Re Wire Advice

On our '67 with the F134, we are going to re wire.
My question is....before we start, should we completely gut the the existing harness before we start replacing? Most likely a Painless harness will go back in, but we are planning to just wire up new only as needed to get it started and run so that we can do some test driving when we move to the brakes. Note: engine runs and it will move on it's own. We just keep running into shorts.

Thanks,
Matt & Ayden

 

If you get a painless, gutting is what i’d do. Start fresh with their great instructions. Make a guide as to which fuse goes to what and then laminate it and put it in your tool bag or glove box.

 

I have seen a lot of guys use the old wiring harness as a guide and stretch it out on a board with nails to hold it and make the new wiring harness to match on top of it as a guide.

That way things are the correct length.


Dave

 

There is no guarantee your existing wiring is correctly connected to the right place. Will cause confusion. I would (like said) remove all old wiring first. Start fresh with new clean connections with emphasis on grounds.

 

That does sound like good advice. If Bubba has worked on the electrics, could cause trouble.


Dave

 

Have an old Ariens Garden tractor that a ground went bad. Caused the lights to blink when you tried to start it. Nothing else.
Took a while to find. Bad grounds can cause some strange effects.


Dave

 

We are fortunate enough that the Jeep is in its factory original condition. So with that said it should be close to a plug and play.

 

Now I do have a brother nicknamed Bubba. But, all he did to the Jeep was flip it on its side. Flipped it back on all 4 and drove away. He did have alot explaining to do to our Dad though. Lol.

 

Of course it is up to you whether you want to spend the money on a Painless harness, the advantage to that is you end up with more modern fused circuits, but the original design is reliable when put back right, and the wiring is very simple on these Jeeps.

I too have a 67 CJ5. The previous owner had hacked into the wiring to install various add on equipment, and there had been an electrical fire which burned all of the wires coming off the light switch and had caught the cardboard defroster box on fire. Someone had taped up all that burned wire and it would start and run, but the battery would drain if left connected. The dead short on this one had to do with a Safe-T-Boost system which had it's own Amp meter. That rig had been wired in with some very sketchy splices.

I unbolted the dash and laid it against the steering column so I could see what was there. Then I removed all of the add ons, including four gages, a radio, and that Safe-T-Boost. I then printed off a color coded wiring diagram I found on this forum and went from there wiring in with a new light switch, and ignition switch. I crimped and soldiered each terminal covering the connection with shrink wrap. It took about three hours, but it saved a lot of money as compared to buying a Painless harness.

Here is the wiring diagram I used.

 

Good advice Oldpappy. I have thought about making our own harness to save a few $. This project is supposed to be a non stressful project and not a financial burden. Although, I have spent a few more bucks than planned.

 

Just start at one end and go to the other. Make sure you have a good ground strap from engine to frame, and if you use a good 1 wire alternator you can greatly simplify the wiring under the hood. I did this and installed a voltage meter instead of an AMP meter. Main power to the dash comes off the input post, battery side, on the starter solenoid (mine has the starter with the solenoid attached) and feeds to the breaker on the light switch with a jumper wire over to the ignition switch to power that. All instrumentation, including the voltage meter are on switched power from the accessory terminal on the ignition switch so when the Jeep is switched off the voltmeter, or any other instrumentation, won't drain the battery.

 

When I rebuilt my CJ5 I bit the bullet and dropped the money on a Painless kit. Was well worth it. I'd do it again even though they are expensive. As other's have said I'd gut the harness out. And if it was me I would go ahead and drop the coin on and do the wiring harness if you plan on using this on a regular basis.

 

First time I re-wired a Jeep it was a CJ2A, and nothing was left of original wiring. What was there was a real bird nest. For that Jeep I used a wiring harness from Walcks. It was perfect, and a very close match to the original wiring with proper color coding and tracer marks on every wire.

To me, even those are expensive at over $300. After wiring this CJ5 and gaining a good understanding of it, I will roll my own from now on.

 

Matt
Just hot wire to move around on it's own for now.
Do the complete job at your leisure.

 

One thing I've done for years is buy a 7 wire length of 14 gauge trailer wire to run to the back. I use single bolt clamps to attach it to the frame and it is well protected. Even has the correct colors. I terminate it with a terminal block near the rear bumper, and everything is easy to screw onto the block, for each side. Usually there is enough wires for tail lights, brake lights, turn signals, backup lights and even fuel sender. You can do the same thing for front lighting.

 

You can save about $250 by just going with an EZ wire kit, i put mine in back in 2005.


https://www.ezwiring.com/product-page/ez-wiring-12-standard-wiring-harness

 

My thoughts exactly. As stated earlier. This is no stress project.

 

I'm dealing with the same thing right now. I actually considered and inspected the stock wiring but there were just too many "fixes" over the years. I build hot rods so naturally I'm going the path of a replacement harness. I plan on using a Rebel kit......made in USA and they provide awesome technical assistance to those that need it. Now to fill the multitude of holes in my dash!

 

I had a virgin 66 donor Jeep, so I used the factory harness, but also added, electric wipers, radio, back-up lights, interior light, plus a siren. The factory harness had in-line fuses, so I added marine in-line fuses too. Now wish I had re-wired the whole Jeep, starting with a fuse panel where all fuses were in the same place. I can't always remember where the in-line fuses are. Good Luck.