Wiring Harness Question

[sam knopik]

First, thanks to Allen Parkhurst and David Erb's work on the wiring harness diagrams and notes. I printed that file off and have been using it religiously to put one together. I found that with my origional one removed and laying, labled somewhat accurately, on my workbench the notes you all provided have made this a fun project... so far.

Do I begin to bundle the harness together when I complete each branch?

Thanks,

Sam

[Young Ed]

I realize this will make extra work for you but when I redid my car this past summer I test fit the harness in the car to make sure everything was long enough etc. Then I took it back out and taped it up. I found it was much easier to tape with a helper too. One to hold and one to wrap

[grey beard]

Please read the latest installment of harness notes that was updated last week. When you wrap your harness, just pinch it in your bench vise with a shop rag and put tension on it with one hand while you wrap it with the other. This is defnitely NOT a good place to save money witth cheap electrical tape. Ir will get sticky over time and attract dirt -sorta' like fly paper. Get the good stuff that is vinyl. Got mine from a phone company redpair man - good stuff.

On dash gauges - they are way nasty to work on. Here's how I got around the close quarters problem. First, I added a foot to each wire for gauges and switches. This allowed me to pull the cluster out and work on it with ease. Then I replaced the steel oil pressure line wkith one a foot longer and bent a skingle wrap around a WD40 rattle can. Then I installed this new line with the loop just next to the horn. When you pull the dash cluster out to work on it, the line has enough give in it to let you pull it out. Hardly shows with he hood reinstalled. Lastly, I parked the temp sender lead on the drivers side of the firewall clamp, with the choke and throttle cables on the far right. With the clamp tight, I can still slide the sender cable in and out a few inches to get access to the gauges.

My truck is a 1948 with floor shift and e-brake. This stuff all makes it nigh unto impossible for a big lummix like me to service things from underneath the dash. Thankfully, I no longer need to ever do that again, with the above fix. I strongly recommend it.