1967 Ignition Switch Nylon Connector

[67HEAVEN]

Paul,

The '66 and '67 ignition switches are the same. The GM part numbers I've been able to turn up are #10132855, which replaces 1116673, which replaces 1116686.

Therefore, you should be fine with a connector from either year.

 

[BLee]

Paul, I replied on another board but guess you haven't seen it. I sent the connector out today. Don't thank me until you see it but I bet its better than what you have.

Bryan

 

[00fxd]

00FXD,
I see where you are coming from but nice soldered splices with heat shrink-wraps would do a nice job in that area.

Hey Paul, Sorry to appear argumentative but solder and shrink tube have their place. I was in the auto electrical industry for many years and when one looks under a dash and see's a lump like that it's always a head shaker. In this case its probably easier to do it right and looks a lot better too
Just slide a paper clip down the terminal from the front to release it and pop in into new housing. Easy as pie.
Just my .04cents

 

[paul67]

Bryan,
I just caught that. Thank you.

OOfxd,
Are you speaking of the nylon connector or the ignition switch metal housing?

 

[00fxd]

The nylon/plastic connector housing that the wire/female spade connectors slip into. They are retained by a little tit that is released by inserting the paper clip into the front of the housing at each terminal.. Use a little wd40.

 

[paul67]

I was wondering how they came out. Thanks!

 

[paul67]

Just to end this one off, I have spent hours on-line trying to find that connector. No luck. Fall-back position is to avoid wiring cut/splice and just connect each of the original four wires with individual female terminals (with boots) to the ignition switch and just avoid/discard the nylon/plastic connector in question.

Thanks for the help!

 

[00fxd]

Paul, in this case you could just un pin each terminal [you may want to draw a diagram for yourself first] and plug each female spade directly onto your switch. You may also want to shrink some 1/4 shrink tube over each terminal for insulation. Then when you do find a connector housing you can just cut off the shrink tube and snap each terminal back into it's respective position.

 

[paul67]

Sorry to prolong this discussion ;help . If I remove the original wires from the broken connector and individually wire them to the switch terminals, should I shrink-wrap just to the base of the spade connector or the entire terminal? My concern is arcing terminal-to-terminal in the absence of the connector. There may not be enough "juice" there for that to happen but just wondering....

 

[JohnZ]

Sorry to prolong this discussion ;help . If I remove the original wires from the broken connector and individually wire them to the switch terminals, should I shrink-wrap just to the base of the spade connector or the entire terminal? My concern is arcing terminal-to-terminal in the absence of the connector. There may not be enough "juice" there for that to happen but just wondering....

Paul, either way will work fine - I've done just that on numerous project cars where I didn't have the "correct" multiple connector, and never had a problem. No issue with arcing - there isn't enough voltage to do that unless the terminals actually touch each other.

 

[00fxd]

No problemo Paul. Thats perfect. Now you can just use a razor to slice the shrink tube off and slide those terminals back into a housing if/when you find one, If you didn't hack the "tit"ed oem terminals off. If those oem type terminals are damaged they are easy to souce, I keep them in stock. Just crimp and solder new ones on. Another case of it's just as easy to do it right. Beats having that lump of tape, solder and butt connectors in the harness under your dash

 

[00fxd]

I see John Z posted while I was composing, John, do you know where the harness manufacturers get those plastic terminal housings?

 

[paul67]

OK, many thanks. I now feel more comfortable with the individual connectors. And quite frankly, they seem much more secure as a grouping than the bulk connector. Each connection is very tight on my little test-bed.

I very much appreciate the advice on this matter. And I thank you for your patience. Some of us are mechanically-challenged. As I eluded to earlier I almost wet my pants when that connector came loose while driving and the whole car lost power. Not an episode I wish to have happen again. If I can't find a connector, that is my first task in April when my car comes out of storage. In fact, given the tightness of those connections I may forego the bulk connector.

 

[JohnZ]

I see John Z posted while I was composing, John, do you know where the harness manufacturers get those plastic terminal housings?

They probably either buy them in bulk from whoever makes them, or have had them tooled-up (injection mold) themselves and simply choose not to sell individual connectors; they're in business to sell harnesses, and don't want to create another competitor by selling the connectors (anybody can make harnesses if they can get the connectors).

I gave Paul another potential source for a connector (Eagle Wire Products); they sell connectors at the big Corvette swap meets.

 

[paul67]

Thanks John. Another dead-end as I posted over at NCRS. I will wire now each spade connector seperately. And to be quite frank, it appears to be a more secure method of doing those connections. Not GM but devoid of the regidity of the connector movement that pulls all terminals at once in the absence of a bulk securing method like the hooks.

 

[paul67]

"Necessity is the Mother of invention". So the old saying goes. But her Son was Bubba and I am related.

But what the heck, I will expose my basic automobile instincts. And my cheapskate nature. In the absence of wanting a $403.00 dash wiring harness to replace a $1.00 ignition switch connector I set on a journey on the internet to find a basic GM connector from the 1960s. Seemed like a simple task but no, those companies have $402.00 of wiring attached. Despite the fact that they source those connectors, know where they come from, and have them in stock in bins, they will not sell. Lovely.

OK, could not get past that barrier. Pleaded for a used part with hook attachments intact. Not much in the way of a reply here and elsewhere but a member here said he had a used connector without hooks that he would send to me free-of-charge. Why not? It is terribly difficult to finalize and even visualize projects in the Canadian winter when your car is tucked away in commercial storage and you have to deal with concepts. Little projects in the basic winter think-about-things period.

Well, Bryan L. of Texas saw my plight and came through with the hookless connector. It arrived today. What a fine gesture! Thank you Bryan. So I played Bubba and I believe I came up with workable solution. I have formed tie-wraps into the hookless tabs with POR-15 epoxy putty. That won't move. A very strong adhesive. The tie-wrap butt ends will be installed when that switch goes in the car and then the excess length cut off. The original female terminals from the wiring harness will be transplanted in without any cutting. That switch won't move given this set-up. And I hope, and believe, that I will not suffer total ignition failure again. Of course this is one-off in the sense that those tie-wrap small-end connections will have to be cut off to replace the ignition switch. But how often does that happen?

Thanks to all for listening to a Bubba. Don't be too critical. And again my thanks to Bryan of Texas. You made my day (12" of snow coming tonight). You may even be driving a Corvette tomorrow?

Bubba aka Paul from Ontario

 

[BLee]

I wish, the weather is nice enough but my car isn't quite done. Shouldn't be long. Glad the connector worked out, you can tell people that it is an original BB part.

BL

 

[I'mAVettehead]

That Bryan Lee is a good guy, must be a Vettehead.

 

[Ron Miller]

Paul, you're a man after my own heart!! I love it when I can "fix" a part using only a small amount of $$$ and a large amount of time, which I wasn't going to use otherwise, anyhow. And, your fix looks great, should perform well, and be functionally equivalent to the original!!

Congrats!!!

PS I had my '66 out today, pretty weather, but a bit cool. Needless to say, it was top up driving!!

 

[paul67]

Good for you Ron! We had about 6-8" of ice pellets and snow yesterday. But I would say that in about 6 weeks the 1967 will come out of storage. The sun today is melting the snowbanks and leaving the usual ugly mix of salt and sand behind but April showers will take that way quite quickly. I normally wait three good April showers/flushes before taking my Corvette home.