6v wire harness...replace or repair?

Posted by Charles On 2010/10/28 21:20:26

I posted this question in my restoration blog, but not everyone reads those so I am posting it here as well. I removed the wire harness from my car because I heard of how bad peoples have been. The ends of the harness that were in the engine compartment are terrible. The parts that were protected under the tape look great. I can bend them and they do not disintegrate in my hands. The wires under the dash are faded, but are not cracked except for one where it was bent sharply at some time. The terminals and switches appear clean as well.

What should I do? I was going to replace all of the wires myself, making my own harness. That is more complicated than I originally thought it would be.

I could buy a new 6v harness of modern wires for around $250. I'm pretty cheap and don't want to spend that much if I don't have to. Also, I do not like the looks of the modern fuse box.

I could reuse my old harness and repair the damaged parts of the wires with modern wire. I would lose the original look, but I know this will not be a show car either.

I could cut out the good parts of the wires that were under the tape and replace them with modern wire. I would then take the good original wire and use that to repair the ends of the harness, giving me the original look once the harness is retaped and the modern wire is covered. That would be more work, but look more accurate. I would be worried about the old wire now being exposed to the elements under the hood to deteriorate more rapidly, but I guess it wouldn't be too hard to replace again later if necessary.

What do you guys think? Anyone done the "repair the harness" scenario with success or am I just asking for trouble? Of course, if I reuse wires, I will test them for problems before reinstalling.

Thanks for your input!

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