Ray/aka/Pa

Thanks for your help so far,
Where the engine harness connects to the firewall, the nut or whatever it screws into on the inside of the firewall appartently has come off. Yes, I know it needs to be attached, and we are going to do it. It looks like where the engine harness attaches to the firewall is almost directly behind the fuse block. It looks like there are two long screws attaching the fuse block to the firewall from the picture I have and from what I can see under the dash. My question is:Is there any other crazy stuff I will run into taking the fuse block off looking for the nut to attach the engine harness. Messing up the dash harness at $919 or anything else is not an option right now. Any help would certainly be appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Ray

wnmech

If your 1980 is the same as my 77 you are correct there are the 2 screws in th inside car portion of the block and the one screw under the hood side into the fuse block. Comes apart pretty easy but sometimes takes 2 people to get the halfs back together.

...Roger...

Ray have you tried taking the outside plug back off and using a 1/4" bolt to see if the nut is still there? (unhook batt cable of course)I've never seen one of those pop out before.I'll take a pic of the nut for you in a min. and post it.If you do pull the fuse box off you will need to separate the front and the back by a couple tabs on the sides.

Ray/aka/Pa

Thank you very much,
I figured I needed two people to do this, and someone with smaller hands for under the dash. I got the two halfs back together in the engine comp with some patience, but I have never had to get into the fuse block of anything so I am trying to prepare myself through people with more knowledge of this kind of stuff than myself. I have tremendous patience and the rest is coming along thanks to you folks as we put all this back together, " Correctly".

Thanks again,
Have a Wonderful Christmas,
Ray

Ray/aka/Pa

I took it off the other day, and I can see down in the hole pretty good and there does not seem to anything on the other side for it to catch on. When I took it off originally. I had to gently put pressure on the connector while I unscrewed the bolt with my other hand. Until I put pressure on it all it wanted to do was spin. As I spun it with a little pressure, it eased right off. So I believe there was something it was attached to. I just does not seem to be there now.

Thanks for your help,
Have a Wonderful Christmas Sir,
Ray

...Roger...

Here is a pic of the interior side of the nut.I put a bolt in it from the engine side and tried to drive it out and couldnt get it to budge.This is a 77-75 fuse box and they could have changed the nut but this one is sorta molded in with 3 tangs on it that go down in the plastic.Does your plug appear to be all the way on from the outside?
(edit- the 2 screws you will remove are still on the inner half of the box because the fuse portion was broken off.)

...Roger...

Here are a couple more that shows the fuse holder part and the fuse holder flipped over so you can see the backside.Before you go to all the trouble i would try to thread a bolt in from the outside-if the plug is not fully seated the bolt wont reach the nut-(if they made the bolt "longer" it might touch a connector and short out.)

Ray/aka/Pa

Wow, You pictures show me exactly what I need to know, and I will pull it off again and get a 1/4" bolt to see if I can find the threads to start it.I will let you know what I find and your pictures show me exactly what to be looking or feeling for. It might just need that second person to push the fuse block back just that little bit where the bolt actually catches hold. , I really appreciate you help,
Thank you so much,
Ray

It looks a lot easier to fix than I was going to make it. I would not have not had a clue with out your pictures and your help. I will get this fixed today, and I am feeling a lot better about it too.

Ray/aka/Pa

I did go get an about 8' 1/4 bolt to get the fuse block back in place to hook this back up properly. I pulled the engine harness connector back off the firewall.
I got a really good light where I could really see what was going on and I can see several wires floating around right inside that hole where the bolt goes through the firewall. The fuse block is not up against the inside of the firewall , as it would be tight up against it with the bolt from the engine harness pulling it up tight. I am going to have to wait until I can get someone else to help to get the fuse block back in place and get the wires back in a proper place where they don't get pinched in order to everything back in place up against the firewall on both sides. Without your pictures and your help I was lets say, fixing to create more headache for myself. Everything you showed me has it on the right direction now at least. I just need another set of hands to get this hooked back up like it should be done. It will be right when we get through with it too. I have really been blessed with people throughout my life with great wisdom and experience to help me through my job and things I have tackled, like this car. I really appreciate all the time and help I get in this forum putting this car back together. When we get the hood back on it and the gargage door opens as it rolls out. It will be done right and it will be a lot more 1980 L-48 Corvette than it was ever intended to be. Thanks to everyones help!

God Bless you all,
Have a "Wonderful" Christmas,( Remember "Jesus" is the reason for this season!)
Ray/aka/Pa

Ray/aka/Pa

Great News,

You said you had never heard of the nut coming out and it had not, it was still there, thank you, thank you , thank you. I still am awaiting help to try to get this thing lined up and started but I just went out to the garage and took a real good look as best I could stuff myself under the steering wheel and the dash. I could see that the fuse block was still together and back up against the firewall. So after several minutes trying to get out of the position I was in under the dash, I was almost stuck, ( you can lol now). I looked back in the hole through the firewall and I still could not see anything for it to thread to, so I just stuck that 1/4" bolt through the hole maybe a couple inches, farther than I had invisioned it to be, and what you know it was there and thread up on that bolt. The bolt is still in it now. I guess I just did not have it pushed up far enough up on the firewall for it to catch. I willl mark the bolt that is in it now before I take it out to kind of get an idea of how far I have to get it pushed up.

Thank you for your help DWncchs, everyone else too,

Have a great day, Ray

going back to the gargage,

...Roger...

Ray your welcome.I know what you mean about getting stuck under the dash.

Ray/aka/Pa

Finally figured it out! There was a pressed in, threaded piece that came out of the firewall where the engine harness bolt actually threads into to hold it on. We could never get the bolt to thread into anything, like it was too short! So, We took one of my buddy's kids and stuck him up in ther attic in the garage{ The car was under the ladder where it would come completely down} where I had put the old harness to compare the bolts. The old one had something on it different! The threaded piece that pressed into the firewall almost 30 years ago! I had never , ever seen this, done this, so it looked like part of bolt assembly,certainly not a nut. It was so tight we had to put it in the vise to get it off the bolt. A little round thing with threads! It broke lose from the firewall, instead of breaking lose like we invisioned it should have! It is glued back in the firewall with some glue I have that is about like super glue but , stronger.
Thanks for your help, pictures, and your time everyone, I appreciate everything!
Have a great day!
Ray/aka/Pa

mtydings

I am having a hard time getting the screw out on the engine size. The screw on the inside fuse block is 5/16 but the one on the engine side seems to be a different size. Are they the same size or different?
Thanks. Marty