The Top Finally Works, and GM Engineers Still Suck

Taking advice from the Classic Oldsmobile Forum, I pulled the seat to get better access to the back of the dash. Once that was done, I found a lot more room than I had expected in there. For me, it was still necessary to remove the left gauge to get access, but I was able to finally get the old switch out. The biggest issue was trying to get the wiring harness unhooked from the switch. I finally gave it a good tug and it came off. From my previous blog entry I was wondering about the gray and purple wires. As I was finishing up the switch replacement I was able to determine that the orange wire from the firewall supplied power directly to the switch (always on, not switched by the ignition). The gray and purple wires went from the switch to somewhere else on the car. Where? I don't care, the fvcking top works without me knowing. I do know now that I could have hotwired the top if needed to get it raised. I tested it with a small jumper wire, which proceeded to get hot enough to soften the insulation on it. Yeah, it was a thin wire and it really needs to be a heavy gauge wire, but it was enough to know it'd work.




Here is "old and busted" next to "new hotness". Don't mind the faded paint.




If anybody needs a switch, here's the one I used from Year One.