Finally brought the new ride home

[djeCST]

I bought this truck in Reno, but I live in San Jose, CA. It took about 4 weeks of waiting for the storms to clear over Donner Pass, but we finally got our window. Drove my new 1970 CS/T 250 or so miles to its new home. Ran like a champ, except for that part right around Stockton, 100 miles from home: We're cruising along I-5 at about 7pm, when I notice that the fuel gauge is still on Full. We gassed up about 100 miles ago, and this ain't no Prius, so I tapped the fuel gauge (hey, it might help). As a tapped the gauge (Autometers in a billet dash bezel), the whole thing came loose and slipped back about an inch. BANG! A flash, some smoke, and all the dash lights go out. Headlights, too, which is a thrill at 70mph in the dark on the freeway. We made it to the shoulder and waited for the smoke to clear. Fortunately, the headlights came back on and when my heart rate slowed down a little we hit the road and made it home with no further drama. Can you say short?


Anyway, I have spent the last couple of days chasing some seriously hacked up wiring under the dash. I finally pulled all the gauges and started removing things that looked like trouble. I ended up with quite a collection of garbage:


I'll clean it up and install my gauges into a new stock bezel, but I may end up with a new harness before I'm done. It's a pain in a way, but I'm having fun nonetheless.

Apart from the electrical, the truck is a real sweetheart: Mild 350 (carburetor for now), 700R4, 3:73 posi, front disc brakes.