I'm not sure if this question belongs here but since it is partly interior and partly drivetrain I'll leave it in the general thread for now anyway.
I've been putting quite a few miles on the old yellow Grande for my Airtanker work up at Fort Mac and it has occurred to me that having a cruise set up would actually be kind of handy. I'd like to install the original style Electrocruise that was offered in the 66 Pontiac and I have been trying to accumulate a setup on ebay. So far I have the control head, the power unit, some brackets and the control cable.
I have never seen one of these actually on a Canadian Pontiac (or any other car for that matter) I have the 66 Pontiac chassis manual that shows where it is fitted, wiring etc, but I was wondering if anybody here has experience with these units or has a car with it installed. I'l love to see a picture of the location, throttle hookup, wiring runs and the exact mount point on the dash.
Any help out there?
Here are a couple of pics of the pieces I have so far:
I'm pretty sure Carl Stevenson knows a fair bit about Electrocruise. I think he's on vacation for a few days however I'm sure he'll chime in when he is back.
I think I have everything for my 66 except the dash control dial switch. I have the speedo cluster as well with the lights. 67 was activated with a button in the signal lever, but not 66. They weren't that great what I read about them. I never come across a 66 or older parts car with one. May be a headache to get all working original setup, I might just adapt a newer transducer and 67 style lever to simplify things. We'll see when I get there. I could get a pic of my 67 where it mounts on the inner fender if that will help you.
Hi Johnny thanks for the offer but I think the 67's were totally different vacuum operated ones so the mounting of the transducer would be different, From what I can make out from the chassis manual the motor unit actually mounts on the rad mount and runs a throttle rod back to the carb linkage. So far the stuff hasn't cost me too much so if it doesn't work out it won't be too big a deal. I would like to have an original setup if possible as i always remember when I used to look at my dads 66 Owners manual I thought that option was for the rich folks. I'd like to be one now!
Thats a great idea and more comfy to boot! Speaking of centres i have 4 for ya. All the ones I have are pitted to some extent but should look good as you whip past some young punk in a tuner car at about 100 mph. Let me know your address and four centres will be dispatched forthwith. Do you want the whole wheel cover in case you feel like going original at some point?
Ken, I'll try to remember to contact my friend in Nebraska. He used to have a cruise setup from a big block 66 Caprice, which is the identical setup to your car.
The hardest part to find for your setup will likely be that big long honkin' bendy arm that runs from the unit on the rad cradle over to the carb linkage. And the rod of course is different for big vs. small block.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I was just sizing it up tonight and it looks like it would be a pretty weird unit. I haven't been able to find a picture of it anywhere on the net so I have no real clue how it would hook up.
I did find a kind of grainy shot elsewhere but wow is that engine ever beautiful! Weird looking rod though. I've bent up lots of stuff like that accidentally so it should be no problem! I assume it hooks to the bottom of the throttle linkage from the look of it. Is it spring steel I wonder?
I wish I knew what it was made of. I had a setup way way back when, early 80's but I have no recollection of what it was.
Years ago I saw a setup in a kind of rough 66 Parisienne convertible sitting at a repair shop in Winnipeg but that is the only Canadian installed cruise unit I ever saw in a 66. I wouldn't be shocked if it was installed as an accessory. Factory or dealer add on would really make no difference on them at everything was pretty much stand alone on those units, nothing integrated with anything else, unlike the US Pontiac cruise in 66, as you well know.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
And just found this note on a site where someone says they needed a rod-
"The rods have been reproduced and you can probably find them reasonably priced. They were repro'd more by individuals then companies. I made a few myself quite some time ago. They are made from hydraulic tubing and we filled it with sand to prevent kinking before bending with a tube bender. We also had the originals to copy. The brake bracket is nothing more than thin metal with holes cut out for two buttons and for bolts to attach it. Of course easier said when you have the original pieces to copy."
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
On my 66 Grande Parisienne, I have decided to install the U.S. built Pontiac Electro-cruise system rather than the Chevrolet based cruise control. I like the design of the speedometer with the speed minder needle and integrated cruise control knob built in, not only that but you also got a low fuel, gas gauge that has a light that illuminates when your fuel is low. Most of the electronics are mounted on the brake pedal assembly. The 65/66 US system used a vacuum operated bellows assembly that is mounted on the drivers side valve cover, and uses a chain that hooks to a bracket on the carburetor. The only problem is the mounting bracket is made to fit a 389/421 engine. It could be used if you fabricated a mount bracket to fit the Chevrolet valve covers. I chose to use a 1964 bellows assembly that is mounted on the firewall and pulls on the accelerator pedal pivot. The 64 bellows assy is mounted next to the brake booster. I felt that using the 64 type bellows style actuator, just plain looks better than the 65/66 valve cover mounted actuators. (Here are pictures of the US Electro Cruise system)
Aside from the obvious stuff you know about as far as the differences in the engines between Canada and the US models (any engine linkage etc require some modification), there is one more snag you likely aren't aware of. The US cluster wiring even without cruise control is completely different.
The Canadian cars use a printed circuit on the back of the cluster to wire up all the warning lights for engine, the signal lights, high beam indicator etc. The US cluster uses an individual wire to each bulb. You will have to cut the end off the harness in your car and determine which wire does what and run separate wires to the back of each bulb on your Electrocruise cluster.
The cluster will physically bolt in to your dash plate perfectly but the wiring will take some effort. Here's a thread on converting your cluster to the US gauge cluster (Canada never offered the gauges in 1966) which gives a bit of the idea. Unfortunately some of the images are gone due to Photobucket wanting my money to keep them.
And here's a few shots of a dash just removed from a 66 that I parted out. Hopefully you can compare these to your cluster to give you an idea what you are facing when you remove your cluster.
When I purchased the US Electro-Cruise speedometer, it came complete with the entire under dash harness, the Electro-cruise sub harness and the low fuel gauge pod that mounts on the dash board below the dash pad. I will replace the original Canadian under dash wiring harness, with the US harness . The original harness is a mess anyway after decades of different owners hacking and cutting wires and splicing things together.
Hopefully the connections at the fusebox on the firewall side will work out between the Canadian and US wiring.
I took a picture of the Canadian connector where the engine harness and forward lamp wiring harness plug into the fusebox in case this helps. You could compare it with your US harnes.
