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No straps here

Looks like you should, look at group 30.034, toggle grip assembly.

I believe you. I'm just overwhelmed.

You have to eat an elephant one bite at a time.

wise words!

Mike, also don't seem to have an ash tray/lighter combo like that car has that I linked to.

the rest of the pictures are of the wiring and the buttons/knobs/switches. some of it I have no idea. it all has me a bit worried it will short and catch fire.

the carb is okay with me, its the breather that doesn't sit right with the chock on the side of the carb. also the throttle return springs don't seem hooked up right.

click on the pics so you can read the text on them.

also, 2nd gear gets chatty. 1st and 3rd and quiet. any thoughts, besides checking the gear oil?

help....and/or shoot me. I hate wiring.

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Did I read wrong on the other car you posted. I think that is a 38 instead of a 37 so there might be some dash differences.

The knobs in your first photo look typically like heater and defroster knobs of the era. Those usually turn -- some are a rheostat and some had discreet speeds. Frequently there is a bulb inside that illuminates the knob when the heater is on. I can't see which heater you have but there is a fan in the heater operated by one knob. Some cars had a defrost option which was a small add on blower attached to top or side of heater operated by another knob. That blew out a vent sticking above the dash in front of driver. A poster with a new 37 just went thru finding a vent for his last week or so. Fog lights also had knobs like those if the car ever had the option.

The different air cleaners was also discussed here or on PAC in the last week or so. One of the knowledgeable posters said there were two types with one having a depression in the base for a particular carb so it would sit down properly.

With the alternator there are some bypasses that were undoubtedly done. Doesn't excuse the condition on the rest of the wiring though. That is very poor workmanship. The amp meter is pegging because the alternator is probably doing twice what the generator was capable of. You might need to shut the ammeter to keep from damaging it.

the link is for a 37 non divider 1091.

I went and messed with the car a bit more. the round knob on the left turns the main heather on, the other doesn't seem to do much of anything (it is a rheostat type knob), but that could be for the defrost motor, which isn't hooked up. the knobs are very wonky. take the knobs off and you can see where a bulb would go. the heater is the Packard Deluxe heater or so it says on the front.

the switch in the middle does work, but only when the headlight switch is pulled out. otherwise it does nothing, so I didn't break anything.

the headlight switch is all messed up too. pull once for fender lights, pull again for headlights with no fender lights and no use of the highbeam/lowbeam switch on the floor, and pull the last time for headlights with no fender lights and full use of the foot highbeam/lowbeam switch. that doesn't seem right to me.

also pulling the headlight switch without the key in will make the ammeter go from 0 to 7.5 to 15 amps with each pull of the switch respectively. I plan to take the ammeter off as you are right it is pegging while car is running and that doesn't seem healthy.

to be honest, like BigKev is saying, a GM wiring harness with fuse block is what this thing needs, but that will have to wait and I will just have to go around fixing this amateur wiring job.

not sure what that drain cock is for under the carb.

spend about 45 min stuffing the driver's door weather seal back in the groove on the door. whoever did it did not get it set right. i plan on checking over each door.

i don't want to get too into it as the Texas meet is 2 weeks away and I need it to start and run long enough to get from the bnb we are at to the host hotel and back. I rented a trailer.

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The manifold heat valve is open when the counterweight is down. This happens when the thermostat spring relaxes enough to allow the weight to drop.

Henry,
After the car was sold outside the family it had A/C installed. I assume much of this wiring was done to make the A/C work.

Would that explain some of the interesting wireing?

I won't pretend to understand city, country, passing and all the fancy combinations of one side off or on they seemed to think necessary then. Assuming the car wasn't converted to modern seal beam operation, from your description expect some of the original would still be there. 37 manual doesn't say squat but here is a blurb from the 36 manual on headlights. Same switch (early 36 version shown and changed in mid 36 to same type as 37 used) so imagine they would work the same way.

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