Rewire 67 Dart GT - need recommendations - what's best?

[Dartman61]

Hi fellow A body fans,
I need your help in selecting a new wire harness for my 67 Dart convertible. I had the hood open and the car idling when I noticed smoke from the bulk head connection area. I turned it off and pulled the connectors and my engine harness to discover the bulk head & harness connector is toast. I would have never thought they could be that bad and I'm very lucky they didn't melt down on me when I was out and about. Someone previous to me had patched the connection and wrapped with black tape and that patch finally failed with melted - wires falling out the plastic connectors & bulk head. No way to save the original so I need to replace and I know its pricey but I'm willing to spend the money. My car is stock, but is complicated by the fact that it is a convertible with A/C and I've also installed electronic ignition and an electric fuel pump (no problem to modify another harness to accept). As I contemplate the project the easiest thing for me for me to do is to replace what I have with with a stock system. I would consider a good used harness (it would need A/C) or NOS if available but I'm not seeing that as a real option. That said, I wouldn't mind upgrading to newer system and fuses. I've been exploring and looked at Painless and American Wire and my concern with these is that neither support the Ammeter and they provide only a 1 wire alternator hook up ( I've got 2) . I'm looking to replace it all - headlight to taillight. What I would like: 1 System that uses the bulk head connection - like stock, 2 A system that supports all factory gauges (including Amp meter) 3 A system that supports 2 wire stock Alt. 4 A system with multiple harnesses versus everything running into the fuse block. I know there has to be a number of you out there who have done this and I'd like to hear from you!

 

[4mulas]

M&H from yearone. I wouldn’t go any other way.

Mopar designed the systems to be be three main pieces with ‘off shoot’ pieces that plug and play into the main pieces.

Ie: you’ll need the dash harness for the 67 Dart, probably around $800, the engine and forward lighting harness for the 67 Dart around $300, then the separate individual harnesses for the optional equipment like the A/C harness etc…. You’ll probably find though that many of the subsidiary harnesses will still be in okay shape.

 

[Heywodja]

M&H from yearone.

These are the very best for a stock rewire, their website is Reproduction Electrical Products for American Muscle Cars
But they do not sell to the public. I have sometimes found their harness’s for sale on eBay as well. They will answer questions about their products.

You can also get some under hood wiring from Evans Wiring Harnesses

 

[Mike69cuda]

M&H from year one are copies of the originals. You don’t need a lot of electronic skill to replace the originals, since they are the same. This is what I did. The only bad news is all the accessories harnesses (like AC) are sold separately, so it drives the cost up. Use dielectric grease on all the connectors, particularly under the hood.

Year one has sales where they are 30% off with some frequency. If you create an account and put them in your shopping cart, they will email you with a discount offer after a couple of weeks to get you to purchase them (at least they used to)

It’s not that universal kits aren’t good, but you better have some electrical experience to use them.

 

[cudamark]

2nd M&H for the main harnesses. You'd have to check to see if an A/C and/or Convertible top harness is even available. Those will usually survive a meltdown, so, yours might be reusable.

 

[Demonx2]

These are the very best for a stock rewire, their website is Reproduction Electrical Products for American Muscle Cars
But they do not sell to the public. I have sometimes found their harness’s for sale on eBay as well. They will answer questions about their products.

You can also get some under hood wiring from Evans Wiring Harnesses

I 2nd Evans Wiring Harnesses. I've said it before and will repeat it that if he makes it, this is the place to go. His engine harness for my 71 Demon was 100% spot on to the original. And you have your choice of electronic ignition or not. I've used his stuff on others and had the same experience.

I had to get a forward lamp harness from M&H for the Demon. It worked but the dimensions were off from the originals providing some "opportunities" on the installation. Also had to remove the Dart fender-mounted turn signal indicator wires. No choice not to have them.

 

[4mulas]

I 2nd Evans Wiring Harnesses. I've said it before and will repeat it that if he makes it, this is the place to go. His engine harness for my 71 Demon was 100% spot on to the original. And you have your choice of electronic ignition or not. I've used his stuff on others and had the same experience.

I had to get a forward lamp harness from M&H for the Demon. It worked but the dimensions were off from the originals providing some "opportunities" on the installation. Also had to remove the Dart fender-mounted turn signal indicator wires. No choice not to have them.

I don’t think evans’ makes a Dash Harness

 

[Demonx2]

I don’t think evans’ makes a Dash Harness

I think you are correct. He makes a lot of harnesses but not all. Just have to call and ask him. Good guy to talk with!

 

[Heywodja]

If you have the luxury of time, Search the M&H part numbers and scour eBay. They turn up on there from time to time.

 

[Dartman61]

Hey everyone thanks for the input. I was very lucky that I caught my issue before it destroyed my wiring. See pictures. Instead of rewiring the car I got a new bulkhead connector ($75) and engine harness ends ($28). I found my parts on eBay but if you do a search there are a lot of folks that carry them. I also had to repair 2 wire terminals with new fittings – also found on eBay and elsewhere. Take pictures before you start! Working under the dash I painstakingly went in and released each wire terminal with a small screwdriver, cleaned it off, made sure the locking tab was up and inserted it into the new block. I did this one at a time to make sure each wire went into the correct spot on the new block. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to screw this up. I did the same thing with the harness ends but used small needle nose pliers to reach in and close the terminal to release the tab and push it out. Be careful as the harness end fittings look similar they do have a specific sequence and orientation on the bulkhead connector. Overall, it took me about 3 ½ hours to swap wires and by far the bulkhead connector under the dash was the most difficult. The fix worked great and kept me from having to rip the car part to rewire. If I was dismantling the car to paint or restore, I would certainly go with all new wiring but for now this gets me back on the road!

 

[Mattax]

Nice follow up on coming around to doing a repair.
The question is why the damage in the first place. Maybe just many oxidized and weakened connections, but maybe something else.

is complicated by the fact that it is a convertible with A/C

I've forgotten whether its true for '67 but the convertible motor power lead was often connected to the battery side of ammeter.
The factory A/C power is through an optional fuse in the fuse box. It was jumpered in. So neither of those should be effected by the repairs.
However either one can draw a lot of power so may be worth checking for evidence of overheating.

installed electronic ignition

Should not be a big deal. It does draw more current than points but not much.
More concern is an added electric choke assist on many aftermarket carbs.

and an electric fuel pump (no problem to modify another harness to accept)

This is an unneccessary load (assuming your engine has the fuel pump eccentric). Check what the max current draw is. Then review whether the run circuit wiring leading up to your splice can handle that additional load. There's no fuse on the run circuit, and much of it is 18 gage. It has to power the coil, the ECU, and the alternator's rotor. Replacement alternators sometimes (too often) draw more field current. Once we start adding up the changes it can be pushing the capacity of the wires and connections, especially in the hot engine bay.

2 A system that supports all factory gauges (including Amp meter) 3 A system that supports 2 wire stock Alt

Not sure what you mean by 2 wire. Factory 67 connects one field wire, grounds the other field terminal, and has an output wire on a ring terminal - 12 gage usually.

The resistance in the alternator output line (main feed to the car) can be reduced by running a parallel wire. That will help when running A/C, plus lights, or wipers, and fuel pump. Another way to reduce load on the main line and its connector is to install a headlight relay harness. it just diverts the load when the headlights are on.

 

[Mattax]

Looking at this photo, even the wiper harness connectors were getting excessively hot.

Do you recall what was the ammeter showing?
My guess would be it was showing charge and if a voltage check had been made at that time, the alternator output would have shown over 15 Volts. Either the regulator was seeing low voltage or the regulator points were stuck in the maxium field current position.