Hows it going guys. I got my new wiring harness today. Looks easy enough. just have to figure out where all the wires go. Good thing is that the wires are marked about every 3 ft or so.

Here a pic of the harness.



I got it on ebay 140$ shipped. 21 Circuit. it has room for everything. I think that 21 might have been over kill but thats ok.

I'm probably going to start installing it tomorrow.

Well here is some progress that i have made tonight.

First here are some pics of the existing wiring.






And here is a view of my gauges


And here it is after i ripped out all the wires.


Im going to run my new wires through some flexible plastic conduit. (thanks CopperBaja for that idea)

it was only like 3$ for 10 feet at Lowes. Its a 1/2" ID tubing.

First of all I cleaned up the trunk area, i used a wire wheel and got all the crap off the metal and all of the rust. man i didn't know there were so many holes up there.



Here is a pic of the connectors that go to the conduit that i am using.


When i laid the conduit out and ran it to where i want it to go i used 8' 10" (just in case some of you guys want to run it)

here is a pic of the the conduit going in to the heater channel


going up through the stock wiring harness location. i didn't see the point in making another hole.


Going out of the channel in the rear.


Here is the connector on the inside of the firewall


Here is the connector on the outside of the firewall.


im going to get some 1" pipe clamps, the kind that they use on non-flexible conduit, and make the conduit more stable.

So since dinner i have done a few things.

As we all know the VW doesnt have the engine in the front, alot of mods are going to have to be done to the harness as a whole.

Wires that i have found so far that are not long enough:
- Main Power
- Coil
- Starter
- All gauge sender's (oil pressure Oil temp Tach)

I have extended the gauge sender wires like this

to do this i removed the outside shield of a connector to make it fit through the conduit.

I had to cut all the factory zip ties and rebundle all the wires. Again the engine is in the back so i had to move alot around and i bundled some together that werent before. like all the ignition wires. so now i have something like this:


It took me alot longer to do all this than i thought it was going to. Man this wiring stuff is for the birds.

If i was to do this over again i would not get a pre-wired fuse block. it would be way easier to run the wires then connect them to the fuse block.


First of all i wired the back lights(Turn signals running lights) but i noticed that there was no wire for the brake lights although there was one for the 3rd brake light. so i might use that one to run the 3 lights or im going to have to run a new one. I didnt take a pic though.

On the front i bundled everything together. I figured that i would rather have 10 small bundles running everywhere than one big one.


I also wired the headlights and the front turn signals.




I also fixed the flasher relays. The manufacture had them on the end of a 6' wire. so i took the connector apart and shortened the wires.


All this took alot longer than i thought it would.

I am just about done. I just have to hook the gauges up and clean it all up then thats it. First thing i did today was figure the brake switches and the alternator figured out.

Here is a pic of the wiring as it is. if you notice down behind the wheel well i stuffed all the extra wires, and dont worry i checked them all and none were hot.


Yesterday i went over to my neighbors work and he cut me a peice of aluminum to cover where the stock fuel tank went.


I got pretty much everything wired on the dash. im waiting for my gauge replacement to come in. so im not going to hook them up yet. but here is a few pics of the dash.




here is the back. im going to put flame retardant wire wrap on the wires. and organize them better. but that is neither here nor their.


so im just about finished. i already started it up, worked on the first try. All the lights worked on the first try too. Unlike the first rats nest that i created. man that was a headache. but this rewire was pretty easy going. you just have to take your time and pay attention to detail. more will probably come tomorrow.

Good job and thank you. That is something most of us have to do and probably most have procrastinated doing it.

I certainly will be on the same path, re-wiring the entire thing.

How long did it take?

That is great. I will be doing that to the thing now! That is a bargain for the harness! Who on ebay did you buy it from?

The conduit is a very good idea.

yep rewired mine twice. once with stock fuse box, switches, etc. that stock fuse box is a joke.. then rewired it the right way with all toggle switches and afetermarket fuse box.

eek. I'm doing the same thing after I get the paint done. I tend to get lost in the wiring, so I'm not looking forward to it.

Eh! No biggie for me since it's similar to what I do for a living, except the idea of wiring the "whole thing" and what/where to get the kit. I've been looking at the kit at watsons-streetworks. Looks promising. Although a little on the pricey side. I'm ok with that if it's quality stuff. After all, there are some things you don't go cheap on.

Here’s another tip for you guys, instead of following the factory wiring path, go up past the hood hinge over the door, rear window and into the engine area to better hide wiring. Mine had no headliner when I did that and ran a fish tape in from rear all the way to “A” pillar then tied to harness and pulled thru. On a ’74 super beetle there was a foam block over the rear tire but was easy to push thru.
William

So this should wrap up my rewire.

Here is the finished wiring beofre the gas tank went back in:




here is the Tank put back in. I just bought a 16 gallon tank that is going to go in the back where the rear seat goes. but for now i have this one.


Here is the rear put back together. i used heat resistant wire wrap on the wires at the firewall.


And here is something that i got and put on. I love the look of these things.


I also fixed my left rear wheel cylinder. It was leaking brake fluid all over the place. i think that was caused by the parking brake cable braking. but it is all fixed now.

If anyone has any questions about anything that i have done please ask and i will give you the best answer that i can. Thanks for following along.

VWDavo wrote:

Who on ebay did you buy it from?

Curoius myself. Gonna go buy stock in a zip tie company

stores.ebay.com/Scoots-Hot-Rods

stores.ebay.com/Old-New-Parts

Both of these places have the one that i got.

I DID THE SAME ,,,BUT I REPLACED ONE WIRE AT A TIME!!SOLDER,SHRINK TUBE, THE WORKS ,TURNED OUT PREETY WELL. TOOK A LONG TIME THOUGH. BUT TIME IS JUST A CONCEPT!!!

yea i think that the longer you take the better it will turn out.

azhunter wrote:

Gonna go buy stock in a zip tie company

LOL i bought 1000 of them at harbor freight for 6$. i think that i got my money worth out of them.

I am in the middle of my rewire. Everything was right the first time (MIRACLE)!!

The only problems I am having is getting the brake lights to work because the wiring for the new wire loom kit doesn't match the wiring for the master cylinder.

I can't get the wiper motor to budge?????

Any suggestions?