Re: 1949 Packard Weatherstrip and Wiring Harness

Posted by Fred Puhn On 2016/4/26 17:21:28

I painted and rewired my 1950 Series 23 Deluxe 8 sedan. I got the rubber (all of it including weatherstrip) from Steele. They had almost everything on the shelf. The wiring harness I got from Rhode Island. They are good.
When I removed the old harness I put a strip of masking tape around the end of each wire and marked it as I removed it. That was very helpful later when I tried to solve problems. My wiring was shorted and so it was useless to run electrical test before I took it out. I wrote down each removal step in a notebook so I could put it back the same way I removed it.
The wiring under the dash was a very difficult job for an old guy. I had to remove EVERYTHING under the dash to get at the wires. It might have been easier to pull the metal dash out of the car and have its woodgrain redone at the same time. I did get the gages restored when they were out. I also restored the heater because I had to take part of it out to do the wiring.
There are some gaskets for wires going through the firewall that were not available from Steele. If you want to paint the firewall do it with the wires out of the car.
I changed the car slightly and put in fog lights, an electric fuel pump for starting, backup light, and a kill switch. I added those extra wires later because the original harness did not have them. I should have put the extra wires in as I installed the new harness and saved some time. I made a big error and replaced the headliner before I needed to replace the wiring. I just left those overhead hidden wires in place and so far have not had problems.
The hardest item to get at is the ignition switch wires. Hook those up as early as you can, right after the main harness is passed through the firewall.
Take lots of photos of everything before you remove anything. Do not cut the harness as you remove it so you know how the new one goes back in.
I hope this helps you.