Besides the washer fluid pump, what else gets power on the drivers side?

[ktm]

I just checked. The two wires on top of the fender come from the same harness as those for the washer pump. The wires have bullet style connectors and are black. No other markings. I stripped 2 inches of the outter coating to expose as much of the wire cover as I could and they both still showed black.

[MikeW]

Interesting. I don't see anything in the factory service manual wiring diagram for 1972 that shows two black wires going to anything. Certainly not in that area of the car. How long are these two wires from where they split out of the harness? Is there any electrical component in the car that's not working?

[Arne]

I'm still leaning towards the possibility that either the car was originally an automatic, or that the engine wiring harness is from an automatic car. The wires look just like the pair of back wires with bullet connectors that my automatic car has, and I note in the picture that the metal clutch fluid line looks hand-bent, not like a factory line.

Does your car have the rectangular clutch stop on the firewall as pictured?

[ktm]

Mike, which is why I am here. I have scoured my FSM and Haynes wiring diagrams to no avail. They split out from the harness approxmately 24-inches back from the connectors. All electrical components work save for the clock (go figure) and the dome light.

Arne, yes, I do have the rectangular clutch stop on the firewall.

Edit: In the end if they are not required for anything that is fine. I just want to make sure that I am not missing a component in the car. I am trying to refurbish (not so much restore) the car and would like to replace missing components, like my inspection lamps.

[Arne]

Next question then - are there any un-used wires near the ignition coil?

[ktm]

I'll have to check tomorrow. I do not recall any unused wires. The PO switched the car over to an electronic ignition using Crane's XR700 system.

[ktm]

Arne, I double checked near the ignition coil - no unused wires. However, there were two unused black wires with female plate connectors that were taped up to the coolant temperature sensor. These wires have the wrong connectors and are not long enough to reach the other unused black wires with the female bullet connectors.

[Arne]

What ignition do you have? And is there a small relay attached to the left inner fender below the coil?

[ktm]

Crane XR700. The PO converted over to an electronic ignition. The only items below my coil are the ballistor resistor and the ignition box.

[Arne]

Well, I'm at a loss then. It sounds to me as though your car was always a manual transmission car, and there aren't enough extra wires for the harness to have been for an automatic, either.

[ktm]

Yeah baby, mystery car!

Arne and Mike, thank you for all the help. My curiousity got the better of me. I think I will leave well enough alone for now.

See you on the road.

[MikeW]

I know you decided to put this to rest but I just quizzed the local Z car expert on this and he thinks that it was indeed for an automatic just as Arne theorized. The two wires in question actually go down to the transmission itself - not to any accessory in the engine compartment; I'm guessing that this is for the starter inhibitor switch (can't start the car unless you're in park). That would explain the two feet or so length; they were probably hanging down after the tranny swap and the PO just moved them over with the other wires in the harness to get them out of the way. The bullet connectors are similar to the wires to the reverse lamp switch on my car.

He says that even automatics came with the clutch stop - it just wasn't needed. He also said that one practically guaranteed way to check if the car was an automatic is to look for the kick down switch at the top of the accelerator pedal arm since people making the switch would be unlikely to bother removing that.