Fiber optic in shift indicator?!?
 

Yesterday I (yet again) took the non-tilt steering column apart and adjusted it. One thing I noticed when I was cleaning the shift indicator. What I thought was a busted wire to a bulb in the indicator looks more like a fiber optic! There's no bulb, and strands of what looks like glass fiber run inside a sheath, and look like it should run down the length of the column and attach somewhere under the dash, then to the fuse box!

Is this really a fiber optic cable? Is that truely stock? If so I didn't know they were using this stuff as early as '69. Surprising.

How do I replace it? Once these are broke they're not fixable. Where do I get a replacement? Where does it connect?

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'69 3/4 ton C20 2wd w/ 350ci/400THM and a wood bed!
'69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd w/ ORIGINAL 350ci/4sp Manual and a wood bed (parts beast).
Seattle, WA.

*See pics of my trucks and project at www.webshots.com!

you are right there is no bulb just a fiber optic line to a dash light

A lot of GM cars used fiber optics during these years. Corvettes and Caddys had fiber optics so you could tell that all your lights[brakes, turnsignals] worked from the drivers seat. And the quit putting them on the vettes in 71.

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72 GMC Sierra SWB almost finished---- 84 Softail
Olive Branch MS

I was suprised when I found this too. here was this 30-ish year old truck, with "state of the art" lighting on it. hehe, the fiberoptic line runs down the colum and actually runs off one of the bulbs in your factory guage cluster. pretty wild hehe

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Projects
Belair '71 C10 LWB to SWB conversion:C10 project page
65Chevelle pics coming soon

There is one unique bulb holder that the fiber optic cable attaches to.....the optic cable transfers the light to the indictaor on the column... the unique holder is fairly common on van dashes also...anything that has a similar shift indictor like ours should have that bulb holder in the rear of the cluster.

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Senior active member of the best truck message board on the net.
71 1/2 ton Suburban 4x4, 350/350
72 1ton tow truck 402BB w/Holmes 440 wrecker / on propane
85 FXSB Harley Lowrider
72 Triumph 650 Bonneville 5spd


[This message has been edited by Rod (edited April 08, 2002).]

There is a fiber optic shift indicator light for sale on e-bay right now. I don't have a link, but saw it there this morning.

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Ol' Buck: '72 Chevy 1/2T 4x4 shortbox stepside 350/350auto on '84
ralleys and 31/10.5s

Angel girl: 67 Cutlass convertible
330, 3spd stick

Greener: 90 GMC Jimmy
350/auto
Chad Stephens
Orleans,NE

no name yet: 72 442 under serious construction

Were these on all the trucks?

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Nick Rodenberg
Wellington, MO
http://nickrod.port5.com
You can click on "My 72 Chevy Truck"
I have a 72 Cheyenne 10 with a V8 350 and a TH-350 auto-tranny.
White/Ochre/White
Runs well... working on body.
Hoping to have completed in March when I turn 16

Pretty sure they were. All the auto matics anyways.

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'69 G.M.C. 350/350. Trying to clean up the left over damage from the Dope-Smokin-Old-Man
I've been dubbed the Longhorn Freak/Fanatic/Expert, I just hope I can live up to it.
FINALLY got the HORNIAC...a '70 one ton Longhorn with a Pontiac 350/350 and lots of 'personality'. Check out The Longhorn Webite.
If you need a pic posted, E-mail me at longhornmail@yahoo.com
Andy, in Columbus Ohio