Any Re-Wiring Tips?

I looked under the dash - what a mess! Multiple splices & connectors, taped & bare wires, burned & cracked insulation, plus a fused fuse block!... etc. This '66 CJ-6 now needs a complete rewiring - cus I ripped it all out! I can't believe it didn't catch fire.

I have the Haynes book and it shows 2 wiring diagrams. I think I may have the early version.
I would like to find some how-to or step-by-step re-wiring info. Anyone know of some? Of course I don't expect to just buy a wiring harnes and throw it in and have it work, as there must be something slightly different and uncompatible about my system (always is) - or... do they give you a generous amount of wire slack in case things are not in the same position as original (ie: dash compontents & gauges)?

For example, the PO had the hot wire going from the starter to the ampmeter. I'm thinking of adding toggle switches and rearranging the dash a little. There were wires cut off or not connected and the heater/defroster is also non-functional so I may rip it out and try to find an electric heater to replace it with.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Al

 

i just ordered a wiring harness for $110 on ebay.im not savy enough to post link. but if you look under seller name streetrodparts4u maybe you can find it. good luck

 

don't do the following: all one color wire, anything less than 12 gauge wire, bypass fuses, single strand wire.

 

I'm not such a big fan of the aftermarket harnesses as many here. When you say ripped it out, I hope you didn't cut everything and pull all the connectors. Even with the PO's hacked-up wiring, you can pretty easily fix most problems with stock wiring harnesses. If you don't want to work under the dash, carefully remove the existing wiring in one ppiece, then repair it to the original condition. The wire lengths, colors and connectors will be right.

IMO folks get overwhelmed by the complexity of wiring, and think that things will be simpler if they remove it all and replace it with an aftermarket harness. I doubt it. You'll have the same number of circuits, and your Jeep will no longer match the factory wiring diagram. The physical condition of the wires is probably ok... the aftermarket harness will have way more wire and more circuits than you need, so it's up to you to adapt it. Then you need to document your circuits.

 

Thanks guys, this carpet replacement project is ongoing.
When I said 'ripped it out" what I meant was that I removed the dash and guages and at the moment the mess is hanging there with masking tape labels on most of the disconnected ends.

My plans were to replace the bad stuff and run new wires according to the wiring diagram but then I found a lot of bad stuff (most of it) plus several PO mods. I think the Ammeter, Oil and Temp guages were added by the PO since the wires were relocated from the Speedo housing. The Heater, Wiper and Flasher wiring looks modified to me. Also a lot of wires dissapear into a wiring harness or a plug and it's hard to tell what is going on in there. I'm not too concerned about staying with factory colors or outing, except for the ability to troubleshoot connections by diagram in the future. I would also like to add circuits for radio, cb, aux lights and other power outlets so a bigger fuse block is probably a good idea. I figure the wire needs to be of the proper sizes to handle the power requirements and I figured on red for hot and white or black for ground then other colors for other purposes.

I checked JCW and they want $400 for a replacement harness (sticker shock says there must be a cheaper way). Individual spools are not cheap either but that way I can do sections at a time. I'll look into the links provided and maybe find a less expensive harness. Is the quality of the $110 harness as good as the $400 model?
I guess a FSM is in the future too.

Al

 

Ive never been a fan of pre made harnesses unless your doing a factory restore.Ive wired buunches of race cars (2 a year for over 10 years lol) and quiet a few 4x4 trucks. One thing I do is us the trailer 4 and 3 wire rolls makes things alot simpler. Any where you have a few wires headed in the same dirction ie head lights, voltage reg, gauges, and of course tail and running lights the trailer wire rolls work really well.On the same note trailer 4 wire plugs are usefull one wiring to the engine or any type of module for a quick diconet thats water proof (learned that racing for quik engine replacment) .If you look around at you local parts store youll see they also have rubber sealed 1,2 and 3 wire connetors that work like trailer connents. Like the previous people said diversify your colors and make sure you have heavy enough wire. The longer the wire the heavier gauge wire you need to do the same job which on a jeep shouldnt big that be of a problem.Fuse blocks are cheap so dont mind investing in them. The big question on them is it better to go with the flat fuse or the old round fuse , I personly like the round ones because you can easly see when they are blown with out removing them and if you have one blow on you with out a spare you can wrap the bad one with chew gum or cig paper to get you were you can poperly replace it.

 

I used painless wiring harness on mine. Well worth the money. Fairly easy to install.

 

One change I would make is to get rid of the black tape wrapping. If you go to the electronics surplus store sites like Hosfelt or All-Electronics, you can buy a bag of 500 nylon ty-wraps for a few bucks. I'd start by removing the tape and keeping the wires bundled together by a ty-wrap every inch or two. The black tape was obsoleted by the plastic loom used on newer cars; I'd protect the wires with split plastic loom whereever they are near anything that could abrade through them. Probably the cheapest and easiest source of plastic loom is the pick-your-part yard - strip what you need off of a newer car. That's also a good place to get any multi-colored wire you may need for repairs. You can also buy spiral plastic loom fairly cheaply from Mouser Electronics, and probably from the surplus places as well.

 

I went with the EZ Wiring harness. Half the price of a Painless, and appears to be the exact same thing. Everything color coded, and labeled about every 8 inches. Instructions are a bit sparse, but I've seen the Painless instructions, and wasn't too impressed with them either. Well worth the cash. I couldn't have bought the wires and fuse block for less.

ANY wiring kit will be intimidating at first, but spend some time on the dining room table to sort through all the pretty colors, and it'll start making sense. My first 2 hours with the kit was just sorting out all the extra stuff from what I was going to use. That really narrows it down, and as a bonus, I now have a bunch of extra circuits available if I need to add in the future. Also, a digital meter with continuity tester is pretty handy to figger out which circuit it powered by what.

Last bit of advice....DO NOT, repeat DO NOT, cut or add terminals to ANY wires until you have them ALL where they're supposed to go. Make sure that you don't have stray wires in your "not used" bundle. Be sure that is how you want everything routed. Make sure that everything is where you want it and that there won't be any troubles servicing it in the future. As an example, I had to flip my fuse block 180 degrees to keep the wires exiting it from hanging down by my left foot. This left the turn signal wires about 12" too short, and I had to splice in the extra length.

Hope this helps.

 

Cable ties http://www.hosfelt.com/en-us/dept_245.html

Split loom http://www.allelectronics.com/matrix/Split_Loom_Tubing.html

 

www.waytekwire.com

www.delcity.net

These are both good places to find electical stuff.

 

used 12 for most things. 10 going from battey to igniton key. also instead of fuseable link, i used a fuse.

 

'Zis the one?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=34205&item=4507761921&rd=1

 

I have a friend that about every 6 to 10 years buys himself a new old jeep first thing he does is rewire it on wire at a time takes him 2 or 3 weeks in the evening when he gets home one wire at a time. I'm going to buy a store bought harness one day. They are so expensive but they look like they would make life easier. Last 4 or 5 that I have had just rewire as close as possible to factory schematic in the service manual. Also Novack has one on their site thats pretty helpful.

 

i carefully pulled the whole harness from a 71 postal jeep to use in my 69. kept the connectors on and kept it connected to the switches and gauges, and pulled the whole dash plate with it. from the looks of it it should fit directly. (i'll ingnore the wires to the autotrans and the extra lights.
everything for $25.
so except for the 69 po's wiring "mods" it should be prety straight forward (famous last words.)

 

When I rewired I did not use a premade harness. It worked out pretty good. I got a few items at Painless but they're prices aren't (Painless).
I used non-insulated solderless connectors and put heat shrink tubing over the crimp. This makes a good looking connection and it's nice to be able to see what you're crimping.
By all means get a fuse block that you like and put it where you want it.
The most valuable thing if you do your own is to make yourself a good wiring diagram. I got some good (simple) examples from some hot rod sources.

 

Two good sources for stuff if you do not use a pre-made harness are:

www.waytechwire.com

www.bluesea.com

I used a centech harness, but would go ezwire next time.