Bulkhead connector removal

[M5Ivan]

As a preventative measure I'm getting ready to replace some of the wiring harnesses on the engine bay side. When I removed the engine wiring harness from the bulkhead I can see that one of the female connectors on the bulkhead is messed up. It's not causing any issues, but now I'd like to just replace the entire bulkhead connector as part of this project.  I'm just not sure how to remove it. Does the bulkhead connector come through the engine bay side via the clips I can see, or do I need access through the interior? Lord help me if I need to get to it from the interior 

[birdsandbees]

Depress the "clips" and it goes in the passenger side.

Replacement kit of the big block, three engine side connectors and all the lugs is available for $200 on Ebay. 

[M5Ivan]

Depress the "clips" and it goes in the passenger side.

Passenger side? So the connector ONLY comes out through the interior, not the engine bay side? 

[birdsandbees]

Yes.. the main block pops out the cabin side.. as it's part of the dash assembly.

You could possibly pop it and then pass it thru the hole on an angle to change out a connector?

[VegasCharger]

Yes.. the main block pops out the cabin side.. as it's part of the dash assembly.

You could possibly pop it and then pass it thru the hole on an angle to change out a connector?

Yes you could pass it thru the engine side once you release it to the cabin side. Then turn the bulkhead at an angle to pass it thru the engine comp. side for easier access to work on it. You might have to create some slack with your dash harness to give it enough run to pass it thru the firewall.

Just an FYI Evans Wiring sells new bulkhead connectors. Here's a link to the page (half way down).

http://www.evanswiring.com/catalog.htm

[Dino]

Just drop the steering column and push the connector into the cab. Then you can lower the connector and the entire wiring loom down onto the floor to work on it.

[M5Ivan]

I must be blind because I can't even see the other side of the bulkhead connector under the dash. I should be able to see it by dropping the steering column?

[Dino]

Yeah it's really high up. You may want to consider removing the seat to get some more room. It's just 4 nuts. If you have A/C the connector is real close to the box. Dropping the colun is easy to do and it will help imo, but no harm and trying without.

[M5Ivan]

Thanks Dino. I do have A/C and it seemed like the connector might have been behind it. No problem removing the seats, I just put in new ones last week. I'll try dropping the steering column and take another look tonight.

[M5Ivan]

Just looked again and it's hidden behind the a/c box so I really don't see how I can get to it without removing the box. If I were to pull it into the engine bay, I don't see how I'd be able to get a new mounted from the engine side......
Since the A/C and heater aren't working, I'm trying to figure out how to remove the box now.

[Dino]

You do not have to remove the box, I've had my bulkhead connector out a few times. If the box has to come out for repairs then sure ank it, but if you just want to work on electrical then leave it be.

Here's what I did: I removed the front seat and dropped the column. I dropped the column really because I needed to remove the instrument cluster, but it's nice to have it out of the way to tackle the connector as well. Heck you can yank the entire column if you want to, doesn't take much. Not necessary though. I then followed the wiring loom to the bulkhead connector under the dash and made sure the loom wasn't attached anywhere. It was clipped to something but I forget what. Then I removed the three connectors from the bay side, depressed the tab on the connector and pushed it inside the cab. It doesn't go far because of the heater box. From inside the cab I grabbed the wiring loom and moved the connector towards the driver side to clear the box. Now you can pull it all the way down to the floor.

Once I replaced the connector I guided it back into place and grabbed it from the bay side with some needle nose pliers until I could grab it with my fingers. Then I pulled it into the hole. There was no need to push it in from the back.

I know it looks daunting but give it a shot, it'll go a lot easier than you think.

[M5Ivan]

I'm planning on removing the instrument cluster to replace the dash lights with LED's as I need to have my tach adjusted, clock fixed and will probably update the cluster faces. Seems like it would be worthwhile to do this all at once since I'll have better access. Bummer is that I should really do all of this once the car is in storage for the winter but I'm just not ready to let it go yet.....

Thanks 

[Dino]

Ha! I know that feeling!   

Yeah the more you can do at once the easier the access, but draw a line in the sand and try not to cross it because your car will be in pieces before you know it.   

[birdsandbees]

because your car will be in pieces before you know it.   

[Troy]

Ha! I know that feeling!   

Yeah the more you can do at once the easier the access, but draw a line in the sand and try not to cross it because your car will be in pieces before you know it.   

I am an expert at this! Every time I take something down for a "simple" repair it's seemingly apart for years. Also, I'm great at "fixing" stuff that isn't broken and causing a whole mess of other problems. Your LED upgrade reminds me of this. I'd end up shorting out the gauges or pinching a wire or some other nonsense.

Troy

[M5Ivan]

So I was able to pull the bulkhead connector into the engine bay and replace it 
I was pleased to see that the interior wiring harness had been replaced at some point (probably more recently) so I know I'm not dealing with almost 50 year old wiring.
I cleaned all of the connections (although not much cleaning was required) on the interior side and gave them a good amount of dielectric grease.

I did notice that on the very bottom row there are two red wires on the same connector. Does anybody know if that's normal?
Here's a picture of the dual red wires.

[M5Ivan]

Just found my answer, it's correct as per the '69 charger wiring diagram.

[Dino]

Excellent! One less thing to worry about.