I get twisted to look at my fuse panel to hopefully find a spot to use for an AFR gauge and see this. (Circled)
Any ideas of what or why. Is that normal?
Looks like someone jumped from one to the next,, I don't know?

 

Looks to me like someone didn't have a fuse handy and didn't want to run to the auto parts store to buy one, so they did a quick "temporary" fix.

 

Same guy that puts pennys behind glass fuses.

 

Here's a tip. Don't park it in your garage like that

 

Do you think the fuse kept blowing, so instead of finding the problem, the po (s) just bypassed the fuse and took his chances?

 

Any time I see a fused bypassed. I think Oh crap....why?
Did you find any dangling wires not connected under the dash?

So who's got a pic of what it should look like?

 

Shouldn't it be another 20A fuse like the one to the right?

 

Above the jumper I can see "GES", which appears to be a partial label. What is the complete label?

 

I thought it was for the gauges.

 

Yes, that is for a 20 amp fuse for the gauges.
Same with me. What and why did the po(s) do that? And then not tell me when he sold it. But then I've already learned that the guy didn't tell me about a lot of things that he had to have known.
This is my first vette. Buyer beware!

 

It shouldn't be all that hard to fix this permanently. Here's how I would do it. Remove the jumper. Connect a DC ammeter to the same connection points where the jumper was in the fuse holder. Remove whatever trim you need to in order to access the back of the gauges. Start the car and read the DC amps value. It may be somewhere around 20 amps DC, although under normal conditions, it shouldn't be that high. Shut the car down. Remove the wiring from one of the gauges, and start the car again and read DC amps. If the amps go way down, that is the offending gauge and it should be repaired or replaced. If there was no big drop in DC amps, reconnect the wiring to that gauge and move on to the next gauge. Follow this procedure until you have found the culprit, then repair or replace it and install a 20 amp fuse where the jumper was.

It may be possible that this problem is intermittent, so that the amp readings will be normal when you check them. This could be caused by something like worn insulation on a wire that partially shorts under certain conditions, so inspect the wiring while you are in there. If the problem persists, and DC amps always seem normal when you check it, maybe you could leave your DC amp meter connected for a period of time so that while driving you can observe the meter to try and get some clues as to the cause.

 

they might have put the wrong bulbs in that draw more amps

 

How about install a fuse and see what happens? 10 minutes, under a dollar.
Maybe a bad door switch. Just watch for an issue,

 

Yeah, went and bought some fuses a while ago. Will contort my 62 year old body tomorrow to see if I can get down and back out without tweeking my back. Aaaaggghhhh!!

 

I'm 65. Get your azz down in there. IT WILL NOT be the only time.

 

Thanks to all who gave input with my fuse panel.
I just buttoned up and took a drive. Pulled the jumper and replaced with a fuse. Nothing blew during the drive. We'll see?

 

You'll likely be fine.

 

Maybe the guy fixed it, and just forgot about the fuse. Hey, maybe you'll get lucky!

 

It could be that there was never an issue with the wiring or the circuit.
One of the prior PO’s may have used the 20amp circuit to install an aftermarket sound system, CB, fog lights, etc that kept blowing the fuse so he, or the installer, put the jumper in.
When the aftermarket equipment was removed he forgot or did not know the jumper was in there.
Next time you start it up in the driveway, turn everything on, lights, radio, wipers, ac, with both doors open and see if the fuse pops.