I thought I would share some observations I have had regarding 68 brake light switche and the radio noise capacitor that the assembly manual shows attached to it. I would appreciate any comments people might have regarding it. To my knowledge, my May built car did not have a capacitor wired/spliced into the brake light switch. I have five of these switches that I collected from 68 corvettes and are unique to 68 corvette, including my own, and only one of the switches had the capacitor wired into the switch like the assembly manual shows. The rest have no sign of ever having a capacitor wired into them. The capacitor is normally anchored to the switch with a screw and there is no sign of the screw being attached to the switch. Is it possible all these switches may have been replaced, the capacitors removed and tossed to the side sometime in the life of the car or did they just simply never have them??? I have also collected some of the capacitors. It appears that capcitors eventually evolved to have terminal spades attached to the wire ends and were simply attached at the union between the switch harness and the dash wire harness. The spades would slide into the connector I guess??? Sort of a mistery to me. Opinions and observations are welcome. Thanks, Terry
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Re: 68 brake light switch and capcitor....
Terry,
My May 10 1968 coupe does NOT have the capacitor attached to the brake switch because it is not the original switch. However, when I replaced a defective brake light switch on this car years ago, the one that came out also did not have the capacitor on it. I have owned the car since 1972 and it is possible that the original owner, between May 1968 and 1972 when I bought it, swapped out the original switch but I rather doubt it since they seem to last a long time and my car was very low mileage, (as in seldom driven) when I purchased it.
I suspect that the switch I removed was the original and it did not have the capacitor.
Kurt
PS I recently purchased a brake light switch for my "parts inventory" and it has the capacitor attached. -
Re: 68 brake light switch and capcitor....
Lucky dog regarding that brake light switch with capacitor attached! That is a rare find indeed. I am not going to attach the capitor to mine. I am next to certain, mine didn't have a capacitor either. I hope Dick Whittington reads this. My car did have the coil capacitor, the capcitor attached to the back of the tachometer and a capcitor attached to the back of the ampmeter. I don't think there was one attached under the shifter console either at that relay or buzzer thing. Thanks for responding, TerryComment
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Re: 68 brake light switch and capcitor....
...my Four Star Bowtie 43K mile coupe(VIN #14222, build date March 19, 1968)and my convertible(VIN # 18434, build date May 6)do not have them either.Comment
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Re: 68 brake light switch and capcitor....
The practice of mounting a capacitor across the brake light switch was well established with mid-year cars after the introduction of radios with FM capability (same for caps on the heater blower fan). The capacitors are called out as part of the factory radio option installation. Hence, 'replacement' switches wouldn't be expected to come with capacitors on them (all cars regardless of radio option had stop light switches)...
Yes, the capacitor changed configuration over time. In the mid-year era, the cap was similar to that used on the turn signal flasher in that it connected to the switch via thin metal blades that 'sandwiched' between the switch contact and the wiring harness connector receptical. Later Shark cars attached the capacitor to the lead wires to the brake light switch via Butt connectors. This left the capacitor intact/connected despite the removal of the connector from the switch.
I don't have a '68 AIM to look at, but I'm pretty darn sure the capacitor wasn't deleted for one year only as part of the radio option! It's RF suppression function (thwart the 'popping' noise associated with applying or releasing the brakes with the radio playing) was needed regardless of whether or not the car was a '67, '68 or '69...Comment
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Re: 68 brake light switch and capcitor....
Jack, I think your reasoning and observations are correct. But, I don't think 68 used the capacitor in the production line untill late in production. For whatever reason, it was not being put in the cars or was neglected, or possibly a hit and miss type thing. The AIM shows the capacitor but I have also found the AIM not to be correct in other things as well. The 68 year corvette never had all it wheels on the ground when it started production. There were a ton of production issues. Don't ask me to site any references but I have read about it in the past and my observations of looking at 68's and talking to owners has let me to the impression that the car was being forced through the assembly line with poor quality control and some of the bugs not worked out. Just my humble opinion. I hope other people respond to the thread. Take care, TerryComment
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Re: 68 brake light switch and capcitor....
Exacto-mundo! Your responce is noted. Thanks, Terry
Paul, did you say your car has the rubber outer window wipes also or not??
Got to go, wife is calling. Take care, TerryComment
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Yes, Rubber Wipes on the Coupe. *NM*
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Re: Yes, Rubber Wipes on the Coupe.
Thanks, I think I asked you about them before. Any chance you could send me a picture so I can tell what to look for. If possible, send them to tfringo@aol.com
Thanks, TerryComment
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