'59 Wiring problem(s)

[Bwmurph]

Hello All,
This car is going to be the death of me ! Long story, will shorten out as much as I can: After the recent install of the new front clip I noticed my temp gauge does not seem to be working right. It seems to read high saying the car is badly overheating. Finally confirming that it's not overheating by way of by way of using a different gauge purchased from NAPA, I installed a variable resistor I had purchased some time ago for CC (manufactured by RARE, Joe Calcagno).

That wasn't too bad, but in the process I found a wire under the dash that was disconnected. It's a black wire, so I'm assuming it is a ground wire for something. I couldn't find any terminal that seemed to be missing a ground so I found a spot to connect it to under the dash. Problem solved. NOT !!

So now I'm ready to take the car for a spin and adjust my temp gauge when I notice I don't have any taillights. I start checking things and find I have no brake lights, no tail lights and only the blinker on the passenger side works. I start checking more things and find that when the headlights are on low beam the outside beam is lit on the pass side and the inside beam is lit on the driver side ! WTH !!!

At that point I walked away from it before I did something I would regret. Any ideas ? Headlight switch bad ? I need to find out where that ground really went ? Bad flasher ? I think the headlight issue will be simple enough, but I'm at a loss for tail light/blinker issue. Any help will be appreciated.

Bernie O

 

[Tom Bryant]

It all sounds like ground problems to me.

From a Google search:
The 1959 Corvette has several grounding points that are crucial for proper electrical function. Here are some of the key grounding points and their locations:

• A Pillar: Grounding point located where the A Pillar meets the frame.
  
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• Driver’s Side Fender: Grounding point underneath the brake servo.
  
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• Passenger Side Pillar: Grounding point next to the rear of the seat.
  
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• Rear Tire: Grounding point located between the driver’s rear tire and the rear part of the tub on the inside of the frame.
  
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  These grounding points are essential for ensuring that the electrical system of the Corvette functions correctly. It is important to clean or replace any damaged or corroded ground wires to restore proper illumination and prevent electrical issues.
  https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=4179...vdW5kLXBvaW50cy1vbi15b3VyLWNvcnZldHRlLw&ntb=1
  
  https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=337c...NzcyNy0xOTU5LXdpcmluZy1oYXJuZXNzLmh0bWw&ntb=1
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• I'd check every ground that you had disconnected to be sure they were clean. Also check any ground that you see that looks like it could benefit from a disassemble and cleaning. Wiring schematics are available from the parts houses, laminated, in color. Trace your grounds to see where that un-attached black wire is supposed to go and that the others are connected correctly and clean. That one may be important. Make a long jumper wire with alligator clips on both ends. Ground your radiator support, engine, instrument panel ect. directly to the negative battery terminal one at a time to see if these items are grounded and if something changes. Two often overlooked grounds are the taillight harness grounds that attach to the rear bumper brackets under the removable part if the spare tire well. The screws are small but usually stay fairly clean over the years. If you had your steering column out, make sure that the turn signal switch is grounded well. It could be one ground or more.
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• Tom

 

[Bwmurph]

Thanks AGAIN, Tom, for answering my questions. I've checked all the grounds and all seem to be in order except for the one under the dash that is not connected. As far as I can tell it looks like it should be connected to a screw that is on the back of the speedometer housing. However, that screw appears to be broken off in the housing. Can I just find another suitable place to hook this ground to ? There are plenty of places under the dash that I would consider a good ground, even if I have to drill a small hole to hook it up. I really don't want to try to extract this broken screw and would probably have to disassemble the dash. REALLY don't want to do that.

I did fix the headlight issue - high and low beams on the driver side were switched, no big deal. Not sure if I did that or the guy doing my front clip; doesn't matter at this point.

I also think my headlight switch is fried, so I've got one of those on order.

Thanks again and I'll let you know how things work out.Bernie O

 

[Tom Bryant]

If it's a ground for the instrument panel, I'd find another suitable stud or screw on the panel to use. It should be ok.

 

[Bwmurph]

Sorry it's taken me so long to update this thread, but was out of town and also just had to walk away from the car for awhile.

But all is well now ! And the fix befuddled me until I thought it through. To refresh the story: I found I had no taillights on my '59 after doing some major work on the front end and having the tail light housings re-chromed. Digging further I found:

With lights off and ignition off I had both brake lights.
With lights off and ignition ON I had brake lights and both turn signals
With lights ON and ignition off I had no tail lights and no brake lights
With lights ON and ignition ON I had no tail lights, no brake lights, but both turn signals.

I'm now in serious head scratching territory. Put new bulbs in the tail lights, no change. Install new light switch, no change. I checked and re-checked the grounds again, no change. I made sure that the receptacles were clean and shiny, no change. This situation is keeping me awake at night and going through all sorts of reference books, back issues of magazines, etc... FRUSTRATING ! I really did NOT want to rip out the wiring harness and replace that, but what else is there to do ? One day last week I was sitting out in the garage bemoaning the fact that I'm going to have to tackle the wiring harness and I thought " Wonder what happens if I swap the housings from right to left and vice versa. I've got nothing to lose, so why not." Swapped the housing and VIOLA !! everything works as it should and the lights are as bright as ever !

While not complaining about the result, it didn't make sense to me. I looked in several parts catalogs - same part number for both sides. I looked in the Chevrolet Service Manual - no reference to difference side to side. I looked in the Assembly Instruction Manual - only one part number for both sides. Now I'm really confused as to why this solved my problem. Until I thought about the push in and twist bulbs for the lights. The little "teats" on the bulbs are configured with one high and one low. If the receiving receptacle is not oriented correctly you're going to have a problem. And I did.

It should be noted that when I sent the housings out to be chromed I labeled them DRIVER and PASS on the packaging material. They returned with no such markings. So I'm not taking complete responsibility for my screw up and resulting loss of hair.

I hope this information helps someone else at some point.

Bernie O