1968 floor console wiring

[teamlo]

Greetings all,

I had a quick question. I am adding a floor console to my '68 (car not equipped originally with one). My question centered around how to wire it up. I know that I can wire the transmission selector light (automatic transmission) to the existing wiring under the carpet, but what about wiring the console itself into the main harness so that it interacts with the dome light. Is there an existing pigtail somewhere up under the dash, and if so, what color might it be, so I know what to look for? If not, what options might there be?

Thanks

Terry

 

[robert campbell]

Terry,
This is too comical. I just pulled my console out and sold it to Alan's 68Gulfstream Aqua. I just unplugged the harness yesterday.

I assume you have the wire harness. It is about 18 gauge wire an a bit smaller than the shifter light wire. It is about 24 inches long with a ground wire that attaches to the ground wire with the shift light. It plugs into a harness on the console with a male/female plug. This end should be left somewhere around the shifter. The one wire with a single blue “male” plug on the end goes up the center of the hump with the shift light wire. It is under the carpet underlayment and even goes a bit up the firewall under the firewall pad.
Again, it follows the shift wire. On my car there was a single blue “female” plug hanging out of the wire harness on the right side of the fuse block. On my car this female plug had two wires running into it the single female connector and joined there. This pigtail was about 2 inches long. It works with the dome light system. Easy to check this if you have you battery hooked up. It should be hot when you open the door.

Anyway, that is how it routed on my car which is a Marti verified lower console car.

Another question for the site. My console had two holes drilled in the side where the special radio bracket meets the console. It appears that the console should be screwed to the radio bracket, but my car had no holes in the bracket and the hole appeared to never be used. Can someone shed some light on whether their car has a lower console screwed to this bracket? Alan and I would like to know. Maybe I have a Friday car and the line worker was tired….

Rob

 

[teamlo]

Rob,

Thanks for the quick reply!! Essentially, the wiring that runs underneath the console is all there, for the rear light, glovebox light, etc. I just needed to figure out how difficult it's going to be to find the main wiring to hook the console into, in terms of pulling up carpet or contoring myself under the dash, so that it works with the dome light when the door is opened.

Thanks. BIG help. I just need to spray on one more coat of dye on the rigid plastic of the console and add a few missing items and it's done. It's coming out really well. I think it will add a lot to the interior of the car!

Terry

 

[robert campbell]

Just looked at rvtrash (love that handle, reminds me of me) and Steve has a good pic of his console from the right side. Looks like a screw is in the positon I asked about to secure the console the the radio mount bracket..

Steve??

 

[PFSlim]

Here are a few pictures for you. As you can see before I installed the console, the wiring laying there ready to be plugged in. Glad I didn't have to remember color and other technical stuff. The close up of the top of the console was worth including as my top did not match in the hole very well. In other words, there was a gap. I worked with the guy who recovered our seats and had him take a piece of that material and make a rope insert with it. We installed it to close the gap and it looks perfect.

Good luck

Paul

 

[rvrtrash]

Just looked at rvtrash (love that handle, reminds me of me) and Steve has a good pic of his console from the right side. Looks like a screw is in the positon I asked about to secure the console the the radio mount bracket..

Steve??

I have two screws that attach the console to the radio bracket/bottom of the dash.

"Rvrtrash" (short for river trash) is a reference to my white water rafting hobby. You can just see it on peoples faces when we pull into civilization after a week on the river, sunburned, unshaven, disheveled, half naked and walking around with big, stupid grins on our faces. They think life isn't worth living without Starbucks and Nordstom.

Steve (stuck between rafting and ski seasons--so working on cars again in the meantime)

 

[robert campbell]

Steve,
River trash! And I thought you lived in a Winnebago all this time!!! I don't live in a trailer and all my cars are inside, but a 90 pound hound (half Plott Hound, half Treeing Walker Hound) dog sleeps on my bed with my wife and I. Hound also sleeps on the couch!!

All summer is at the lake property!! Little time for car shows. I drive them for my enjoyment. And very fast!!!

Rob

 

[rvrtrash]

Steve,

All summer is at the lake property!! Little time for car shows. I drive them for my enjoyment. And very fast!!!

Pretty much the same here (without the dog). Summers I spend as much time as possible on the river. Winters as much time as possible on the slopes. I guess I'm kind of an adrenaline junkie.

Steve