72 TA : New Project

[njsteve]

Victory at last!

Got the replacement harness from American Autowire this afternoon. It took more than four hours to pull the old one and put the new one in. It was not a fun time.

The junction to the firewall was a nightmare as it is behind the brake booster. You literally have to pull about six inches of the engine harness into the passenger compartment in order to disconnect it from the inside half of the dash harness. You then have to find something to pry the halves apart while hanging upside-down under the dash. Of course there is no room to tighten the main connection bolt once you get the new engine harness connected to the old dash harness. And in typical fashion, the internal retaining nut inside the main fuse box started spinning, making it just about impossible to pull the two halves together. Not a happy time. Completely shredded my hands and arms doing this.

The starter removal/reinstallation was another fun part of the process. The factory length on the 455HO starter harness section has very little extra play in it as it has to get around the front of the block and underneath the HO exhaust manifolds, unlike the regular Pontiac engines, so you have to hold the 20 pound starter up with one hand while removing/installing the wires with the other hand, while using your third hand to hold the wires in place so they don't move while tightening.

Here's the old harness after I got it removed and before sending it back to American Autowire.