Mystery parts near fuse box on my 70

[Steve G.]

I see two things wrong near my fuse box. One is what looks to be a small diameter vacuum hose underneath the fuse box. It looks to be lodged behind the box with a short (~ 1/4") length sticking out the bottom, right side. There is nothing attached to this piece that is sticking out. Any ideas?

The other item is an electrical connector with two heavy gage wires attached. One wire is purple. The other is purple with white stripe. The connector is hanging near the emergency brake lever and not connected. The connections are blade types with one blade purpendicular to the other. Anyone know what that is for and what it should be connected to?

[Pat K.]

Re: Mystery parts near fuse box on my 70

Steve - I don't know, but I'd suggest looking in your AIM.

Pat

[Robert M.]

Re: Mystery parts near fuse box on my 70

I don't have my AIM handy, as I'm away from home.

So my guess is maybe a Neutral Start Safety switch connector for an Automatic transmission. And I'm guessing you have a 4 speed?

[Jay G.]

Re: Mystery parts near fuse box on my 70

Steve,

Not sure what the apparent vacuum line would be for behind the fuse block but on my '69 there isn't anything in that area so I would guess that it doesn't belong there on a '70 either.

On my manual trans '69, the purple wires go to a switch on the clutch pedal that prevents the starter from engaging unless the clutch is depressed. If you have a manual car and can start the car without depressing the clutch then someone has bypassed that circuit.

Regards,

Jay

[Vincent F.]

Re: Mystery parts near fuse box on my 70

exactly right, its for the neutral safty switch mounted on the clutch pedal. If your car is an automatic it would not be connected to anything as the auto neutral safty switch is mounted at the shifter. I believe the wiring harness had connectors for both applications.

[Steve G.]

Re: Mystery parts near fuse box on my 70

Thanks. My car is an automatic, so I guess it makes sense that it is not connected. I have found a number of areas where things were 'modified' so I had assumed this was just one more problem. Glad its not.

So the purple wire mystery is solved. Regarding the hose trapped behind the fuse box... is it easy to remove the fusebox to investigate this or am I asking for more trouble than its worth?

[Jay G.]

Re: Mystery parts near fuse box on my 70

...So the purple wire mystery is solved. Regarding the hose trapped behind the fuse box... is it easy to remove the fusebox to investigate this or am I asking for more trouble than its worth?

Steve,

The fuse block isn't too difficult to remove. As I recall, there are two screws that hold the fuse block to the firewall. I have attached a shot from my '69 when I had to remove the fuse block and bulkhead connector to repair some loose connections due to corrosion. Once you remove the two screws from the corners of the block you will have to unsnap the block from the tangs on the back of the bulkhead connector which you can see in the picture below.

Also, the bulkhead connector won't come loose like in the picture unless you also take the connectors off of the firewall on the engine side so don't be concerned that you cannot get the bulkhead connector loose like in my picture.

I hope that it goes without saying but I will anyway: Disconnect your battery first!



Regards,

Jay

[Steve G.]

Re: Mystery parts near fuse box on my 70

I pulled the eggcrate off the driver's side fender to peek inside to see if I could see if the tube went thru the firewall. I saw what looked to be a rubber tip. I wonder if this is a plug to hold the carpet? See photo sattached.

[Jay G.]

Re: Mystery parts near fuse box on my 70

...I wonder if this is a plug to hold the carpet? See photo sattached.

Steve,

I don't have any pictures of that area from my car but I suspect you are correct. I know that the plugs that hold the firewall insulation to the firewall look similar and have a hole in the middle of them when looking from the inside of the car but the ones I am familiar with have a large head on them about the size of a nickel.

Here is a picture of the plugs I am referring to



Regards,

Jay