Advice before rebuilding a full harness... (1 Viewer)

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After reading a ton of threads on rewiring a 40, I have decided to rebuild my original. I am the second owner and it is largely intact and original compared to most. Also, I am going to keep the 2F in there until it dies... right after all the cockroaches and Glocks are gone.

It seems pretty straight forward as I have a few shorts, and I melted my main wire from the battery to the amp meter... likely taking out several other wires along the way. (didn't replace that fusible link in time).

I am basically looking for pointers, tips that would help, resources for proper colored wires and connectors. I am considering going to convert over to Duetsch connectors for the exposed connections outside of the dash.

For those of you that have been down this road, what are the tips that helped, tools that helped and products that worked?
 
Hi Drew!

I think coolerman sells all the proper colored wire and connectors to rebuild yours. Shouldn't be too hard since yours is pretty complete. Good luck!
 
Hi Drew!

I think coolerman sells all the proper colored wire and connectors to rebuild yours. Shouldn't be too hard since yours is pretty complete. Good luck!
Thanks Martin, I appreciate it.
 
Hi Drew!

I think coolerman sells all the proper colored wire and connectors to rebuild yours. Shouldn't be too hard since yours is pretty complete. Good luck!
This !!!! Great source for all your electrical needs. I was fortunate enough to have him rebuild ours and its amazing what he does.
Cheers
 
Staple it to a sheet of plywood.
Simple green the snot off of everything.
Check for broken, cracked, burned, etc wires.
Replace all the brittle connector s.
Drink beer.
Heat shrink some areas that may be subject to abrasion.
Heat shrink all repairs.
Draw diagrams of all the connectors you take apart, both sides. Take pics.

The windshield wiper harness has a wrench thrown into the connector. Two wires swap in the connector.

I may have some of the plastic ends from an old harness that are usable if you need some.
 
Here is great link for a terminal/connector set to keep on hand -> click here <- . I have the CK-2 kit that came with the crimping tool.

Also, here is a great link for connectors/terminals/sheaths/boots -> Eastern Beaver <-

Here is their link for the Sumitomo DS250 Sealed Connectors -> Eastern Beaver <-

One last thing, be sure to get a Terminal Extraction Tool -> click here <-
 
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Staple it to a sheet of plywood.
Simple green the snot off of everything.
Check for broken, cracked, burned, etc wires.
Replace all the brittle connector s.
Drink beer.
Heat shrink some areas that may be subject to abrasion.
Heat shrink all repairs.
Draw diagrams of all the connectors you take apart, both sides. Take pics.

The windshield wiper harness has a wrench thrown into the connector. Two wires swap in the connector.

I may have some of the plastic ends from an old harness that are usable if you need some.


Besides the heat shrink I solder all splices.
 
@REZARF

You don't identify year (assume 75+) I would add the following:

Pay for a good crimper. I soldered my crimps as well, keeping the corrosion out.

Coolerman has the correct color coded wires. Buy plenty of each one you need.

My original wires were 18 ga. I upgraded to the thicker 16 ga.

For all of the lighting and wipers and horn etc. (basically all components not behind the dash) I ran a separate ground wire. The standard ground path for the lights and wiper motor, etc. is through the metal frame and body. I couldn't stand having to scrape off all my new paint to get a ground that would corrode away in a few years.

For the harnesses in the engine compartment and running out to the rear end I incorporated a main grounding "bus" using 10 gauge wire, and spliced in 16 ga. feeds to each and every light, horn, distributor, wiper motor, etc.

To attach the ground wires to each light, I either soldered a ring tongue connector to the metal lamp housing, or terminated a ring tongue connector under the screw holding the lamp (like side markers) in place.
 
I am torn on the 1983 Troopy that I just bought about whether or not to do a frame-off or to just do some "sprucing up". One thing I know I want to do regardless is the wiring harnesses.

So how difficult is it to pull all the harnesses without disassembling everything? I mean I know I'll have to pull the dash, light assemblies, etc. but can it all be pulled otherwise?
 
So how difficult is it to pull all the harnesses without disassembling everything?
Not hard at all, everything could be pulled out from the rig in less than hour really.
 
Not hard at all, everything could be pulled out from the rig in less than hour really.
So what are you doing this weekend? :D

Seriously though, that's what I was hoping. That at least gives me the option of addressing the harness and then later deciding to proceed with the frame off.
 
x2 on getting a good ratcheting crimper with the correct sized dies. Also the correct size terminals for your wire size. All of the terminals and connector bodies are available, as well as the correct OEM wire colors. Its tough trying to troubleshoot a wiring issue when someone (usually me) has substituted a wire color not depicted on the diagram.
 
Not hard at all, everything could be pulled out from the rig in less than hour really.

If you take sufficient pictures/notes of what attaches to what, it will take a couple of hours to pull the harness.

But, re-hanging the rebuilt/new harness will be MUCH easier, with pictures/notes.

When re-hanging, reattach wires, as you get to them, rather than hanging the harness, then going back to reconnect to switches, terminals, etc. You’ll probably have to adjust the harness, as you make connections, to allow sufficient slack and to ensure you aren’t allowing too much, or you may run out of harness before you have everything connected.

Be sure to buy PLENTY of rolls of harness wrap from @Coolerman and buy new firewall grommets.

The bruises and blood flow are a different story entirely… there’s a lot of razors behind the dash.
 
Did you guys label everything as you start to remove the harness? I imagine it can hurt. I would like to bench test a lot of the circuits if possible and figure out where my short in my lights is. I imagine a few labels will help once that booger is out of the 40. I just imagine having to remove the lables to clean and rewire the harness... maybe its just a hassle?

Pictures and notes as I go alone for sure.

Also, the more I dig in the more I see a lot of unused wires. How did you guys handle those? Cruiser was seemingly running fine without them. I assume most were emissions related, which has been long gone.
 
You can use small wire ties and auto key tags at the connections along with pics so when pinned on the board you know what circuit you are testing
 
Years ago there was a guy selling color schematics on ebay for cheap. I got a couple and had them laminated and hung them on the wall. Took guess work out of it.
 
Hey Dude, I just did this last year after mine melted in the same way due to that same thing. It was much easier than I expected. As I pulled the harness apart from passenger side to the gauge cluster there was only a couple of spots where another wire was damaged by the white one. Check out my build thread, there might be good info in there. 3M Super 33 electrical tape is really good stuff. Make sure to toss in a fuse, fusable link or circuit breaker. I'm no expert but it was not very challenging. Reach out if you have questions.
 
Yes over compensate with labels and photos. Test everything on the bench before going back in. Unwrapping is not fun.

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