Well, hello everyone!

I am jumping back in the saddle with this 77 making a good run at finishing it in under a year. The electrical is the biggest issue, I'd like to tackle that and get it out of the way. I understand BASIC, and very BASIC electrical. I can strip, crimp, splice, twist, and solder with the best of em though.

Pretty much NOTHING on the car is factory, so I can't see spending thousands of dollars on a wiring harness that has fittings I am not going to use or wires I need to add. I will buy them and modify as necessary if that is my best option.
To give you guys a better idea of what were working with here, let me tell you the added items.

ELECTRIC fuel pump, gravity fed, factory sending unit
ELECTRIC water pump
ELECTRIC fans
FACTORY power windows
FACTORY A/C
AFTERMARKET ELECTRIC locks
AFTERMARKET 765 TRANS (HAS SINGLE 12V wire for lock up converter, like a 4l60E)
MSD 6AL ignition
AFTERMARKET TAIL/REVERSE/RUNNING REAR LIGHTS
DIFFERENT FIXED HEADLIGHTS (12V-3 WIRE, HIGH/LOW/OFF) XENON HID BALLASTS

Steering column is the same, gauges, I would love for them to stay factory. However I was shown these dakota digital gauges called VHX. I was informed that these gauges hook up using linked CATV wire, to one central information box where all the sensors hook up. $1,500.00 and the gauges look ok. Its almost double what it would cost to repair factory gauges. I kept the key ignition and seating and carpeting and dash. I wanted to have the exterior look modern sleek amazing, and the inside old muscle feel. I was even considering keeping the working 8-Track in the dash and putting a modern head unit in the car hidden somewhere.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what wire harnesses I should use for the engine, a/c, rear section, dash?
What do I do for a switch for the headlights, I don't want the high beams on the floor anymore, just a nice functioning switch, how do you connect these fans so they dont stay on all the time, just kick on  when need be like newer cars? Water pump on all the time? I have a hard time understanding relays and stuff. I think the water pump was CSR brand and the fans are dewitts brand I believe.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=879/category_id=-1/mode=prod/prd879.htm


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-LOUIE

Think of a relay as a remote, electrically operated switch.  It also allows a low current switch to control a high current device.

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1973 L-82 4 spd

Thats kinda how I figured it anyways. What I'm thinking is on modern cars, the ECM tells the fans when to kick on. And if it is an electric water pump is goes on VIA ECM as well. This car wont have an ECM, so how do I wire it all up to know @ 180 degrees kick on water pump and fans at the same time? Also how does the A/C turn on the FANS when you tell the A/C to come on? Something has to hit that second stage motor on the fan. Also what wire harness do I start out with?


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-LOUIE

Since you don't have any ECM, might as well get a new working harness.  Didn't the electric fans come with any sensor/relay to turn them on? If they didn't, probably can get something in the aftermarket.

The A/C circuitry usually applies voltage to the compressor and fan at the same time.  The fan speed is controlled directly by the switch except for high.  There the switch controls a relay de to the high current draw. That protects the switch contacts and minimizes the voltage drop to the fan motor.

That being said, when I added factory A/C, power windows, and a maplite mirror, I added my own wiring to the factory harness which, since I was the original owner, was not butchered.  Also had the factory service manual which helped.

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1973 L-82 4 spd

The fans came with a relay kit. But how does that alone kick on if the thermostat doesn't connect to it? There also must be a lead that goes to the A/C system somewhere so it could kick on the second stage correct?

these are the fans....

http://www.dewitts.com/collections/spal-fans/products/spal-dual-fan-kit

thats the fan kit. I also was able to locate both wire harnesses for the new headlamps since they are factory oem lights. I can at least use the pigtail from  the harnesses off the back of the lights and solder them into whatever harness I start with. Do I still need a factory 1977 Corvette forward light harness then?

What harness should I start with though? A FACTORY REPRO from like lectric limited or a custom harness? What kind of switch do I use now for the lights? I just want ONE switch, ON, OFF, HIGH

|UPDATED|9/25/2016 9:05:11 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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-LOUIE

Here is one company that may help you.

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Corvettes and women are the same...You want to make love to them but they keep breaking down.

I rewired my 68 using a kit from http://www.ronfrancis.com/ approx 8 yrs ago . Very easy just one wire at a time..took 60+ hrs to complete & no problems since.

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