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(‘68 L68 427 with a M21 4 speed)
Still working my way thru my list of “to do’s” and now have gotten to “why aren’t the reverse lamps working?
I just slid a bore scope under the car to follow up on a hunch, …. First there is that 4 hole grommet in the firewall, the one that the tach cable goes thru. There was also a connector there with a pink and green wire to it and its just hanging in the breeze. Come to find its supposed to be connected to the reverse lamp switch.
Well my hunch was correct, the reverse lamp switch, its wire, and bracket with rod are missing. shocker !
OK, my car has had the factory shifter replaced with a Hurst Comp + shifter (which shifts like butter btw )
My question is …. Is there a good reason anyone can think of why someone would omit the reverse lamp switch assembly to install a Hurst shifter ?
Will it not work with this shifter ? I seem to remember cars at the tract back in the day with reverse lamps constantly on, something to do with the shifter ???
My 73 Vert had the whole reverse switch assembly removed, not even the cable was kept. I am going to speculate that Bubba never had to backup at night, sorta like The Bandit. Who knows what horrible things were done to our poor Corvettes, and no one ever went to jail, because of their… Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
Considering how the reverse switch is connected to the shift lever on the trans. Not the shifter.
No, installing a aftermarket shifter would have nothing to do with the reverse switch. Maybe Bubba couldn't get it adjusted correctly so just pulled it off. Maybe it failed.
50 years is a long time, anyone's guess.
Many are just too lazy to re-install them correctly Mike, so they toss them. Here's a link to what you'll need: https://www.ebay.com/itm/20252914659...Bk9SR5zUm7_sYA
Frankly, I'm shocked at how much these little suckers have gone up in price! But you'll need this whole assembly, switch, mounting bracket, actuator rod, screws and clips. Upside is, it's very easy to install and adjust. And it's WAY cool when a Corvette with a 4 speed actually has working back up lights.
Mine was missing on my '65 when I got it so I mounted a whole new stock assembly to my Hurst shifter and it works perfectly.
Cheers, Greg
I just realized this picture doesn't show the actuator rod installed yet, but you'll just have to trust me; it really does work.
You can test the lights and see if they work. Just short the green/pink plug. At least if they work, adding the switch will be worth it.
If they work , if they don’t I’ll work my way back until i find the problem and make it right .
I’ve been pretty ok with some of the things the prior owner and restorer had dropped the ball on but I’m starting to get a little pissed off with it.
Ok, I’ll be ordering that kit from eBay , thanks Greg, and I’m glad to hear that it should be a straight forward job but I’m also dealing with a turn signal switch replacement because I had no brake lamps. It’s definitely the switch. I would have that done but I’ve been working at the track this week as its our fall swap meet and auto show weekend. I had to wait for the parts to come in so there was that delay. I did want to bring it to the track and I had a couple hours after work to install it. I got the new switch in and went to mount the signal stalk but the single screw wouldn’t go in ???. I take a closer look at the screw and its been cut with a cutoff wheel. its not the right screw and they had forced it into the switch. I then wasted over an hour searching thru my parts bins for the proper sae screw that would go in as it should. No luck ! Nothing fit and how is that possible ???
I’m beginning to wonder if the replacement uses a metric screw. I hate it but I’m about ready to do some bubba work of my own and run a tiny tap thru it to cut SAE threads into it to work with the screws I have at hand. This is hard to take having one tiny little screw jam me up like it has.
Thank you though for your responses and support . I’ll move onto that in the near future.
You can test the lights and see if they work. Just short the green/pink plug. At least if they work, adding the switch will be worth it.
As chance favored me ebay set me an offer at $5 off on that kit, ok was planning getting it anyway .
Ive got the kit now and though haven’t had the chance to install it yet I did plug the switch into the harness and work it by hand. The lights did work so that’s one less thing to worry about.
My lengthy to-do list is shrinking by the day
This missing switch was yet another ball dropped by the person or shop that supposedly did “a complete restoration” on this car and how it was represented for sale. I just keep finding stuff like this and though I “try” to keep even tempered it’s starting to get to me but I’m still swinging and the car is better for it. The issues keep popping up but as they do I’m knocking them down.
My buddy says I started with a $45k car but with what I’ve done it’s a mid $50k car. I don’t know about that but hey, sounds good anyway.
The hard part it the 3 inch long rod that connects the switch to the reverse shifter. Do you have this? There are two microscopic chips, one for each end. Then you have to adjust it with the trans in reverse so the lights will be on,,,,, and go off when not in reverse. The mounting bracket has oblong slots for adjustment.
The hard part it the 3 inch long rod that connects the switch to the reverse shifter. Do you have this? There are two microscopic chips, one for each end. Then you have to adjust it with the trans in reverse so the lights will be on,,,,, and go off when not in reverse. The mounting bracket has oblong slots for adjustment.
I have it and the tiny clips. Figure to use either a needle nose pliers or hemostats to clip them in place. My big mits have trouble with tiny parts.
I was under double checking what I’d need when ordering, which turned out to be all of it but I saw how tight it is with the exhaust pipe running so close.
In fact it had me wondering if the proximity of the pipe is why it was omitted. We shall see …
The pic you attached is so small I can’t really make anything out from it. Do you have a larger image?
Lt.Mike, what you will very likely find when you get down there to do the install, is that the reverse lever that came with the Hurst kit, may not have a hole for the back-up switch rod to fit in. If so, this is possibly the reason the switch was removed in the first place. If that is the case, the hard part will be drilling the hole in the reverse lever. These levers are made of hardened steel and don't drill easily.
I've done this two different ways,
1) carefully drilling a hole in the lever in a good place where it will interact with the switch correctly - if possible.
2) welding a small machine screw nut to the edge of the reverse lever to slip the reverse switch rod into.
In either case, the slots in the reverse switch mounting bracket, will give you some room to fine tune the relationship between the switch and the reverse lever.
Here is a pretty good picture of the reverse switch rod and how it connects to the reverse lever on the transmission. (Similar to Kevin's picture posted above )
Here is a picture of the slots in the mounting bracket for adjusting/fine tuning the switch position.
Lt.Mike, what you will very likely find when you get down there to do the install, is that the reverse lever that came with the Hurst kit, may not have a hole for the back-up switch rod to fit in. If so, this is possibly the reason the switch was removed in the first place. If that is the case, the hard part will be drilling the hole in the reverse lever. These levers are made of hardened steel and don't drill easily.
I've done this two different ways,
1) carefully drilling a hole in the lever in a good place where it will interact with the switch correctly - if possible.
2) welding a small machine screw nut to the edge of the reverse lever to slip the reverse switch rod into.
In either case, the slots in the reverse switch mounting bracket, will give you some room to fine tune the relationship between the switch and the reverse lever.
Here is a pretty good picture of the reverse switch rod and how it connects to the reverse lever on the transmission. (Similar to Kevin's picture posted above )
Here is a picture of the slots in the mounting bracket for adjusting/fine tuning the switch position.
Good luck... GUSTO
I’ve been under the car to see what was and what wasn’t there. Well that hole I guess is the only thing that is there so I should be good.
Reverse lamp switch omitted
shocker !
)
.
its not the right screw and they had forced it into the switch. 
I then wasted over an hour searching thru my parts bins for the proper sae screw that would go in as it should. No luck ! Nothing fit and how is that possible ???
