Eureka!

Did you know that “eureka” translates as I have found it! in Greek? Well, eureka – I have found it! That three-connector toggle switch that controls the On/Off electric rear defroster my ’76 Trans-Am has, that hasn’t worked in 30 years because the original switch crapped out back in the ’90s sometime and because finding a working replacement switch has proved to be something like getting at the truth about the Epstein stuff.

If you caught my earlier article about this, you’ll already know why, but to recap:

There was what they call a running change sometime during the ’76 model year production run to the electric rear defroster system that was available optionally in the Firebird line. The engineers apparently decided that a simple On-Off toggle switch would be improved with a timer built into the circuit that automatically turned off the defroster after about 10 minutes. Both the switch itself and the wiring harness were changed – though you wouldn’t know this unless you disassembled the dash – to get at the backside of the switch and see the difference. The replacement switch has four rather than three connectors that plug into a different harness with (naturally) four rather than three slots for the prongs to go into. This was unbeknownst to me when I decided to get the defroster (and the cigarette lighter that mounts close to the toggle for the defroster) working again, by buying a new replacement switch – because the outward appearance of the switch used not just in ’76 but also ’77, ’78, ’79, ’80 and ’81 (last year for the second generation Firebird) is the same. So I assumed (look out! – as OJ used to say) that all the aftermarket replacement switches are also the same.

It was a wrong assumption.

The available aftermarket replacement switches are all of the post-sometime-during-the-1976-model-year-running change, with the four connectors on the back that plug into a four-slot wiring harness. I bought one of these and found that out. I also tried to wire it up to work, using jumper wires from the four-connector switch to my original three-slot harness. No joy. The two are not compatible. And a new replacement for the original early ’76 three-connector switch isn’t available. No one makes ’em. Probably because electric rear defrost was only first offered in ’75 and it is a rare option – until you get to circa ’77 and up, when the Firebird had become more mainstream and more of a cruiser than a bruiser.

There are probably not many people who own a ’75 or ’76 Firebird with the electric (grid type) defroster and even fewer who need a replacement toggle switch – relative to the many more people who own a ’77-’81 Firebird with the electric rear defroster, which by then was a much more popular option. Not surprisingly, the aftermarket caters to the market. They can’t be faulted for this. But that leaves the small handful of us who need that three-connector toggle switch in a pinch.

There are restoration services that can restore an original switch (both functionally and cosmetically) but the thing about that is, you’ve got to have the original switch for them to restore. I don’t anymore – because I sent my original via the mail to a restoration shop for restoring and it got lost in the mail. I learned a lesson about not paying extra for signature-required delivery. The long and short is I had no old switch to restore – and no one sells new replacements anymore.

That meant lurking like a snapping turtle at the bottom of the pond for a new old stock (NOS) switch to float by my open jaws – so to speak – so I could snap it up. A NOS part is an original factory part that was never used and is (usually) still in the original box. NOS parts are hugely esteemed by old car people because they’re original rather than reproduction and so look and function exactly like the originals. They are also brand-new, even though old – so no worries about the part not working. Assuming it’s not a part with rubber or other components that get brittle and so on over time.

The aftermarket parts often don’t fit exactly and sometimes are of poorer quality than the original part. And when there is no aftermarket part available, the only option you’ve got is a still-working used part – good luck with that, after 50 years (as in the case of my ’76 Trans-Am) or a NOS part.

Also good luck with that. Because such parts are by definition rare and hotly wanted by those who need them. So the price is usually high and you’d better be prepared to pay it, if you want the part. So that’s what I did when I found the NOS switch for my ’76. New in the box, still – after 50 years of sitting on a shelf. The seller wanted four times-plus the cost of the widely available incorrect (for my car) aftermarket replacement but I was able to negotiate a more viable (for me) selling price.

It is now on its way – along with the parts I need to get the old cigarette lighter working again! That leaves just one last thing to get the old ‘Bird in 100 percent fully operational condition again. That thing being the AC. There is a slow leak in one of the factory original hoses. I’ll need a new hose and – thank God – there is a local shop that makes custom hoses. I just need to bring them my original to serve as a template. The thing that’s not going to come cheap is the Freon. Yes, the Freon. I could have the system recharged with the replacement/politically correct 134a refrigerant but that wouldn’t be politically incorrect. Nor would it be correct – as that’s what the car had when it was new.

Nor would it turn the TA’s interior into a place where you could hang meat. If you have ever owned an old GM car with a factory Harrison AC system pumping Freon via the action of one of those huge compressors they used to use, you will know what I mean.

Then, at last, everything will be right again.

Well, assuming I can find a correct replacement manual center console . . .

. . .

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