PRNDL

Back by popular demand is my thread from 2002 wherein I adopted another forum member's plan (Can't remember who, but I can't take credit for this idea) for retrofitting the plunger style brakelight switch into a 68 corvette, instead of using the 1 year only corvette only 68 brakelight switch. Here is the original thread:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=272851


But pics are a little sparse, so I went down to the garage and took some new pics. It was a little tough, because the vette is in semihibernation:



Here is another pic of the shelf bracket that I used. It is nice soft bendable metal, but tough enuf that it has held up fine these past 4 years! As you can see I still have a spare bracket. Maybe that's because I had 2 for a shelf, but used one for the brakelight switch, and it's pretty hard to use the one remaining shelf bracket!!! oops.. that is obviously not a shelf bracket. I guess I got them to hang up crap in my garage, but all the crap is still on the floor!




So I stick my head in the car from the pass side and stick the camera under the dash and try to get some pics!

Here you can see the Bubba wiring at the top of the switch and you can see how it contacts the brake pedal. Switch must be between the brake pedal and the driver. In the resting position the pedal contacts the switch and when you push on the brakes you push the pedal AWAY from the switch. Pic sort of shows the bracket. There is a spot nearby with a bolt that I was able use to fasten the bracket to the car.




That's pretty much all there is to it.

nother pic



good luck!


wow! I just noticed in the 2nd pic above (1st pic of the underside of my dash) you can actually see the original 68 brakelight switch still in place! See that "46 DR" right up above the bubba switch? It is pretty far up there. I couldnt reach the **** to replace it!! So there it still is!!

Cali,68,L-79

Wow thanks for the help! Very straight forward and easy. Yeah I saw your original switch before I even read your reply. That original bracket takes a 3/8 wrench that requires you to put yourself in a upsiddown suplex and I wouldn't recommend it for the faint of heart. Tell me where did you get the switch? I deal primarily with corvette central and I went through 50 pages and saw nada. I guess you adjusted those two nuts so it just barely depressed the switch without going too far and wrecking the switch all together.

To the other gentleman thanks for the vendor link but I'm going to go Bubba way just becuase i can't bear to go thru the hell involved with attaching that original plate 2 miles up inside the steering column. Plus with power brakes now it does not line up and i had to bend the bracket, add 5/8" of nuts for shims, cut 2 3/8 bolts 1.25" all so it cleared the darn clevis pin that now resides on the lower hole. Then it fell aprt as i lifted it up and the nuts and bolts fell behind the dash carpet along with 40 years of other rubbish and I screamed and yelled, you get the picture. So it's far from stock. But to my knowledge there is NO power brakes, brake switch made. That stock 68 switch will NOT clear the boosters clevis on the bottom hole. Thank you.

PRNDL

I think I got mine at Napa. It is just the standard brakelight switch that is used for almost every year vette except 1968, and probably the same part is used in just about every car in existence. I don't know how many different types of generic brakelight switches there are, but I would guess .. few. You could ask for a brakelight switch for a 69 corvette if you wanted to make sure you got a "corvette" switch!

ahhh... here, this is what one parts vendor says:

GM stop light switch includes 2 retaining nuts, terminals and connector. This GM switch is not exclusive to GM vehicles; it can be installed and used for any Chevrolet, Ford, Chrysler, Jeep, etc.

I didn't even get that cool bottom piece which you can use to make a cleaner connection.

Cali,68,L-79

I just ordered the switch from Hot Rod Wires. Thanks so so much.

David