Winter re-wire project

[White Spyder]

This winter I want to do a re-wire of the engine bay on my 48 Windsor. As I want to do this myself and not pay over a grand for a pre-done harness, does any one have information on lengths and connections needed for me to build my own for a car with fluid drive?

[Young Ed]

The best thing to do if you want to do it yourself is carefully label and remove your original harness. I layed my entire harness out on my workbench and remade it one wire at a time. The other thing I did was put zip ties at the end of the taped areas and then removed the tape so you could see the colors inside there.

Edited October 12, 2011 by Young Ed
added pics

[oldmopar]

A few years I go I had planned to rewire a P15 and got some information with Rhode Island wire about the original wiring markings at the link blow is the information they sent me

http://oldmopar.com/oldmopar/wirecodes.html

[Frank Elder]

Another thing to consider is to learn how to solder/and heat shrink before you take up this task, if you don't know how to do so already.

To rewire your car takes time, money and effort......I would hate to have you stall on the side of the road because of an " el cheapo" crimp on connector that allows the wiring to come loose.

[White Spyder]

Ed,

Thanks for the photos. At this point all the wire inside the car appears to be in good shape. The covering is not brittle. It is under the hood where the conditions are bad. Many wires have lost their covering and others are oil soaked. Is it possible to just do an engine bay only?

[Young Ed]

Ed,

Thanks for the photos. At this point all the wire inside the car appears to be in good shape. The covering is not brittle. It is under the hood where the conditions are bad. Many wires have lost their covering and others are oil soaked. Is it possible to just do an engine bay only?

Of course. Some of the wires do go through the firewall into the car to hook to the instruments when you start pulling stuff apart you'll discover they are split up. My car had a charging harness, lighting, engine, behind the dash, and then the one to the rear. I still have a few putzy things left to finish -the pigtails for the headlights, center brake, and license plate and the clock light. I did mine with modern wire but you can get the vintage looking stuff if you wish to keep that look. Also as Frankie said solder every connection. I heat shrinked all of mine too but if you are keeping the old school look that wouldn't fit. I buy the solderless crimp on connectors because they are cheaper and just toss the little plastic piece and solder them anyways.

[chopt50wgn]

I was under the impression that soldered joints were more prone to break or crack due to being rigid. Using crimped connectors with heat shrink over the connections seems to be a better way to go. I have never soldered joints on any wire job I have done and have never had a problem.

[TodFitch]

I was under the impression that soldered joints were more prone to break or crack due to being rigid. Using crimped connectors with heat shrink over the connections seems to be a better way to go. I have never soldered joints on any wire job I have done and have never had a problem.

I guess I'm a "belt and braces" type on electrical connections: Crimp then solder.

You are right that one consideration on soldering is fatigue failures where the solder makes the wire stiffer. But in most areas the wiring should be properly secured with strain reliefs so movement once installed should not be an issue.

[suntennis]

When replacing wires, it would be a good idea to use an original wiring diagram to aid in wire size and color. Original wiring has some wires that are multi color so if you use only solid color wires, it would be helpfull if you kept record of what colors are used on every connection. The color thing is helpfull if for some reason there is a problem on a circuit.

[Young Ed]

Good call out. I did exactly that. I bought as many colors as I could and kept track of the few I changed. Also the 46-48 plymouth chart doesn't list size so I used the 49 chart for size. I also turned all the 16g for lights to 14 to save on supplies.

[Andydodge]

When doing the wiring it doesn't really matter whether the ends are soldered or crimped so long as they are done properly. I've seen both break and /or work loose when done incorrectly, so make sure you really crimp the fitting in the correct place and it won't work loose. also ensure that the wires are supported either by tape or wire ties, are kept away from direct heat and moving parts.......I rewired my 1940 Dodge 35 yrs ago, took all the cobbled together original and added to wiring out and just redid it slowly, one wire at a time, its not difficult, nor for that matter very costing, just time consuming.........but its something that you can be very satisfied with after..........lol........andyd

[Frank Elder]

If you place your wires correctly and do a good job soldering you won't have cracking or slippage...the heat shrink also limits cracking due to vibration.I guess to me crimp ons just don't look right...like I wasn't willing to put forth the effort.

[Eneto-55]

Just for info, you can do the heat shrink with a common hair dryer - no need to buy a special one, although the real deal may confine the heat to a more exact area.

[Dodgeb4ya]

I have done several 1946-8 Chryslers for myself and customers. I do them exactly like OEM and crimp and solder and use OE or after market heat shrink to seal terminal ends. I have bulk OE cloth wire in the correct colors from Y&Z and Rhode Island. Also I use all the original type new terminal ends. I save and reuse the original ends too off all the old wiring harnesses too. The cars I do are for people who want the original look. Show car stuff.

The soldering is critical and needs to be done properly-easy if you know how-cleaning/tinning the wires ect.. And yes you can do just the engine compartment- I rewire the engine harness from near the point where the big main harness comes thru the firewall.. I stagger the individual wire splices so the harness won't end up a huge round lump at that point in the main harness. This way no one can tell a rewire job was done-looks factory. You really need to follow the wiring diagram ( find one online) and use the correct guage of wire - thats a must.

I do understand some people like plastic wire and crimp connectors for a re wire but there is nothing wrong with good original or new cloth wiring on these old MoPars.

Bob

[deathbound]

I've been using this type of crimping tool http://www.elliottelectric.com/Products/Detail.aspx?v=TAB&c=WT111M for the last 25+ years without any failures. It requires non-insulated terminals/connectors & if a certain non-insulated piece is not readily available-I remove the crappy plastic piece from the one I need. Of course, I then use adhesive lined heat shrink tubing to cover/protect/secure the connection. I'm not knocking soldering, I've just had good results with this crimping tool. DO NOT use the crimping tool that "flattens" the terminal/connector.

[Dodgeb4ya]

Another nice 4 star crimping tool.