Rewiring

 I've got a 68 BB that I've just about tackled every problem except the engine compartment wiring. I knew someday...was looking at this winter I would have to tackle the problem. Well last weekend I smelled smoke & the harness (ignition) was melting. I looked at the wiring diagrams & decided to design my own. This car came with a 36 amp generator & an AM Radio was the only accessory. It now has a 130 amp Alt, am/FM CD player W/ 100w amp,Hot Rod AIr, 3 Spal fans, Halogen lights. I'm running all the wires that ran in back of the engine under the dash. I'll use 2 main circuits. 1 will include the spal fans, lights, ignition on one circuit & everything else on the other. Running #8 wire from the starter to a fuse box on both sides of inner fender. When I took the harness out I found more bubba fixes than I ever imagined. Where do these people come from? Anyway any tips or comments will be appreciated.

Alan

I put a set of Ron Francis street rod wiring in a 73 and it works great.  All new wiring, all new and very good grounds all new and modern fuses with easy to follow instructions.  Every wire is marked where it goes; no need to be an electrical genius to install it and the chance of a fire is drastically reduced.  I think the website is RonFrancis.com but google will find it for you.  Call them and tell them what you have and they will build the set for you and ship it immediately.  Highly recommended!

Yes I have some tips that I got from a guy that loves to work on corvette wiring and loves to upgrade them.  He says all these fancy aftermarket add ons are not friends of our old wiring harnesses.  In almost every case everyone of these accessories need a heavier gauge wire then what it came with.

Things like the hot rod air, spal fans, aftermarket radios, amps, larger altenators, he says he makes sure that they all have a appropriate sized gauge wire and likes to run the 12v power wire right to the starter, but before he connects them he installs a fusible link of the correct amperage.  He says he has never lost a car or harness to overload melt down.

FYI, if you call M&H Fabricators they can make you a new harness with all these upgrades if you tell them ahead of time.  They will upgrade the wires to the gauge you need.  For mine they upgraded the harness for a one wire altenator and for HEI removing the resistor wire.  As far as my spal fans they go right to the starter.

 

I'm almost finished with the rewiring. I rewired many a plane in the USN so a vette wasn't that bad, but the wiper motor has me baffled. It's a replacment and has 3 terminals plus 2 wires on one side ( both black & one black & white wire on the passanger side. The switch has 3 terminals. I look at the wiring diagrams & they either have more wires or not enough.  

Did you put a Ron Frances wiring harness on your vette. I just order one for my 31 street rod, was wondering if you liked it. Vettebeige81

See my post above.  Yes I did put Ron Francis wiring in a 73 Corvette.  It is great.  Just lay out all of the packages in alphanumberic order and follow the instructions to the letter in order and it will be just great.  Do not jump around.  It will say to hook the positive battery terminal to the starter-do that.

Everytime I remove anything on my Vette more and more evidence of the previous owner, a BONEHEAD shadetree mechanic, surfaces.  The rear defogger switch is wired as a ignition shut-off switch.  "Twist and Tape" electrical connections are all over the place.  Many ground straps are missing and the ground wire for the heater blower was connected to the battery terminal on the starter. 

Some people should not be allowed to own a Vette.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Vetteish