73 front wire harness Fuse wire?

[Roger C.]

I am trying to reburbish the front engine harness on my 73 coupe.
There is a orange wire link from the horn relay that transitions to a black wire.
This transition is "potted" with a rubber like material in the shape of a small cylinder about a 1/2" long. The orange portion of the wire has been severed. Is the orange wire portion a fuse wire and if so, can it be repaired by replacing the complete orange length with the proper gage wire and an inline fuse or if the orange wire is a fuse link, who supplies such. Thank you.

[Jack H.]

Re: 73 front wire harness Fuse wire?

The item IS a fusible link with the black cylinder performing the fuse function. You can get a replacement to splice in from any number of sources (your local auto parts store) by simply specifying the gauge of the wire (see the wiring diagram in your AIM book). But, don't expect the donor to match the original in terms of exact configuration.

Your alternative is to visit a local scrap yard and cut the equivalent from another GM vehicle of the same approximate year, peel back the tape wrap covering the wire and splice the donor in where the splice will be hidden by the harness tape wrap...