1956 to 1962 Ignition Fuse Safety

[Richard M.]

For those interested, a How-To so you can add a ignition fuse.........And even make it easily removable for judging.

http://home.comcast.net/~richmz/site/?/page/1956_to_1962_Corvette_Ignition_Fuse

An acquaintance fried his '62 engine harness a few days ago and white-knuckled the car to the break-down lane after it stalled. The ignition shield shorted the coil+ wire, melted the ballast brown feed wire, cooked the harness and nearly destroyed the car.

Rich

[Donald S.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Ignition Fuse Safety

Rich,

Would this also protect the cigarette lighter circuit as well?
Thanks!
Don

[Richard M.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Ignition Fuse Safety

Don,

No this won't protect the lighter. It's always hot, meaning it's tied directly to the ammeter output wire, along with the clock as well. Both always hot even with key off.

You can make a similar type fuse assembly for each, using appropriate terminals without cutting your original wiring. This way you can remove it and just re-connect the stock wire to each item if needed for judging, etc.

Below is a photo of a lighter fuse on a '60 I did recently. Also, the Orange wire fuse is a 30 amp going to the ammeter from the engine harness. It's only good to protect catastrophic shorts........

Like the time when I dropped a screwdriver across the Voltage Regulator BAT terminal and Ground when I was going to Polarize the generator on a rebuild. Fuse saved the harness as the screwdriver jammed itself tight and took me a few seconds to retrieve it. It blew the fuse instantly.

Rich

fuses.jpg

Edit....BTW, The other unprotected items besides the ignition circuit are the Horn Relay and Voltage Regulator/Generator(A) terminals. The 30 Amp fuse will protect the harness in the case of a hard short at either of those. Remember that horn relay Red #12 wire is always hot. Dropping a metal object across the Red terminal and ground is not recommended either.

[David Z.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Ignition Fuse Safety

With Rich's "green light", I am posting a PDF file of his info on fusing the ignition circuits in '56-'62 Corvettes plus some additional information. File is attached.
Dave Z

[Donald S.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Ignition Fuse Safety

Thanks Gentlemen!
Don

[Erich C.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Ignition Fuse Safety

Dave and Rich, thanks for posting the pdf file.
I just wanted to make a suggestion. Their is a post on the Corvette Forum ( http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...se-points.html ) that shows fuse points for some other circuits, namely the cig. lighter and clock. It also shows a fusible link installed on the ammeter wire by the starter. Would it be possible to add that info, with permission, to your pdf file so that members are also aware of those circuits that should have been fused. The post is by "Frankie the Fink" and I'm not sure he is a NCRS member but he is always on the forum as you probably already know.
Erich

[Richard M.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Ignition Fuse Safety

Erich,

It's a good idea to add that info. Dave added it to my document and just sent me a email with revised file. He's getting Frank to review it and will likely be posting the revised document soon.

There are many members here that would like to add these safety devices to their cars for future peace of mind. Whether judged or not, it's a good idea to do this. you can always undo it if necessary for judging.

Personally, I'd like to see allowances made to reduce deductions(to a "dot") or even eliminate deductions for adding safety devices like this.

Rich

[David Z.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Ignition Fuse Safety

Erich

With Rich's and Frank's approval, I added the information about adding fuses to the lighter, clock, etc. The modified PDF file is attached. This gets pretty much all of the info about adding those fuses for enhanced safety.

Dave Z

[Erich C.]

Re: 1956 to 1962 Ignition Fuse Safety

Dave Z,
Thanks to you ( and also to Rich and Frank ) for taking the time and effort to add that info to the PDF file. It should make present and future members aware of a potential safety issue. Even if there is a point deduction I would rather change a fuse than watch my car potentially burn to the ground.
Erich