80 van column into 66

[vince1]

I already have the collapsible shaft at the bottom so am assuming the 80 column will bolt in and connect to it. What do I have to do to connect the van column wiring to the 66 truck wiring? For the moment I am not concerned with 4 way flashers or the neutral safety switch but advice on that is also appreciated. Thanks for any suggestions.

[ray_mcavoy]

The 66 turn signal switch originally used a couple of semi-circular 4-cavity connectors that use Packard/Delphi 56-series terminals. I believe the 80 van turn signal switch will have a flat "harmonica" connector that uses Pack-Con terminals.

I think there may be some pre-made adapters on the market that will allow you to connect the two together without any cutting or splicing. Or you could make your own adapter by using the matching connectors cut off the van harness and your old steering column. Or change out the plug/socket on either your truck harness or the column so they match.

The majority of the wire color coding should be the same for both years.

-purple wire is the turn signal power feed from the flasher relay.
-white / natural wire is the brake light power feed from the brake light switch.
-dark blue wire is the output to the right front turn signal & right turn indicator in the dash.
-light blue wire is the output to the left front turn signal & left turn indicator in the dash.
-dark green wire is the output to the right rear turn signal / brake light.
-yellow wire is the output to the left rear turn signal / brake light.
-black wire connects the horn button to the horn relay.

The van turn signal switch will also have a brown wire for the hazard flashers. If you do decide to hook those up, just run that brown wire to one side of a flasher relay. And connect the other side of the flasher to a constant power source (such as the brake light fuse).

If your 66 originally had an automatic transmission, I think there will also be a gray wire that goes to the bulb that lights up the transmission range indicator. The van column (if auto) will probably have a gray wire for this too. If your 66 originally had a manual trans it won't have the gray wire, but you could run the gray wire from the van column to the dash light circuit by plugging it into the appropriate receptacle on the side of the fuse box.

[vince1]

Thank you so much. This is exactly the information I was looking for.

[ray_mcavoy]

You're welcome!

For a pre-made adapter, check with M&H Electric Fabricators Inc. at www.wiringharness.com

I just took a look in their Chevy truck catalog (http://www.wiringharness.com/PDFS/TR...hevy_Truck.pdf) and it looks like their part number 38125 might be what you need. The description reads: "1966 Steering Column Adapter Harness, for 1975 & up GM & Flaming River columns (exc. Ididit) to stock dash harness. Note: adapts horn, directionals, hazard flashers to stock 8-way dash connector."