77 Wiring
 

My farther in law gave me a 77 corvette. I've already dumped 3 grand in this car and still have a long way to go. Trying to save a little money. I was wondering how hard is it to wire a corvette. I don't have any experience with wiring. Also, my car is not in pieces and the engine is still in.

Where would you begin? What do you have to take off to get to the fuse box? Does anyone know of a good place to get a "how to" on this car?

You sound frustrated and understandably so...these things are suppose to be fun but these are my suggestions for getting started.

1. Purchase an assembly instruction manual (AIM) which shows how things are assembled

2. Shop manual for your Corvette year...the GM type.

3. ONe of those colored, wiring schematic that are easy to follow...you don't want to get more frustrated. See Dr Rebuild for starts.

4. Find "Corvette" experience like joining a Corvette that includes individuals that work on Corvettes for fun.

In terms of wiring, probably should start by checking your ground sources and ensure they are in place and not dangling from a strand of ground cable. Than check your fuses. Do this before you start tearing wires out and than troubleshoot one system at a time rather than replace wads of wires. Others will have additional suggestions.

I bought a 68 vert in May and found gremlins in my electrical system. Headlights work, but directionals and markers don't. Replaced turn signal switch, still no directionals. Also replaced flasher circuits - no luck. I tried troubleshooting by chasing down wires, but during the restoration, the PO painted everything black underneath for a clean look - not to hide anything - car checks out great. Everything was done except for electrical. So, I purchased dash, engine, forward and rear wiring harnesses ($1,300) and will replace them all this winter. Hopefully that chases the gremlin out of my car once and for all. Talk about frustrating!


http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...or-anyone.html

If all the wiring isn't burned, normally one would check the circuits for a current draw.

You can go on ebay and buy laminated, full color wiring diagrams for your car: Laminated Wiring Diagrams
I think the experience Lcool9 is getting while fixing up his car is valuable.

The problem is I have a battery drain. My mechanic pulled the fuses and determined it was in the same circuit as the tail lights. He said he pulled everything in that circuit and still could not find where the drain was coming from. (If anyone knows what all is in this circuit I'm sure that might help me out some. I wouldn't mind checking it myself.) He said it must have something to do with the fuse box itself like maybe some wires burned together. He said sometimes when you take this stuff out it can potentially fall apart requiring you to replace the entire harness. He wants $2500 to replace them and I don't believe that was including all of them. He said it may not fall apart but you need to be prepared for the worst.

I'm trying to figure out what is the best way to access the fuse box. What do you need to take off to get to it? I figured I would ask the board before I just start pulling things off.

In case your interested I had my mechanic rebuild the transmission, replace the radiator and harmonic balancer. I replaced all the brake calipers and master myself. The horn, AC, parking brake, headlights and drivers side window still need to be fixed. Also need to replace oil pan gasket and valve cover gasket which I will tackle this weekend. If you have any suggestions on the gaskets I would love to hear them. I figure it should be straight forward but on an old car I try to expect the unexpected. I'm sure everyone knows how that is!

Anyway thanks for all the responses.

Try disconnecting the brake light switch and see if the drain stops. I think thats the only part of the tail light circuit that remains hot with the ignition off.

i think wiring a corvette as your first electrical project would be a difficult project. i think there are wiring diagrams on line for free. where are you located?

Does this help?
 

77 wiring diagrams:
http://www.europeancorvette.com/html...l_diagrams.htm

:iagree:

I also agree with Hunt4cleanir; purchase the AIM and chassis service manual.

:thumbs:

I'm in Dallas

L cool.

The tail lamp circuit is actually a pretty simple one...

You seem to be worried about finding the fuse box.. I'm not sure why.. very few issues originate from the fuse box. Just in case, it's just above the left food area.

There is one bolt on the engine side between the ignition harness and starter harness and two on the driver area on the fuse panel.

But the circuit is actually a pretty simple one and so I'm wondering if you don't have a different issue.

While this says 1968-1973 the circuit is the same on your car.

So.. to see if the problem is on the tail lamp side, pull the flasher and disconnect the brake lamp switch... Then see if the draw goes away. If it does go away then plug the flasher back in and check. Post back...

http://willcoxcorvette.com/images/Ta...sy%2068-73.JPG

Nice work...tracked down the "tech" support link. Nice stuff.

Thanks Tom: Tech Pictures can be searched just like looking for a part. I have tons of pictures to move in there still, just doing them as I go along. For me..... having in this section for all to view also means I have access to them on my cell phone.. :D


Isolating the circuit makes it easier to understand. IMHO...

What this picture needs is a few more notes:

1) The brake lamps are the lower connector pin.
2) Tail lamps are the upper.

The OP said Tail lamps..

and this picture while labeled Tail Lamps is actually the Brake Lamp Circuit. I don't have the Tail Lamp picture on this machine so I'll have to get that one on the site on Monday.

Wilcox thanks for the info.

Just to let you know I'm mainly going off of what my mechanic told me. He said he pulled everything on this circuit and said the drain was still there. He has over 20yrs experience just working on corvettes. He concluded the problem must be within the fuse box.

I was just trying to figure out how to get to the fuse box so that I can check it. Mechanic tells me there are some things on the engine side and some things on the inside of the car you need to take off in order for the fuse box to drop down so you can really inspect it.

I have some experience working on cars just not the wiring. My dad has plenty experience working on cars and he is helping me. However he hasn't worked on wiring either. I'm just not sure where to start. I don't want to start pulling things off without having some idea of what really needs to come off.