Re: Larry's 1951 Club Sedan Project
Posted by Larry51 On 2014/1/6 6:20:25
Rewiring the Car
Started what I think is the last of the big tasks on my car, and that's re-wiring it. The old wiring is in very bad shape and even the 'good' sections that have been covered with tape are brittle so bending them leads to the insulation breaking.
Because I have a complete harness to copy I thought: 'I'll make a new harness myself' and I bought all the proper cloth-covered wire a few years ago, from Rhode Island Wire. Also bought a lot of connectors and bits and pieces like new flasher, proper rubber wrapping tape and splice tape (which are a match for correct original), terminal blocks, replacement bulb holders and just about everything to make the electrics like new.
Thought it was a reasonable idea to save the expense but since I started working on it I can see the cost of harnesses is pretty reasonable considering the time involved! However it's really good to have a detailed idea of the '51 wiring and I am enjoying the job as well, so no regrets . . . . .
Spent a lot of time buzzing out and labeling every wire in the old harness so now I know exactly where each wire terminates. Photos show a type of former that I'm using which is just a piece of 2inch PVC water pipe, split in half.
With the old 'main' (dashboard to engine bay) harness placed into this PVC former I was able to mark out all the exit points of the loom tributaries. Then the new wires were run to/from the marked entry and exit points easily, and will be (hopefully) the correct length.
Check-sheets for each loom and tributary were used to make sure that I did't forget any wire. I've used string tags on the old harness to label wires and make any notes about them.
When buzzing out wires I found a difference in the way the wiring has been done compared to the circuit diagrams. There's a splice used to mate two heavy (10g) battery feed wires instead of running them as per the diagram.
Guess I spent a week or more doing all the prep work without even running the first new wire. It will be a long job by the time I've crimped and soldered every terminal and splice etc. One advantage of DIY is being able to add a couple of necessary extra wires that are needed. I'll be mounting two speakers in the rear parcel shelf so wiring for those from the original radio (- already reconditioned and working well -) is to be added. Also there's a plan to place a hidden FM tuner in the cab which will be operated by a remote when the old original AM radio is not in use. Other extra wires are for a heater if/when I can fit one, power antenna and an electric fuel pump already bought
.
RHD cars like mine didn't have a heater available so I have an under-floor heater on its way. Hoping that it can be fitted ok.
A few pics show progress so far. I'm planning to take a movie or two as well in case anyone wants to make their own wiring harnesses sometime.
Using loads of cable ties keeps things in order, tight for wrapping and able to be managed without too much confusion.
If anyone has helpful comments or good ideas - they would be appreciated thanks. I'm sure others will have discovered a few tricks of the trade when doing their re-wiring.
Old wiring - what a mess. It's sobering to look back on how bad the car was before work was started on it
Radio was restored some time ago. It worked after all caps and the vibrator was replaced. Same thing with a second radio I have!
The wires into the engine bay were cut long ago but fortunately I have the complete harness
Different to the wiring diagram
Loads of diagrams and documentation
Wires labelled
2inch PVC former for laying out the new wiring
Loom tributaries are set out so as to get the wire lengths correct
Need to remove the cloth before the wire strippers will work, which takes extra time and effort, Wire Strippers will slip when the cloth is present so it is removed with a blade
New wires into the Signal socket
Coming along ok
Wrapping the Loom
Final stages
Started what I think is the last of the big tasks on my car, and that's re-wiring it. The old wiring is in very bad shape and even the 'good' sections that have been covered with tape are brittle so bending them leads to the insulation breaking.
Because I have a complete harness to copy I thought: 'I'll make a new harness myself' and I bought all the proper cloth-covered wire a few years ago, from Rhode Island Wire. Also bought a lot of connectors and bits and pieces like new flasher, proper rubber wrapping tape and splice tape (which are a match for correct original), terminal blocks, replacement bulb holders and just about everything to make the electrics like new.
Thought it was a reasonable idea to save the expense but since I started working on it I can see the cost of harnesses is pretty reasonable considering the time involved! However it's really good to have a detailed idea of the '51 wiring and I am enjoying the job as well, so no regrets . . . . .
Spent a lot of time buzzing out and labeling every wire in the old harness so now I know exactly where each wire terminates. Photos show a type of former that I'm using which is just a piece of 2inch PVC water pipe, split in half.
With the old 'main' (dashboard to engine bay) harness placed into this PVC former I was able to mark out all the exit points of the loom tributaries. Then the new wires were run to/from the marked entry and exit points easily, and will be (hopefully) the correct length.
Check-sheets for each loom and tributary were used to make sure that I did't forget any wire. I've used string tags on the old harness to label wires and make any notes about them.
When buzzing out wires I found a difference in the way the wiring has been done compared to the circuit diagrams. There's a splice used to mate two heavy (10g) battery feed wires instead of running them as per the diagram.
Guess I spent a week or more doing all the prep work without even running the first new wire. It will be a long job by the time I've crimped and soldered every terminal and splice etc. One advantage of DIY is being able to add a couple of necessary extra wires that are needed. I'll be mounting two speakers in the rear parcel shelf so wiring for those from the original radio (- already reconditioned and working well -) is to be added. Also there's a plan to place a hidden FM tuner in the cab which will be operated by a remote when the old original AM radio is not in use. Other extra wires are for a heater if/when I can fit one, power antenna and an electric fuel pump already bought
.
RHD cars like mine didn't have a heater available so I have an under-floor heater on its way. Hoping that it can be fitted ok.
A few pics show progress so far. I'm planning to take a movie or two as well in case anyone wants to make their own wiring harnesses sometime.
Using loads of cable ties keeps things in order, tight for wrapping and able to be managed without too much confusion.
If anyone has helpful comments or good ideas - they would be appreciated thanks. I'm sure others will have discovered a few tricks of the trade when doing their re-wiring.
Old wiring - what a mess. It's sobering to look back on how bad the car was before work was started on it
Radio was restored some time ago. It worked after all caps and the vibrator was replaced. Same thing with a second radio I have!
The wires into the engine bay were cut long ago but fortunately I have the complete harness
Different to the wiring diagram
Loads of diagrams and documentation
Wires labelled
2inch PVC former for laying out the new wiring
Loom tributaries are set out so as to get the wire lengths correct
Need to remove the cloth before the wire strippers will work, which takes extra time and effort, Wire Strippers will slip when the cloth is present so it is removed with a blade
New wires into the Signal socket
Coming along ok
Wrapping the Loom
Final stages
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