Need help/advise before installing new harness

[MrJLR]

Decades of patches and repairs have left the wiring harness in my 1968 Barracuda in a horrible state!



I decided to replace the harness with a YearOne unit.
It arrived and it's a beautiful piece. My car was converted to electronic ignition and the new harness is already set up for that - so that's good.

Now my problems are a few.....previous owners have made many modifications over the years...

Question #1 is - what wires "should" be coming through the firewall? See pic below



Question #2 - The PO added 2 glass fuses. 1 for low beams and 1 for high beams.
Can I just remove them?
Also, what is that relay looking thing ?!!!



Question #3 - Starter relay ???




What is the best way I should go at this ? I took a LOT of pictures for reference.....
Should I just remover everything and start over?
My concern is how the modifications the POs made are going to effect the installation of the new harness....

Bottom line is that mess HAS to go and I have the new harness....

Thanks in advance for ANY pointers, tips, and help

Jeff

 

[RedFish]

What a mess. No wires are routed through the firewall. All are routed through the bulkhead connector. So yeah, rip all that out, fill their holes, install new harness.

 

[MrJLR]

What a mess. No wires are routed through the firewall. All are routed through the bulkhead connector. So yeah, rip all that out, fill their holes, install new harness.

Ugh....I was afraid of that.....
I'll have to figure out what the wires are coming through the firewall and see whats going on under the dash to make it right.....

Jeff

 

[RedFish]

If I had to guess what all that is/was for... jukebox
By the way... those cheesy replacement battery terminals are junk in my opinion. If the new harness didn't include battery cables, I would invest in some. Or atleast install crimp and solder terminals.
Also, there is a better way to hang the trans. Throw a cinch strap around the torsion bars and draw it up. This lets you install the engine and wiggle to align the trans and mate with engine.

 

[MrJLR]

If I had to guess what all that is/was for... jukebox
By the way... those cheesy replacement battery terminals are junk in my opinion. If the new harness didn't include battery cables, I would invest in some. Or atleast install crimp and solder terminals.
Also, there is a better way to hang the trans. Throw a cinch strap around the torsion bars and draw it up. This lets you install the engine and wiggle to align the trans and mate with engine.

Good tips...thank you!
That sounds better then using a floor jack on the trans.....

Battery cables not included....I'll get some...

I really appreciate the help and tips...I'm a little scared of this project but my engine isn't going back into that mess.....

Jeff

 

[65 Dartman]

Good tips...thank you!

Battery cables not included....I'll get some...


Jeff

Contact M & H Electric - http://www.wiringharness.com Customer Service 562-926-9552. I contacted them and spoke with one of their specialists concerning battery cables for my 65 Dart. They have the schematics for Chrysler battery cables going back to at least 65 and probably later. I ordered one and it was exactly like my original. Ulf - 65dartcharger - also ordered a set of pos and neg cables for his 65 Dart and they were exactly like OEM. With a new engine/light harness, you may want to finish the job with a correct battery cable set.

The engine/light harnesses Year One sells - guess who makes them for YO? Yep M & H Electric! M & H will make you battery cables but not the other harness sets since YO has the exclusive rights to them.

 

[MrJLR]

Contact M & H Electric - http://www.wiringharness.com Customer Service 562-926-9552. I contacted them and spoke with one of their specialists concerning battery cables for my 65 Dart. They have the schematics for Chrysler battery cables going back to at least 65 and probably later. I ordered one and it was exactly like my original. Ulf - 65dartcharger - also ordered a set of pos and neg cables for his 65 Dart and they were exactly like OEM. With a new engine/light harness, you may want to finish the job with a correct battery cable set.

The engine/light harnesses Year One sells - guess who makes them for YO? Yep M & H Electric! M & H will make you battery cables but not the other harness sets since YO has the exclusive rights to them.

Good source...thank you!

I'm thinking I'll need to replace the dash harness as well as I've seen under there and it looks about like the engine harness.....obviously spliced into with wires going out through the firewall....

Holy crap - $520 for that harness...:wack:

Ugh....what have I got myself into!

Jeff

 

[65 Dartman]

Good source...thank you!

I'm thinking I'll need to replace the dash harness as well as I've seen under there and it looks about like the engine harness.....obviously spliced into with wires going out through the firewall....

Holy crap - $520 for that harness...:wack:

Ugh....what have I got myself into!

Jeff

M & H makes them for YO as well. You might try contacting Evans Wiring for the under dash harness - they might be making them now.

 

[RedFish]

Me, I would buy a good used under dash harness and send it to someone like me for a few minor upgrades ( power distribution mostly ). I don't know what YearOne did in changing to electronic ignition ( I can only hope they upgraded the charging system wiring too ) but I do know the factory under dash wiring didn't send enough power out there to run these properly. Your ignition switch connector has 2 wires crimped in a single terminal. One of those goes nowhere except inst' panels gauge voltage limiter. The other of those 2 goes to engine bay to power ignition system and charging system.
Upgrade charging system and ignition system, ignition switch supply and demand suffers as does everything beyond it.

 

[TrailBeast]

On question 3= Yes, starter relay.

And that relay looking thing on top of the fender is a self resetting circuit breaker that was used instead of a fusable link. (not stock of course)

 

[MrJLR]

On question 3= Yes, starter relay.

And that relay looking thing on top of the fender is a self resetting circuit breaker that was used instead of a fusable link. (not stock of course)

Non-Stock.....ugh !!!!!

Me, I would buy a good used under dash harness and send it to someone like me for a few minor upgrades ( power distribution mostly ). I don't know what YearOne did in changing to electronic ignition ( I can only hope they upgraded the charging system wiring too ) but I do know the factory under dash wiring didn't send enough power out there to run these properly. Your ignition switch connector has 2 wires crimped in a single terminal. One of those goes nowhere except inst' panels gauge voltage limiter. The other of those 2 goes to engine bay to power ignition system and charging system.
Upgrade charging system and ignition system, ignition switch supply and demand suffers as does everything beyond it.

Maybe you'd be interested in repairing my current dash harness????? :cheers:
I'm gonna try to get it out this weekend and I'll post some pictures of the damage....

Jeff

 

[BillGrissom]

I repaired similar in my 64 & 65. I second getting an unmolested used dash harness since those wires were still excellent other than gomer hacks I fixed. The engine wires were brittle from heat. I totally replaced, using an under-hood relay/fuse box from a 90's Jeep, but sounds like you want factory correct. I spent a lot of time, but it was winter work while watching TV. In my years, the main variance in dash wiring was in the wiper and washer since those varied between cars. Auto and manual also have different NSS wiring. The 64 & 65 dash harnesses were quite different due to the pushbutton shift disappearing and rearranging other dash locations. Of course best to get one from the same year w/ same options.

You have a ~1971+ voltage regulator, and hopefully matching alternator. I did that, but installed mine right beside the alternator for simpler wiring. Sounds like you are now committed to the later Mopar spark box. If you wanted to electronic spark w/ a factory look, a Pertronix under the distributor cover would do that.

 

[MrJLR]

Ok....where does this part go????



Lol.....no turning back now!

 

[crackedback]

If you do the battery cables, use a larger gauge wire.

Not sure what I have around here, but, I can look.

 

[MrJLR]

If you do the battery cables, use a larger gauge wire.

Not sure what I have around here, but, I can look.

What gauge do you recommend?
Makes a big difference?

I'm not much of an electrical guy, but I'm forced to learn now!

 

[RedFish]

Don't toss the reusable harness connectors. Often someone is seeking good used at temp sender, or bulkhead, or...

 

[MrJLR]

Don't toss the reusable harness connectors. Often someone is seeking good used at temp sender, or bulkhead, or...

Yes. Some of those parts are hard to come by.
When it's all done, I'm going to toss it all in a box.
I'll hang on to it.

 

[RedFish]

What gauge do you recommend?
Makes a big difference?

I'm not much of an electrical guy, but I'm forced to learn now!

The hot wire to the starter was/is sufficient. The rest of the car runs on a different much smaller wire anyway. The factory chassis ground path is what it is, leaves a lot to be desired. The wire gauge of factory cable at battery ground may be a tad undersized but its only one piece of that "daisy chain". Most common battery cable fault in history is the add on terminal as seen in your photo. Crimp and solder terminals are available.

 

[MrJLR]

The hot wire to the starter was/is sufficient. The rest of the car runs on a different much smaller wire anyway. The factory chassis ground path is what it is, leaves a lot to be desired. The wire gauge of factory cable at battery ground may be a tad undersized but its only one piece of that "daisy chain". Most common battery cable fault in history is the add on terminal as seen in your photo. Crimp and solder terminals are available.

Ok....good tip...thanks!
I'll look on the Web or a good one...
Autozone and whatnot have junk around here. ..

I still gotta pull the dash harness and see what fresh hell is on that side.....hoping I can repair it as they are $520 online! !!!!!!

 

[MrJLR]

A friend gave me this! Woohoo!

 

[RedFish]

As I modify a wiring harness I revise the wiring diagram, label that revision to vehicle and date, print it, and store it in the car. I'll poke a copy in my factory service manual too.

 

[MrJLR]

As I modify a wiring harness I revise the wiring diagram, label that revision to vehicle and date, print it, and store it in the car. I'll poke a copy in my factory service manual too.

Good idea.....down the road I may add electric fans or whatever. ..