Electrical help needed, underdash wiring is a disaster

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Karl Nicholson

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The brake lights on my dads 65 fish stop working so I checked the wiring at the tail lights. Eventually ended up under the dash and it's a mess of poorly added new wires with heat shrink and butt splices etc. The fuse panel seems to be bypassed with inline fuses added.
Other than buying a new harness for $600 plus dollars which I can't afford, what's the best way to clean this up and make it safe and reliable? Trying to figure out where to start..
 
Ugh, that sounds like a mess. You can either pick up a good used harness or rewire yours. It's difficult with the dash in the way, but the entire dash was designed to be installed easily when originally built. You can take the entire dash assembly out, and work on it from the back side.

Fix just one circuit at a time, and address the bulkhead/amp gauge/charging circuit issue while you are in there. Take pictures of the before and after stages for reference.
 
I would place a want ad for the 65 dash harness. I just picked up a very nice 65 dash harness that I will use on another project with only one wire cut (the passenger door switch) for a very nice price. A good used one can work as well as those Year One high dollar ones!
 
The brake lights on my dads 65 fish stop working so I checked the wiring at the tail lights. Eventually ended up under the dash and it's a mess of poorly added new wires with heat shrink and butt splices etc. The fuse panel seems to be bypassed with inline fuses added.
Other than buying a new harness for $600 plus dollars which I can't afford, what's the best way to clean this up and make it safe and reliable? Trying to figure out where to start..

I will say we had a similar situation with my son's 70 Dart. I would suggest, if you have the time and patience, pull the harness and go through the harness and do the repairs. It really wasn't that difficult, just time consuming and a bit tough on the back removing and installing it. It also helps if you have a large work bench to stretch the harness out and label everything and check continuity and to do proper repairs where needed.

Good Luck!
 
It's difficult with the dash in the way, but the entire dash was designed to be installed easily when originally built. You can take the entire dash assembly out, and work on it from the back side.
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I disagree that complete dash assembly is easy to remove for the simple reason to remove it, the dang windshield needs to be removed. That’s a non-starter for a lot of people! I agree that when it’s on the bench, then it’s a piece of cake to get at everything.
 
I disagree that complete dash assembly is easy to remove for the simple reason to remove it, the dang windshield needs to be removed. That’s a non-starter for a lot of people! I agree that when it’s on the bench, then it’s a piece of cake to get at everything.

We didn't remove the dash but the gauge cluster and then the entire harness. Really not difficult at all but we did remove the front bench seat and laid out some moving blanket for comfort.
 
Buy a new one. If the price seems high save up! You will not regret it! Look at year one, it can be changed without pulling the entire dash. It’s 54 years old and not worth finding what someone may call a nice original. JMO!
 
another suggestion: gut the dash but leave the frame in the car. when you unplug the dash harness from the bulkhead and other locations, you'll be able to lay it out and inspect it. any bad wire change out. it's not too hard to do one wire at a time. just follow the wiring in the manual. while it's out, ring out the other harnesses with an ohm meter. you can probably do it in a weekend.
p.s. pull the seats and drop the steering column, it's worth it

good luck
 
Many ways to go, depends on budget, how original you want it, what your skill level/ physical condition, on and on

1....Find a used OEM harness

2....Buy a generic "12 circuit" harness Some of these are quite budget priced

2....Buy a generic harness/ or just fuse box and pull out and patch up what you have now. "Not that hard" Pull it out of the car, spread it out on a bench or plywood, and tape and nail down all the branches, and untape it. Repair/ replace on a wire by wire basis. The connector shells are mostly reuseable, and they mostly use what are called "Packard 56" terminals.
 
Many ways to go, depends on budget, how original you want it, what your skill level/ physical condition, on and on
yup, i'm in the middle of cutting this in, in place of the stock fuse block. i'm lucky, the wiring is in great shape but the fuse block and bulkhead have issues. since i don't have to replace wiring, i don't need a kit that has flasher relays and all the other stuff built in. just cutting one circuit over at a time.
but if the OP isn't even sure where the problem is yet, need to figure that out first
 
Great for customs but not a plug and play option. OP needs to think were they want to go or be.
Yep. You either get simple or cheap. He wants cheap. And really, the cheap ones are marked every 5" where they go. Not that hard.
 
What you found wasn't done just for the fun of it. We can only guess what was the reason. Once upon a time the turn signal switch failed, no turn signals, no brake lamps, or both. When someone replaced that switch they chopped out the OEM male and female harness connectors for the switch and made those wire up with butt connectors. Now the switch has failed again.
Instrument panel was removed to replace gauge voltage limiter, bulbs, whatever. Still doesn't work because the panel isn't screwed to the dash, it has no ground. They find one fuse marked [inst] has no power. Who knows what they might do to resolve what wasn't actually a fault.
So anyway... you may need a new turn signal switch whether you undo what they did or not.
Good luck with it.
 
I installed this harness in my Duster. It's a quality harness and I think it's better than trying to repair an old butchered one.
I installed this harness in my Duster. It's a quality harness and I think it's better than trying to repair an old butchered one.

Thank you all for all of your suggestions. At least I have some choices. I think I'm going to try and tackle this problem without buying a new $650 harness. The brake light switch on the brake peddle was faulty. Now that the brake light and single light issue is resolved, I'll check each wire and replace as necessary.
 
Thank you all for all of your suggestions. At least I have some choices. I think I'm going to try and tackle this problem without buying a new $650 harness. The brake light switch on the brake peddle was faulty. Now that the brake light and single light issue is resolved, I'll check each wire and replace as necessary.
There's a few threads with information on how to remove and install terminals into the connectors, different types of connectors and crimping.
Sources for Chrysler type wire terminals
Inline wiring splice clips........from the Dodge RAM service manual
 
Same for my 1964 Valiant and 1965 Dart. Often the mess is made by "professionals" - mechanics and audio hacks. It probably isn't as bad as it looks. If taking the cluster out anyway, it isn't too hard to pull the whole harness out for bench work. That lets you clean up the bulkhead connector too. I hate butt crimps and always use solder & heat shrink. Unwrap the "welded junction" for the black ALT wires, which is a common problem area. It wasn't a true weld and is often a little green (corroded). I cleaned & soldered. I re-covered my wires w/ smooth PVC sheathing (Alpha or SPC) and split loom, sealing tee's w/ self-fusing silicone tape. For the factory look, buy non-adhesive vinyl wrap. Don't use sticky electrical tape (will make a later mess).
 
I wish you the best on this, been going through this for at least 2 years. The problem I have had is the previous owners had wiring in the car that was needed at one time, when it wasn't they just left it and some of it was hot like the electric cooling fan. Just a big pain, but interesting, learned a lot, it is a hobby after all.
 
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