Ok, I'd admit, I can't really afford to buy new wiring harnesses. College is pretty expensive.

My '69s wiring isn't that bad (not hacked up or anything), however, but it will be 33 years old this November. Am I just wasting my time by soldering on some new connectors on the end of the wires, or should I just save my pennies for new harnesses?

If I can solder on new connectors, where can I find them? I looked in my Digi-Key catalog, but didn't seem to find any. I would like to retain the factory plastic plugs (the plastic deal where the connectors snap into). I would like to replace the connectors on both the appliance end, and the fusebox end. Ideas?

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1969 Base Camaro
Vortec 355, Perf. RPM, Demon Carb., TH-400
All sheetmetal is NOS GM
See my NEW webpage at: http://www.geocities.com/compuboy007/

Silver69, I had to repair some of my harness and got everything I needed at NAPA. Correct guage and colored wires and correct connectors that fit into the factory plug. Pete

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67 red camaro convertible, 78 silver anniversary vette, 1985 Z28 camaro, 1970 chevelle currently undergoing deer hit repair.

Most all of the spade connectors will come out of the plastic housings. For the spades, you take needle nose pliers and depress the spade long-ways from the open end and they will slide out. You will need to re-gap the spades before they go back in, so the tangs will engage.
For the taillight sockets, take a tiny standard screwdriver and slide the screwdriver down in the middle of the opening next to the center of the spade, give a little forward and then backwards tug with the wire and it should pop out. Clean spades with a wire brush or emery cloth and reinsert back into the plastic connectors.
For under dash and engine compartments use the plastic 1 1/4" wiring tape with no adhesive that most resto houses sell. For the rear tailight harness and power window harnesses, Eastwood Company has the correct black cloth with adhesive. Of course you could also use athletic ankle wrap tape also, but it is generally a little wider than original.

Practice wrapping the tape on something else first to get the proper tape overlap spacing. As you move the roll of tape around the harness, unless you are an android it is almost impossible to keep the tape roll at the same angle in relation to the wires so that you get the same tape overlap. It definitely takes practice wrapping to make it look professional.

Those female spade connects are what I want to buy. I could snip off the old ones, and solder on the new ones. I've already pulled them out of the plastic plugs and wire brushed them to clean the corrosion off, but you can't get all of it. I just use my smallest hex key to depress the lock tab, it's just the right thickness.

Would just soldering my current spade terminals to the wires (in addition to the factory crimp) be a waste of my time?

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1969 Base Camaro
Vortec 355, Perf. RPM, Demon Carb., TH-400
All sheetmetal is NOS GM
See my NEW webpage at: http://www.geocities.com/compuboy007/

Tyco/Amp makes the female spade terminals you're looking for. I know because there used to be an Amp plant in Williamstown, PA. The part number is 737670-1. I couldn't find a supplier. They're usually packaged in strips of 20 or more. I used to get some of the rejects but no more. Good luck.

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'69 RS Camaro
355 5-speed 4.11