1971 Corvette Hot Rod Build

[Arrowsmith]

The next task was to install a new rear wire harness (tail light and rear portion of the car). I used a Summit Racing brand harness, and it's a great quality product (absolutely zero fit or component connection issues). I believe it is made for them by M&H Electrical Fabricators. I won't post all of the images I have because it's not really a difficult task.

An Assembly Manual along with a good wiring diagram are your friends here....

I started at the bulkhead and fed the wires forward:



The tail light hook up and back up light hook up is pretty simple. The harness attaches to the top of the rear lights and the grounds are daisy-chained. I'm really fortunate the car is so (SO!) clean. It sure makes working on it easier.



There's a lot going on with the license plate lamp. Keep in mind this car has fiber optics so I had to take that into consideration. How I did this was to take the lamp out, add the wiring (and ground) and then reinstall. It was easier.



I found a tiny amount of dielectric grease on the fibre optic boots makes them easier to install.



Compared to some of the other locations at the back of the car, hooking up the gas tank sender was dirt simple:



On my car, the main ground for the tail lamps is on the antenna ground.



Here's the wiring that runs across the seat bulkhead. Again, this is all super easy.



Another pair of wires goes to the courtesy lamp. It’s not hooked up because my example was boogered up.




When I took the car apart, I discovered the threads for the passenger side door ajar switch were piled up. Lucky for me, a tap took care of it. You can't get a full swing with a T-Handle on the tap so a little crescent on the tap is the easiest option.



And here's the new switch installed...(same of course on the driver side)....


Another section of harness goes forward, past the park brake. This is for the fiber optic lamps in the console:



The main harness routes forward alongside the door sill. I had to fix the pair of clamps. Mine were hammered flat. I opened the clamps up and hammered them over a small deep socket to get the shape back.