so I’m tempted to believe there should be one there. Trying to see if I have an old one lying around.

Trying to install the carpet now and then the dash. I’ve been jumping back and forth about swapping to LEDs or different bulbs and even to lengthen the wires to the back of the dash and put in a plug of some sort for quick disconnect or like you to be able to install the dash with all the lights connected and then plug it into the harness afterwards. Not worried about originality but trying to keep things simple while thinking ahead for future repairs/upgrades. I was going to go to electric tach but couldn’t find one to match the 69 gauges.

 

Pat, I converted my Tach with the part below. Tested it on another car and works great.

 

hi, I have worked on C1 and C2s for over 40 years. I have a 1969 427 air conv. the under dash wireing and *** is the most demanding job ever. much better to run wires over steering column. Two J wire harness retainers. moved to upper tach and speedo cup screws. gray wires must be made longer. hook up tach and speedo cable first. have some one pull on them in eng bay as you try to attach cluster to pad column support braces make every thing much harder. good luck

 

My 1970 have two wire harness clips and ones mounted on the tach in the same location as yours and the clip on the speedo is the hole you pointed out. The tach clip is looped at the bottom same as the speedo clip. Going over the top would be ideal. Be careful with those bulbs after there in place.
Bob

 

Thanks!! Now I just need to dig up a J-clip

 

Which tach part #?

 

Oops sorry Pat. This!

https://www.zip-corvette.com/53-74-e...rsion-kit.html

 

covert to LED. Do you ever want to pull that dash again....?...

 

Was considering converting to LED but from what I’ve read there seems to be problems with those also. Cheap bulbs, unable to dim lights, etc. I’ve looked around at different ways to convert them and haven’t found one set or brand that a lot of people recommend.

 

You buy something off of eBay, it's a crap shoot. I got 156 hits on SuperBrightLED's when I 'searched this forum'. That is where I got mine from. They also seem to dim OK. See what other people think.

 

Pmccooey
Convert to strip lighting LEDs... it's only one lead to the tach and one lead to the speedometer.....and no more of those goofy lamps falling into, or out of, or falling apart.... and it's cheap, bright, multiple colors, and dimmable. see my story below:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-and-tach.html

 

Do you remember what replacement sockets you used?

 

Just noticed your query. Hopefully it's not too late. Try PCO-5443PT!

 

I have been trying to put my dash back together and it has been fighting me all of the way. I have the Assembly Manual and drawings showing the wiring harness show different things or incorrect things. I have a friend that has a 69 that he bought new and I went to his house and crawled under the dash to see how his wiring harness was installed. Apparently the harness goes below the gauges and above the steering column. My dash has been apart for several months and the harness has relaxed so I am slowly trying to get the bend over the steering column back in. I think it is working, but I am going slowly.
One of the pictures from the AIM shows the vacuum solenoid much too high on the Tach with the J clip under it. The photo with the red line is how I saw the harness going in my friend complete car.

 

That’s basically how I ran mine. My biggest problem was the new wiring harness. It was way to stiff so I had to figure out through trial and error where those bends would be and then pull it all out, heat up the wiring harness with a heating pad and bend those sharp turns into it. Also I removed the speedo and tach lines until I got the dash in and then reached up and installed them. Was a long time and a pain in the ***!

 

After I extended the leads on my 68, and added a disconnect for each side of the driver's dash, and converting to LED strip lighting---- that allowed me to relocate the harness up "high" which made installing the whole thing a lot easier with less stress on all the leads. Simplified installation and it works well.