wiring from hell.. help please

Discussion in '"Pay It Forward"' started by 68_Skylark, Sep 25, 2006.

  1. 68_Skylark

    68_Skylark Member

    If anyone has wiring diagrams for 68 skylark, I'd really appreciate if anyone can scan them & email them to me.. my wiring is a real mess & needs help

    croc @ ablewise.com


    thank you
     
  2. copperheadgs1

    copperheadgs1 copperheadgs1

    I would suggest buying a used 68 Buick service manual and then also just spending the cash on a new wiring harness. Is it the engine harness? They cost about $140 I think from Factory Fit and solve alot of problems. Do not even try and fix the old one if it is as mangled as you say. If you need a forward light harness this will be a little more and if you need the under dash harness they can be quite expensive about $500. Do not play around with rat@#$!@# harnesses they are a fire hazard.
     
  3. online170

    online170 Well-Known Member

    Dave is right, i had a 71 with a similar problem. I couldnt afford the new harness, and i was having one problem after another. The board members are nice enough that someone will go through the trouble of scanning in a file for you. But you will quickly discover that what you have, is not what the wiring diagram is showing, so in turn you will have to "re-create" the entire harness for yourself. Because of the firehazard issue, i ended up installing more than a few fusible links, and because the wire was spaghetti, it would always get caught on something hot, now if ur on the highway in the middle of the night, itsnot fun to lose ur headlights, or worse have ur car die on you (been there done that). In 8 months, the amount i spent on used wire, butt connectors, various sorts of spades and end connectors, and burned out fuses, amounted close to the cost of a new harness. At the end i was exactly where i started and $140 in the hole, so save urself the trouble, and protect ur safety, but a new one. Factory Fit can be a little expensive, i found a site about this not too long ago, ill search the posts and post up the link. This wiring doesnt have all the wires labeled, but its the same as it was when it rolled out of the factory with higher quality parts. Good luck.
     
  4. online170

    online170 Well-Known Member

  5. sailbrd

    sailbrd Well-Known Member

    If you are not doing a correct restoration I found EZwire to be less expensive harness that is good qualitly. You still need a diagram. The hard part is under the dash. I have good diagram for 70 Larks but not 68.
     
  6. justalark

    justalark Silver Level contributor

    ebay had them recently.
     
  7. 68_Skylark

    68_Skylark Member

    I'm not doing a restoration at the moment, just need to wire it to be road legal & operational.. I just got this car roughly 10 days or so ago..

    All the original wiring is cut, spliced into, etc.. all the original guages, instruments have been replaced with aftermarket ones, the ignition switch has been replaced too.. my wipers don't work, I need to hook it up to a switch,, the tail lights are on all the time & I can't shut them off & have to disconnect the battery all the time because of this.. well, there's more problems too, but it's a disaster & all the wiring needs to be repaired or replaced, except the engine harness.. I know I can buy the booklet with the diagrams, but wanted to start working on the car because I need to drive it somewhere this weekend & the shipping from year one takes a couple weeks.

    As far as buying harnesses go, it'll have to wait as I don't have that kind of cash to invest into the car right now & am more interested in the car as a driver than restoring it, for now..
     
  8. online170

    online170 Well-Known Member

    Try finding a used harness, out of a junkyard

    Its gonna come back to bite you in the butt, all it takes is one exposed wire, to touch another wire, and it'll melt and cause a fire, possibly fry the rest of ur circuits. Find a used harness, and connect everything as per original, the "aftermarket" stuff can always be added on. Not sure how you got the car on the road with an inspection if the wiring is as bad as you say. But you will end up spending that much toying around with it. Unfortunately wiring is one of those things that you cant really "fix" it needs to be replaced. Good luck.
     

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