69 Cuda - Entire Electrical

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Rod 69 Cuda

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Rebuilding 69 Cuda from the ground up and looking for electrical advise. Here is the dash and components along with the electrical wires, back view...This is all the electrical I have. Do I need an entirely new harness or just additional wires to attach to what I have? Any recommendations at all (what I need and where to buy) would be appreciated. Also, should I buy new gauges or should I attempt to work with the original? I'm lost and just don't know where to start or what I should and shouldn't do...Haha. Thanks.

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New stuff is very pricy. Can't tell from the pic but if the harness is in decent shape I would try to use it . Same with the gauges.
 
If I was going to do it again, the first thing I would do is buy all the wiring harnesses new from year one. Even though I am a high skilled electrical guy, it has not been worth all the trouble. On sale all of the harnesses are about $700. Could have saved myself a lot of grief.

the gauges are pretty durable in general & should be ok. Buy new sensors though.
 
If I was going to do it again, the first thing I would do is buy all the wiring harnesses new from year one. Even though I am a high skilled electrical guy, it has not been worth all the trouble. On sale all of the harnesses are about $700. Could have saved myself a lot of grief.

the gauges are pretty durable in general & should be ok. Buy new sensors though.
Great intel. Sorry, I'm not very electronically wired, haha...What are sensors?
 
I'm in about the same boat. It all depends what your plans are and how in depth your build is. It's a buttload easier to replace with it already out. Also easier to check. You need to unwrap and check every single wire. I would ohm test each wire for resistance. Our 67 cuda has a great looking original harness but due to age the wiring is all starting to crack
A dash harness should be ordered from Year One only. They sell M&H harness and are the only retailers for them.
Check Year One for pricing, NOT cheap. Better to devise a game plan now then after its installed and laying on your back.
Good luck.
**I have extra gauges if need be**
 
Check the bulkhead connector over. 99% of the time you will see melted plastic due to infamous mopar electrical issues.
 
In my opinion, 50 year old wiring is a fire waiting to happen. Especially if you introduce an upgraded charging system. I got all my harnesses new, from Layson's, they'll have them built to order, just call (on a Saturday) and ask to speak to the guy who handles them. I forgot his name, but he took the time with my situation and was very knowledgeable.
They're not cheap, but it is worth the peace of mind, especially if you have to trouble shoot anything down the road, you will know that the wiring probably is NOT the culprit.
 
Rebuilding 69 Cuda from the ground up and looking for electrical advise. Here is the dash and components along with the electrical wires, back view...This is all the electrical I have. Do I need an entirely new harness or just additional wires to attach to what I have? Any recommendations at all (what I need and where to buy) would be appreciated. Also, should I buy new gauges or should I attempt to work with the original? I'm lost and just don't know where to start or what I should and shouldn't do...Haha. Thanks.

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View attachment 1715432788
looks like pretty much everything is there.
Cleaning and doing a resistance check for each wire is a good advice.
But a resistance check will only show a relatively high resistance. Do it on the lowest scale if its manual select. You could als ouse a test lamp. There still could be problems that won't show.
If you do seach you'll find a bunch of posts about 'voltage drops' - the best way to check for resistance. That's just for background - probably npot practical on the bench.
So my suggestion is not to rely entirely on the resistance check.
Check each wire by removing the terminal on each end - clean the terminal and visually examine the crimp and the condition of the wire. Put a little tension on the wire - does the crimping hold? If the strands are broken, oxidized green, or if the insulation is failing - then repair or replace.
Reinstall each terminal making sure it catches and holds in the connector.
Then go to the next wire.
If the connector is damaged (as pictured above), then replace it!

How do you know where each end of a wire has a terminal connection?
Use the wiring diagram from the shop manual.
If you download a digital shop manual, you can print a copy to scribble on.

This booklet explains the diagrams.
Electrical Wiring (Session 247) from the Master Technician's Service Conference

As far as new. My experience has been that new M& H harnesses are OK. Certainly agood option when there are a bunch of damaged wires.
However the M&H engine side harness on my '67 started showing some problems after 5 or 10 years. I've posted photos of those issues in other threads -
like this one. Nothing earth shattering, but enough that I'd not go buy another if the original was still in decent shape, or just needed a couple repairs.
 
Maybe easier to just check all the terminals one by one.
Then use the diagram to check anything that looks bad and you want to know what it does and what it connects to.
Don't let all those lines/wires scare you.
It's actually organized even though it looks like spagetti.
This is for a '69 Dart, but your 69 Barracuda will be similar.

There are three bulkhead connectors:
One with cavities A-H is mostly for the windshield wiper.
The middle one has the main circuits; alternator supply, battery, run, etc.
The last is mostly lights.
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So for example knowing that, and wires marked V relate to the wiper, we can find most of them terminating at the wiper switch.
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The middle connector is a little tricky because R6 joins others at a welded splice that is hidden under the tape. So to figure out where R6 goes, look at the splice in the diagram.
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R6A goes to the ammeter.
J1 goes to the ignition switch
L1 feeds the headlight switch B1 terminal
Q3 feeds a couple circuits in the fuse box
H1 is for the hazzards

The ones that in my experience are the most problematic are connections at headlight switch, and the alternator feed at the bulkhead connector. Followed by the battery feed at the bulkhead connector. Sometimes the headlight dimmer connectors get wet, and some folks have had problems with ammeter connections - although not so much with the rally dash. Still make sure the studs are good, the ring terminals connections are good, and insulated. I've had some issues with the ignition feed on my 67, but more on the engine compartment side.
 
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Be super careful removing the connector from the circuit board.
Its been at least 15 years since I've done it. Some of the other guys may have some tips.
 
I bought new harnesses, added the usual stuff, alternator charge wire, headlight relays, etc.

I then replaced the original fuse box with a Painless 7 circuit fuse box:

New Fuse Box Questions
 
Also it looks like your harness has the light package. The new M&H harnesses only come as the basic harness. You will have to reuse your accessory harnesses like the light package harness as they are not part of the basic harness
 
Joey who makes the harness? I know MH makes them for Year One. I'm interested in another quality mfg.
Thanks
Steve
In my opinion, 50 year old wiring is a fire waiting to happen. Especially if you introduce an upgraded charging system. I got all my harnesses new, from Layson's, they'll have them built to order, just call (on a Saturday) and ask to speak to the guy who handles them. I forgot his name, but he took the time with my situation and was very knowledgeable.
They're not cheap, but it is worth the peace of mind, especially if you have to trouble shoot anything down the road, you will know that the wiring probably is NOT the culprit.
 
I'd get on year ones mailing list and be patient. Every time theres a 30% off go buy a harness section. I did that to get all my wiring for both cars. Theres 3 main sections on the 69, along with 2 sub harnesses that M&H build. Ya sure doing it that way took a long time, but its plug n play, brand new, and OEM quality. You have to reuse your sub harnesses like console, light package and A/C or heat wiring for switch, blower resistor, and blower motor since nobody makes those. Sometimes tachometer harnesses are not part of the main harness. I know on 67 rally dash it's a seperate sub harness. The M&H comes only with the main hot feed wire that feeds the heat and A/C sub harness, you will have to clean and repin the sub harness to the new feed wire

Some more advice do NOT disconnect any of the accessory harnesses from the dash harness until you have the new dash harness. Then lay them side by side, disconnect and move the sub harnesses one wire at a time to the new harness, cleaning the connectors as you go.
 
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We do see examples of melting at bulkhead connectors, and amp gauge failures. Percentage of total number produced is very small. Internet is the cause of exaggeration.
As for the instrument panel... do everything you can do. You'll put a lot of coin into a new bezel. You don't want to R&R it repeatedly for one fault after another. Eight new bulbs and eight new quality bulb sockets will get near to 40 bucks, a solid state voltage limiter from RTE is about 55 bucks. Every penny is money well spent. Most costly is speedometer rebuild. If its in good working condition... great. Route a new cable into it a straight as possible. Good luck with it.
 
Make your own solid state voltage regulator, dewire the mechanical points voltage regulator from inside the gas gage. I used 5630 dimmable led light strip around the inside perimeter of my gage bucket, converted the ammeter to volts, and added a discharge light to it for my denso alternator.

All I mentioned above is here on fabo. Use the search function to find it under my screen name.
 
Sorry. I can't agree that buying M&H guarentees original quality. Its a reasonable solution when the problems are extensive and/or one does not have the skills, tools, supplies to repair.
This is another example from that engine side harness I bought through Year One.
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Original factory termination
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Spoke to Dave at Layson's Restoration today. He said they use a few different manufacturers for wiring harnesses, but they do their own Accessory Harnesses "in house". He also said M&H used to be the only game in town, but there are 2 other companies that they also use, depending on what application, and in some cases their connectors are better than M&H. Nice thing about Layson's is, they all are true older and experienced Mopar guys. Call them, Rick is the owner and Dave does all the shows, they're out of Washington State (235) 722-1300.
And, for our Canadian brothers, they offer cheaper shipping rates thru a contact in Windsor now.
 
Hmm...
Unless they are partners now?
Ill need to ask, next time I talk to one of them.
Thanks
 
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