I recently bought a restored 68 SS convertible camaro. First let me apologize for my lack of knowledge,but The gentlemen who restored it did an fantastic job except one thing. The headlights worked before he started and now they do not ,, he said it might be a missing ground on the front clip.
can anyone provide me insight? everything else works perfectly electrically

Are they completely dead or do they work weird? If they are completely dead, there is no power. I have seen strangely wired headlights with bad grounds still come on weakly. A ground of that magnitude would affect more than just your headlights. Have you checked the fuse? Is there voltage to the fuse slot and/or headlight plug?

They do not work at all. The front was removed for painting and after it was put back on they will not work at all. It is like a ground wire or something was not connected properly. The car is in transit to me as I type this ,, So I have not seen it personally as of yet. I am just trying to be a little proactive. I understand that it is difficult for anyone to guess without actually looking at it.

Be sure you check all of your grounds when you get the car. Sometimes the paint will be the cause for a bad ground so make sure you clean everything off when you get the chance. When you get the car put a test light to the headlight harness to see if you have any power. Be sure to check all the fuses as well. Good luck.

Here is the 1000.00 answer.
I have ran into this a 100 times fold. Remove the dimmer switch connection on the floor and re-plug it in. If it still does not work, replace the dimmer switch. It completes the circuit for the head lights to work.

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68 RS red w/ white stripes
67 SS/RS restoring

The battery is grounded to the engine, the engine should have two ground straps one on each side going from lower rear valve cover to the firewall.
The body has one ground strap going from the center right body to subframe mount area to the subframe.
I can't remember if there is a strap on the drivers side.

The dimmer switch can get corroded inside too, on the contacts.
On our farm some of the pickups get wet in that area when an irrigator get's in and out with muddy wet boots etc.
And moisture can accelerate the corrosion of the dimmer switch.
I have also seen the terminals melt where they plug into the dimmer switch. The corrosion causes the connector to heat up.

We are now having major problems with the headlight switches on later 80's pickups. They get dust inside on the contacts, heat up and melt.
You can see smoke coming out of the switch! Not good.
The new switches have most of the metal taken out of them and the function is no longer a sliding type switch but more like points on a distributor. The problem is that type switch while less prone to wear problems, is much more susceptable to dust fouling.
A couple of specs of dust can prevent contact.
Add that the contacts are covered in grease, (headlight switch) to prevent oxidation, and you have a head start on a fire!

The tail light sockets melt on the push in bulb type too.
David

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Check my web page for First Gen Camaro suspension info:
David's Motorsports page (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/David_Pozzi/)
First Gen Suspension Page (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/David_Pozzi/first_gen_suspension.htm)
67 RS 327
69 Camaro Vintage Racer
65 Lola T-70 Chev 350
Can Am Vintage Racer


[This message has been edited by davidpozzi (edited 05-09-2001).]