68/70Vette
Well-known member
I need to build some custom harnesses for the 1970 and want to make the new wiring look "professional;" i.e. like it would if it came from the factory. I've done this with my 1968. I made some custom harnesses for the 68 using Delphi Weather Pack connectors. I bought my connectors for the 68 from Waytek.com, an electrical parts distributor.
Waytek forces you to buy in quantity. For example, lets say you want three 4 pin Delphi Weather Pack connectors. From Wayteck you might, for example, be required to buy 60 4 pin male connectors and 50 matching 4 pin female connectors. You need to next buy a bag of 150 18 to 22 gauge male pins and a bag of 150 18-22 gauge female connectors. Similarly two more bags of 12 to 16 gauge pins. Next maybe a bag of 18 to 22 gauge pin seals and another bag of 14 to 16 gauge silicon seals!!!!! Using Waytek, you're forced to buy way too many components that you'll actually need. I bought all the stuff for my 68 from Waytek.
By the time I started thinking about the 1970, I discovered Delphikits.com.
I bought their Weather Pack Pro Kit for $369 and their Metri Pack Pro Kit for $178. This provides all the pieces I need within the necessity of buying large quantities I don't need. The Weather Pack kit is extra-pricey since it includes crimping tools. The Delphi 12 to 22 gauge crimping tool, by itself, is $102. You must buy a crimping tool designed for the connector pins you're using. The Delphi crimping tool, for example, crimps not only the pin/wires but also crimps on the Weather Pack and Metri Pack silicon sleeves. The silicon sleeves are to keep water out of the connectors.
For the 68, I built harnesses for the electric fans, electric fuel pumps, and HEI distributor...yes, I have redundant fuel pumps. If one fails, I just turn off the failed pump and turn on the redundant pump...required a little bit of fancy plumbing work. I plan to do the same for the 70.
I used mostly Delphi Weather Pack connectors. The Delphi Metri Pack connectors look externally almost the same as the Weather Pack connectors. Both have been used by GM in production automobiles/trucks. The advantage of Metri Pack is that they offer a 8 pin plug...Weather Pack only goes up to 6 pins. Metri Pack offers an advantage of providing a "bus bar" male connector. Lets say you have three wires that you want to join. Bubba will take the ends of all three wires, strip off say 1/2 inch of insulation...wrap the wires together....solder them...and wrap them with black electrical tape. With Metri Pack, you run the three wires into a female connector and then take a specialized male connector that contains an internal 3 pin bus bar...when you mate the female and male connectors, the three wires are all interconnected.
Also, for my 70, all the electrical components in the speedo/dash and central console instrument panel will be connected to the interior firewall harness via connectors. This means that after I install the speedo/tach dash and the central instrument panel, I'll have connectors dangling out under the front driver's vertical instrument panel. A quick succession of snaps will wire the entire front panel. No more laying on my back trying to snap in those little bulbs into the back of the tach and speedo.
...........................
BTW: You can go to a local electrical/auto parts store and buy Molex connector kits. Say a 12 pin female Nylon connector, 12 male Nylon connector and 12 male pins and 12 female pins. Maybe something like $5.00. Much cheaper than Delphi. They come in various pin number; 2, 3, 4, 6, etc. I found their quality to be lacking. Insert a pin from the back (as you're suppose to) and sometimes it'll just keep on going without snapping into the connector shell...they most usually won't pull out from the back side, so maybe the pin will still work. Sometimes after all the pins are in,it'll be difficult to snap together the male and female connector shells. With the Delphi connector, you hear a "snap" when the pin locks into the connector shell..and locks against moving forward or backward. No problem mating up the male and female Delphi connectors. Also, the Delphi's are weather proof and designed to withstand underhood temps. You don't see Molex connectors in the engine compartments of production automobiles, although I have seen some Molex look alikes inside the passenger compartments.
Waytek forces you to buy in quantity. For example, lets say you want three 4 pin Delphi Weather Pack connectors. From Wayteck you might, for example, be required to buy 60 4 pin male connectors and 50 matching 4 pin female connectors. You need to next buy a bag of 150 18 to 22 gauge male pins and a bag of 150 18-22 gauge female connectors. Similarly two more bags of 12 to 16 gauge pins. Next maybe a bag of 18 to 22 gauge pin seals and another bag of 14 to 16 gauge silicon seals!!!!! Using Waytek, you're forced to buy way too many components that you'll actually need. I bought all the stuff for my 68 from Waytek.
By the time I started thinking about the 1970, I discovered Delphikits.com.
I bought their Weather Pack Pro Kit for $369 and their Metri Pack Pro Kit for $178. This provides all the pieces I need within the necessity of buying large quantities I don't need. The Weather Pack kit is extra-pricey since it includes crimping tools. The Delphi 12 to 22 gauge crimping tool, by itself, is $102. You must buy a crimping tool designed for the connector pins you're using. The Delphi crimping tool, for example, crimps not only the pin/wires but also crimps on the Weather Pack and Metri Pack silicon sleeves. The silicon sleeves are to keep water out of the connectors.
For the 68, I built harnesses for the electric fans, electric fuel pumps, and HEI distributor...yes, I have redundant fuel pumps. If one fails, I just turn off the failed pump and turn on the redundant pump...required a little bit of fancy plumbing work. I plan to do the same for the 70.
I used mostly Delphi Weather Pack connectors. The Delphi Metri Pack connectors look externally almost the same as the Weather Pack connectors. Both have been used by GM in production automobiles/trucks. The advantage of Metri Pack is that they offer a 8 pin plug...Weather Pack only goes up to 6 pins. Metri Pack offers an advantage of providing a "bus bar" male connector. Lets say you have three wires that you want to join. Bubba will take the ends of all three wires, strip off say 1/2 inch of insulation...wrap the wires together....solder them...and wrap them with black electrical tape. With Metri Pack, you run the three wires into a female connector and then take a specialized male connector that contains an internal 3 pin bus bar...when you mate the female and male connectors, the three wires are all interconnected.
Also, for my 70, all the electrical components in the speedo/dash and central console instrument panel will be connected to the interior firewall harness via connectors. This means that after I install the speedo/tach dash and the central instrument panel, I'll have connectors dangling out under the front driver's vertical instrument panel. A quick succession of snaps will wire the entire front panel. No more laying on my back trying to snap in those little bulbs into the back of the tach and speedo.
...........................
BTW: You can go to a local electrical/auto parts store and buy Molex connector kits. Say a 12 pin female Nylon connector, 12 male Nylon connector and 12 male pins and 12 female pins. Maybe something like $5.00. Much cheaper than Delphi. They come in various pin number; 2, 3, 4, 6, etc. I found their quality to be lacking. Insert a pin from the back (as you're suppose to) and sometimes it'll just keep on going without snapping into the connector shell...they most usually won't pull out from the back side, so maybe the pin will still work. Sometimes after all the pins are in,it'll be difficult to snap together the male and female connector shells. With the Delphi connector, you hear a "snap" when the pin locks into the connector shell..and locks against moving forward or backward. No problem mating up the male and female Delphi connectors. Also, the Delphi's are weather proof and designed to withstand underhood temps. You don't see Molex connectors in the engine compartments of production automobiles, although I have seen some Molex look alikes inside the passenger compartments.
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