Wiring

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Wall05

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I recently purchased a new wire harness from American wiring. Has anyone done one that could give information on one to make the process simple. Its for a 67 cuda
 
Lots of walking away and thinking of somethig else until the headache goes away,a bottle of pain killers,an understanding woman,a nice glass of whiskey and a bigger swear jar. Just know it aint fun but its well worth it.
 
LMFAO!!!!..............Sorry I could not resist
I totally agree. First, welcome to the forum. Second, you need to know that 67Dart273 is truly a Mopar electrical expert. He is almost always the first to jump in and help with the most difficult wiring problems. That being said, his comment is actually quite humorous. To say, "How can I rewire my car and make it easy" is kind of like saying "how can I get poked in the eye with a sharp stick without it hurting." OK, to be serious:
1. Be very careful taking the current harnesses out. Take LOTS of digital pictures and label everything in a way that you will remember where things go. If your new harness has factory color coded wires, it will be easier.
2. Don't be in a rush to get the new harness in.
3. Buy or download a wiring diagram for your car.
4. When you are ready to install the battery and test circuits for the first time, HAVE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER HANDY!
5. If you have a decent level of mechanical skills and you totally follow the above steps, you should have no problems. You did not mention your level of skill. Good Luck.
 
FIRST thing to do is sit down and make lots of notes and THINK

Go over to MyMopar and download the factory service manual that best fits your car, and the aftermarket wiring diagrams (2 pages) which are sometimes easier to follow but not as detailed. Some of those leave out some options

Decide what to do on connectors. The 67 turn signal switch connectors are difficult to deal with. I don't know where to get replacement terminals. "easy wire" does this by giving you GM style connectors.

Sit down and "ohm out" (continuity check) your brand new harness to figure out FOR SURE where everything comes from/ goes to. On mine (not that brand) I CHANGED a few wires at the fuse panel

MARK wires that don't jibe, such as power windows, for other uses you may have, or pull them out and get rid of them.

Then read through the manual

(by the way post a link to the manual for your new harness so we can help you here)............

and make notes on what goes where.

THOSE HARNESSES LEAVE YOU COLD on a few things, such as dome lamp wiring and any options on the car

ALSO BE AWARE you need to deal with the unique wiring of the Mopar ignition switch, IE the IGN1 "run" and the IGN2 bypass circuit. You may have to add one more wire for the IGN2 circuit
 
Also give us some idea what are your plans for the car

1...Are you going to keep it "bone stock?"

2...Or add some hp later on?

3....What electrical additions?

electric fans? bigger radio / stereo? EFI? other??

How about alternator? bigger? more modern regulator (70/ later?) or go "one wire?"

Trunk mount battery?
 
Before you touch a thing make sure you have a factory shop manual for your car. Also watch as there are changes made mid year. Happened to us with AC under dash wiring on 67 cuda.
Good luck and welcome aboard
 
I'm far from a wiring expert but what I did on my 73 Dart Sport resto was to buy the CD shop manual on Ebay. I printed out all the wiring schematics cause they're hard to follow on a screen going from one page to the next. A little trimming with scissors and some tape, and I had them all mounted sequentially on a piece of cardboard. It's about 4 feet long but makes it much easier to trace wires from beginning to end.
 
I recently purchased a new wire harness from American wiring. Has anyone done one that could give information on one to make the process simple. Its for a 67 cuda

you got the American AutoWire A-body kit? or a generic kit?

If you got the A-body kit, it is EASY. Don't let these guys stress you. I'm a complete idiot with wiring, and I had no real issues.
my suggestions:

1. Get a nice set of ratcheting barrel crimpers. I used the ones from Klein PN: VDV200-010KIT
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CTHF2MC/?tag=joeychgo-20

2. Get a nice set of compound wire strippers. I used the Klein Katapults PN: 11063W
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BC39YFQ/?tag=joeychgo-20

3. Use F6 split loom cover on the harness. I installed the whole harness just using big cheap white zip ties. Then drove it for a few weeks to ensure everything was right, made updates as needed, then pulled the whole harness out. I used the tiny black zip ties and the F6 loom cover, and reinstalled it
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=industrial&field-keywords=F6+split+loom

4. Use F4 self galvanizing harness tape instead of plain electrical tape or the factory style non-adhesive harness tape. This stuff is ROCK SOLID once in place. Looks very very clean
https://www.amazon.com/F4-Tape-Self-Fusing-Silicone-MIL-SPEC/dp/B01IVNQ7RC/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519657499&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=F4+harness+tape

5. Print American AutoWire's instructions and make a flip book, read it like 10 times and look at the pics closely.

6. Take your time with the bulkhead stencil

7. The kit calls for you to re-use a few bits from the factory harness. Inspect them well, clean the contacts, and assemble it all with dielectric grease

8. The kit is intended to be used with a "1-wire" alternator, so no provisions to run the factory VR or alternator. I run a little 3-wire Hilux denso (good time to upgrade) and just used the keyed hot circuit for the electric choke to excite it, ran a sensing wire to the starter relay stud, and a charge wire direct to the battery.

9. Kit doesn't come with door switches, so I picked up a new set for piece of mind.

10. Snap harness routing pics. The factory manuals or schematics won't help you know how to route the harness cleanly. TAKE GOOD PICS


seriously, the install was simple, the hardest part being wear and tear on my back working in the cramped spots, but pulling the front seats and steering column really made it easy. Feel free to message me if you need any help along the way, good luck!



 
you got the American AutoWire A-body kit? or a generic kit?

If you got the A-body kit, it is EASY. Don't let these guys stress you. I'm a complete idiot with wiring, and I had no real issues.
my suggestions:

1. Get a nice set of ratcheting barrel crimpers. I used the ones from Klein PN: VDV200-010KIT
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CTHF2MC/?tag=joeychgo-20

2. Get a nice set of compound wire strippers. I used the Klein Katapults PN: 11063W
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BC39YFQ/?tag=joeychgo-20

3. Use F6 split loom cover on the harness. I installed the whole harness just using big cheap white zip ties. Then drove it for a few weeks to ensure everything was right, made updates as needed, then pulled the whole harness out. I used the tiny black zip ties and the F6 loom cover, and reinstalled it
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=industrial&field-keywords=F6+split+loom

4. Use F4 self galvanizing harness tape instead of plain electrical tape or the factory style non-adhesive harness tape. This stuff is ROCK SOLID once in place. Looks very very clean
https://www.amazon.com/F4-Tape-Self-Fusing-Silicone-MIL-SPEC/dp/B01IVNQ7RC/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519657499&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=F4+harness+tape

5. Print American AutoWire's instructions and make a flip book, read it like 10 times and look at the pics closely.

6. Take your time with the bulkhead stencil

7. The kit calls for you to re-use a few bits from the factory harness. Inspect them well, clean the contacts, and assemble it all with dielectric grease

8. The kit is intended to be used with a "1-wire" alternator, so no provisions to run the factory VR or alternator. I run a little 3-wire Hilux denso (good time to upgrade) and just used the keyed hot circuit for the electric choke to excite it, ran a sensing wire to the starter relay stud, and a charge wire direct to the battery.

9. Kit doesn't come with door switches, so I picked up a new set for piece of mind.

10. Snap harness routing pics. The factory manuals or schematics won't help you know how to route the harness cleanly. TAKE GOOD PICS


seriously, the install was simple, the hardest part being wear and tear on my back working in the cramped spots, but pulling the front seats and steering column really made it easy. Feel free to message me if you need any help along the way, good luck!

This seems like a solid tactic, I don’t have the kit but I did go read the instructions and feel at this point I could install this with no issue. Wiring isn’t voodoo, although sometimes it damn sure feels like it is. Relays are my wiring bane.
 
. Relays are my wiring bane.

In what way? Maybe we can dispel some of that bane?

1...."Ford like" starter solenoids.........Many guys use these, and for various setups but you do have to understand, you cannot just "look" at them and figure what they are. Some have the coil grounded (Ford) some have an additional post for NSS (AMC/Jeep) and some aren't "Ford" at all, they are "continuous duty" meaning they have a coil magnet which can put up with being on for "constant" use. In short, these solenoids are wired differently and might look alike

2....."Bosch" relays......slang term for the cube relays you see in modern cars, these kick *** because they are SO available, BUT THERE ARE some caveats........They are NOT all the same. Some have heavier connector terminals and some have these paralleled for more current

Regardless of 1, 2, above, ALL relays have a magnet coil which may or may not be rated for continuous use, and which may or may not be grounded to the mounting. Therefore it turns on and off.

All relays have some sort of contacts, but some are "normally open" like a horn, starter relay, and others are "normally closed" meaning that you turn on the relay coil to "drop" the circuit."

Questions?

The Mopar typical starter relay is a GREAT example of how relays "get used." They put the NSS / clutch in the ground lead which makes the circuit somewhat more simple, and the thing made a really handy place to jumper the starter LOL
 
In what way? Maybe we can dispel some of that bane?

1...."Ford like" starter solenoids.........Many guys use these, and for various setups but you do have to understand, you cannot just "look" at them and figure what they are. Some have the coil grounded (Ford) some have an additional post for NSS (AMC/Jeep) and some aren't "Ford" at all, they are "continuous duty" meaning they have a coil magnet which can put up with being on for "constant" use. In short, these solenoids are wired differently and might look alike

2....."Bosch" relays......slang term for the cube relays you see in modern cars, these kick *** because they are SO available, BUT THERE ARE some caveats........They are NOT all the same. Some have heavier connector terminals and some have these paralleled for more current

Regardless of 1, 2, above, ALL relays have a magnet coil which may or may not be rated for continuous use, and which may or may not be grounded to the mounting. Therefore it turns on and off.

All relays have some sort of contacts, but some are "normally open" like a horn, starter relay, and others are "normally closed" meaning that you turn on the relay coil to "drop" the circuit."

Questions?

The Mopar typical starter relay is a GREAT example of how relays "get used." They put the NSS / clutch in the ground lead which makes the circuit somewhat more simple, and the thing made a really handy place to jumper the starter LOL

The Bosch style, most of my issue is a confidence thing as I have never actually wired one in and I don’t want to burn my car down. Cracked back seems to have explained it well enough that I successfully drew the diagram he was describing in my 12v keyed switch topic. I don’t have the confidence to know how to wire something I need to protect with a relay without asking questions of experts. And wiring diagrams make my head spin as they are busy and seem to be cluttered which I don’t jive with.... I like simple and wiring diagrams are not simple.
 
One thing is simply google "Bosch relay wiring" and use the photo search. There are hundreds (thousands?) of examples

bosch relay wiring - Google Search

Here is one representative circuit

12-volt-relay-wiring-diagram-bosch-5-pole-brilliant-ansis-for-automotive-photoshot-graceful-17.jpg


The bottom red wire is whatever supplies the switched load, in this case "lights." This red should be FUSED (or breaker) and large enough to easily carry the load amps

The blue "spotlights" is your load output, whatever it is you want to turn on or off. Again the wire to this load needs to be big enough to easily carry that load amperage

85 is ground, but you can put another switch in that ground lead, like Mopar does the neutral safety switch

86, green, is your "trigger." Whatever switch you are using to command the relay turn on the load, this green powers up the relay and makes it work
 
This is the most common base diagram for the larger "square" Bosch relays.

mini-automotive-relay-wiring-840x.jpg


"NC" means "normally closed" and that means that when the relay is NOT powered, this set of contacts is "made." You normally do not use that contact for turning things on/ off

BE CAREFUL. You will find circuits around the internet showing 86 grounded instead of 85. SOME OF THESE RELAYS have an internal diode connected across the magnet coil (between 85 and 86). THIS MEANS that it is important which of these you ground. Only way to know, other than trying it with a low amp fuse, is to learn to use a multimeter and check it
 
Another simple circuit. This is essentially the same as the first, above, except that it shows fuses in place

g-diagram-how-to-automotive-relay-wiring-diagram-work-wiring-of-bosch-4-pin-relay-wiring-diagram.jpg
 
Right now I just about have it done although yes it is from American wiring. It is a really nice kit and have most of the tools also. I am a body man by trade so I am not the average Joe. However I am not very good at being patient. I am having a little trouble with the wipers they are wiping the wrong way I just bought a new motor and wondering if it is wired wrong. On the back of my switch the letters are rubbed off so I am not sure. If anyone can Send a diagram of one so I can double check. I am also dealing with a car that was restored by someone in Ichigam. People here in ohio don't use the first letter. The car was an electrical nightmare very few things worked. I should of purchased all new switches I did get a new dimmer switch, turn signal switch,blower motor switch, and all new bulbs and sockets for dash, and wiper motor. Good for me I was able to get the convertible top to work.
 
The engine area and the lights are fine and went fairly well the dash on the other hand not so well
 
Right now I just about have it done although yes it is from American wiring. It is a really nice kit and have most of the tools also. I am a body man by trade so I am not the average Joe. However I am not very good at being patient. I am having a little trouble with the wipers they are wiping the wrong way I just bought a new motor and wondering if it is wired wrong. On the back of my switch the letters are rubbed off so I am not sure. If anyone can Send a diagram of one so I can double check. I am also dealing with a car that was restored by someone in Ichigam. People here in ohio don't use the first letter. The car was an electrical nightmare very few things worked. I should of purchased all new switches I did get a new dimmer switch, turn signal switch,blower motor switch, and all new bulbs and sockets for dash, and wiper motor. Good for me I was able to get the convertible top to work.

This info should be either at the "Passion" site or in the factory manual. Wiper switches changed over the years, and 2/3 speed etc are different Read the section 8 text referring to wipers, not just the diagrams.

Welcome to Passion4Mopars - Because Mopars Are My Passion Too
 
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