Gerald Morris
Senior Member
I usually dispense advice in this particular Forum, Electrical, as its the one area I've had plenty prior experience with. Ah, but Pride goeth 'ere the Fall, eh? So, I looked at the lovely new Shee-Mar 107 I ordered from Rock Auto last weekend, knowing the wire pull from the turn signal switch in the front of the steering column tube would require a bit of skill. That, folks, is an understatement. After 90 minutes of struggle this late afternoon, I've decided it's time to bend my stiff neck, and seek advice.
I followed the FSM faithfully enough, as far as it goes:
I tried a bit of stranded #16 AWG, which pulled IN easily enough, twisted to a clipped wire from the old switch harness, then used that to pull in a length of solid #12 THHN in case the pull got so hard as to break the #16. Alas! I couldn't fashion a slim enough wire-head using the solid #12, so I reluctantly pulled the #16 back into the tube, made a wirehead carefully taping the molex connector prongs over to avoid bending them, only to still have the wirehead bind up at the beginning of the absurdly narrow tube MaPar made for the harness ribbon cable. I even made 3 separate heads in hope that their smaller size would allow me to serially insert them, then pull the little #16 on down and get the connector prongs out in serviceable condition. But the 3 heads bound up also. I even lubricated all my wireheads with GoJo lanolin in hope of easing the pull.
I use 3M black tape to make my wireheads and also to protect those damned prongs, but the tape catches at the insertion.
Have any of you successfully pulled this Shee-Mar 107 cable through the Saginaw column? I'm thinking right now of trying string tomorrow, tied directly around the little hooks in the prongs, but I REALLY don't like this idea, as I'm almost certain this will bend the inserts beyond use with the old molex plug.
I'm also thinking strongly about cutting those damned prongs off, ditching the molex connector in favor of individual bullet connectors. It's 10 connection, and while I don't relish making 10 bullet terminal splices in my signal wires, my time is VERY finite, and I need the car back on the street by early Tuesday morning.
Hmmmmm, I found a thread on a TILT Saginaw column, with a VERY similar Shee-Mar switch, and saw that the OP in the Youtube video pulls his wires though singly. I HATE separating the ribbon cable, but concede that if nothing better comes along, I CAN do THAT.
Here's the thread, so well meaning folk won't bother directing me to it later:
68 Chrysler turn signal switch replacement with Tilt Telescoping Column
Guys, is THAT as Good as It Gets here?
I'm also pondering pulling the damned column apart, but REALLY HATE this idea, save as a Last Resort.
Any ideas or method suggestions my Wise Moparians?
I followed the FSM faithfully enough, as far as it goes:
I tried a bit of stranded #16 AWG, which pulled IN easily enough, twisted to a clipped wire from the old switch harness, then used that to pull in a length of solid #12 THHN in case the pull got so hard as to break the #16. Alas! I couldn't fashion a slim enough wire-head using the solid #12, so I reluctantly pulled the #16 back into the tube, made a wirehead carefully taping the molex connector prongs over to avoid bending them, only to still have the wirehead bind up at the beginning of the absurdly narrow tube MaPar made for the harness ribbon cable. I even made 3 separate heads in hope that their smaller size would allow me to serially insert them, then pull the little #16 on down and get the connector prongs out in serviceable condition. But the 3 heads bound up also. I even lubricated all my wireheads with GoJo lanolin in hope of easing the pull.
I use 3M black tape to make my wireheads and also to protect those damned prongs, but the tape catches at the insertion.
Have any of you successfully pulled this Shee-Mar 107 cable through the Saginaw column? I'm thinking right now of trying string tomorrow, tied directly around the little hooks in the prongs, but I REALLY don't like this idea, as I'm almost certain this will bend the inserts beyond use with the old molex plug.
I'm also thinking strongly about cutting those damned prongs off, ditching the molex connector in favor of individual bullet connectors. It's 10 connection, and while I don't relish making 10 bullet terminal splices in my signal wires, my time is VERY finite, and I need the car back on the street by early Tuesday morning.
Hmmmmm, I found a thread on a TILT Saginaw column, with a VERY similar Shee-Mar switch, and saw that the OP in the Youtube video pulls his wires though singly. I HATE separating the ribbon cable, but concede that if nothing better comes along, I CAN do THAT.
Here's the thread, so well meaning folk won't bother directing me to it later:
68 Chrysler turn signal switch replacement with Tilt Telescoping Column
Guys, is THAT as Good as It Gets here?
I'm also pondering pulling the damned column apart, but REALLY HATE this idea, save as a Last Resort.
Any ideas or method suggestions my Wise Moparians?
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