Rewire - Wiring Diagrams

[Booker T]

I am about to start the 3rd rewire on my car. First was to fix what the previous owner did. Second was because I went 12v and HEI as well as added some aftermarket gauges in the glove box. Now I am going back to try to get all the original gauges in working order, fix the turn signals, add back up lights and hook up the horn. Each time in the past I have used the factory wire diagrams and then drawn my own to keep track of what I was doing. My hand drawn diagrams are alway a mess! In addition to the rewire on the 54 Savoy, I have a 61 Unibody that i am going to start working on this summer so I will have more "wiring duty" in my future...

So, I decided to use a program that I use a lot at work to do business process mapping and re-design...Microsoft Visio. There are some decent templates that come with the software but I recently learned that you can customize and draw your own shapes. So, as I wait for all the parts to arrive for the rewire, I have been creating some shapes to create a more factory like wiring diagram to show how I am hooking everything up. Because I have made modifications and because I have used aftermarket wires (cloth covered) that didn't adhere strictly to the factory colors I want to keep track of what wires do what and what I have done (will do). The program has some neat featues as far as connecting the shapes (label for size of wire and assign colors) and even lets me designate the connection points on the shapes to keep things organized. I am just figuring this stuff out but so far so good...

Anyway, attached is a jpeg of some of the shapes I have created. I still have a lot more to do but I am getting pretty quick at it. If anyone else uses Microsoft Visio or would be interested in the templates I could share. Supposedly since I created these from scratch and did not use existing shapes as a basis there is no copyright problem and I should just be able to save and forward...

Let me know if anyone else has tried this or something similar...or even just what you think about it.

[greg g]

pretty neat. I use the paint accessory and always draw from scratch. If there was a way to save your thumbnail as a selectable file, a copu paste deal would make drawing shematics quick and more presentable.

[oldodge41]

I did my own diagrams for my '41 rewire on AutoCad. Here are some of what I made. The numbering system is unique to these drawings as I did not try to match anything else. These are not the "as builts" since I haven't updated them yet. I like what you have done.

[Booker T]

My friend did all the wiring for his 1/8 mi drag car on AutoCad...kind of my inspiration behind this except using a software that I am familiar with. Those wiring schematics look good!

I am still messing with labels and trying to figure out a way to format wire sizes and be able to drag and drop colors with the right gauge and representitive width of line. I know it can be done but just need to play around a little more with it.

Anyway, here is an example of testing out the connectors and some labels as well as more of the shapes I put together.Visio lets you resize the shapes as needed so I tried to make them big for the example...

[40P10touring sedan]

I keep toying with the "should "I" rewire it myself or just go buy a 21 or so system...still torn for my 40 plymouth. The current system is really easy to redo since there's so little of it, however, I wish to add turn signals, hazards, back up, radio, rear window blower motor, remote{pass front external door lock only} and power locks{kids-rear suicide doors}, AC eventually{wife and son have asthma so comfort is key} and maybe power windows.

If you build your own system you could use power jumper blocks as taps for current or new add ons, just add fuses and relays or whatever as needed off of each tap for the given circuit....not as compact as some available fuse blocks, but it'd be a running add on if need be.

Last question is "where" to install this...

[Booker T]

My first two re-wires were DIY and even though I am adding a bunch of stuff this go around there is enough of the original wiring that I did that will stay to make it an easy decision for me. I am pretty anal about wiring and connectors, etc. so I am happy with the job I did thus far...heat shrink, solder or good crimps and decent connectors. I just want to add on and re-organize a little...not start from scratch. Plus, even though I am not using the "correct" color combinations I really like the look of the cloth covered wire (Rhode Island Wire, Brillmans, several others).

That said, this time I am adding in a bit of complexity with the turn signals, reverse lights, horn, interior lights, gauges and gauge lights as well as an iPod jack hooked to a hidden amplifier, hidden volume knob (glovebox) and hopefully some fairly well concealed speakers plus terminal blocks and fuses for everything...thus the reason I am trying to come up with a good way to plan and document what I am doing!

[martybose]

I used to do a lot of outlining in Visio. It works well, as long as you don't get too upset when you move a component and it decides to redraw everything by moving them around!

Marty

[greg g]

are you running 12V?? if 6v your wiregauges should go +2 on wire size.

[Booker T]

I used to do a lot of outlining in Visio. It works well, as long as you don't get too upset when you move a component and it decides to redraw everything by moving them around!

Marty

Luckily I have used it a bunch for process mapping at work...so I don't hit the desk nearly as hard as I used to when that happens!!!

[Booker T]

are you running 12V?? if 6v your wiregauges should go +2 on wire size.

Yep, 12v sometime last year. The pic was just me messing around trying to figure out how to link everything with the new objects. I think 90% of the car is done with 12ga except for the stuff that was 10ga when it was 6v. Also still running my 2/0 battery cables...figured why swap out for smaller wires / cables just because I went 12v...