Wirin'

[50 coupe]

I'm going to start on re-wiring my coupe. I know you can buy wiring and connectors just about everywhere but want to know what is a source for quality wire and connectors? What should I be looking for and/or staying away from? Thanks.

[Plymouthy Adams]

it will boil down to what you can get your hands on and if of if not you wish to mess with a Teflon over other coatings...98% of all my rewire and upgrades are completed using wiring harness cut from cars in the wrecking yard..I use quick connect molder plugs for components and soldered and heat shrink splices.  It truly will be what you are comfortable working with or able to secure.  If you use lugs..invest in a good crimper and stay away from the typical junk you find at the big box store...crimpers will be calibrated as per size..red, bue and yellow most common for these gauge wires you will encounter with vehicles...

[Bobacuda]

I bought the cloth covered wire and components from Rhode Island Wiring when I made the harnesses for my B4B - http://www.riwire.com/.  The wires are cloth covered and match the originals in appearance, except for a couple I changed the color on.  RIW sells finished harnesses as well, but for my truck, the harnesses cost about $750 and I bought the components, including a directional signal, from them for about $250.  I used a wiring diagram to determine the color and size of the wires I needed.  I waited till I had pulled all of the harnesses to figure out how many of what connector I needed...and I still had an excess of a few connectors and a shortage of a few others (that were then acquired locally).

 

When I started, I removed each harness, labeling each wire on each end telling where it connected.  Then I mounted the harnesses on plywood so that when I built the new harness, I had the old one for a model, I could measure each wire to match the original and get the connector correct.  I soldered each wire end, slipped a piece of shrink tubing on, crimped and soldered the connector to the wire, slid the shrink tubing up and shrunk it to fit.  When a harness was finished, I re-wrapped each with tape to match the original.  Working in the evenings and a couple of cold Saturdays, it took me two weeks start to finish.

[Bingster]

I do have a nice color wiring diagram but it really scares me to rip everything out and start anew.  The diagram tells you where and what color, but the routing is left up to you. How hard is it to duplicate the old routing, or do you kind of fake it?

[Plymouthy Adams]

_{there is no faking it...a wiring harness is nothing but a wrapping of wires running point to point that are the separate systems and where they break out in an orderly fashion and terminate at the device/component it will power or feed power from.}

[dale]

Why not just replace the wires where need be. I put on a one wire altenator and didnt use the ampmeter so I eliminated about half the wiring. Definitly stay away from the cheap connectors.

[Bingster]

That seems more my speed!  Replacing them in more or less a one-by-one fashion, although not quite that tedious.  Granted, the dash has to be done all at the same time. I have to remove it anyway to grain it.  I suppose just make a lot of notes and take some photos.

[Young Ed]

That seems more my speed!  Replacing them in more or less a one-by-one fashion, although not quite that tedious.  Granted, the dash has to be done all at the same time. I have to remove it anyway to grain it.  I suppose just make a lot of notes and take some photos.

 

I marked the other ends of mine and then removed the dash with all the wiring still attached. Paid it out and replaced everything. Reattached to the repainted dash and reinstalled the whole assembly.

[50 coupe]

I will be doing one wire/circuit at a time. Other than using appropriate gauge wire, are there certain specifications/brands/USA made wire and components I should be looking for or staying away from? Ie, asian made, good or bad, or is that even relevant? Trade grade/specs I should be looking for? Does this question make sense? 

[48ply1stcar]

Replace one wire at a time, one circuit/system at a time.  Use the gauge wire for a 6 volt system.

 

http://p15-d24.com/uploads/monthly_05_2013/post-1228-0-92277800-1369439341.jpg

[desoto1939]

In your car there are various gages of wire that run from 10, 12, 14 and 16 guage.

 

16 gage is the thinnest wire that was used.  I would suggest that you use and upgrade to at least 14 gage on any wire that was an original 16. This way you have more wire to carry the necessary current. 

 

As some have stated you can buy color coded cloth wire witht he proper color and the appropriate strickers in the cloth covering.  Rhode Island wire is good and I have used them.

 

You can get as an example a correct color with striker that would have been a 16 gage wire but they have the same color and sticker in a 14 gage.  This way no one know the difference when looking at the wire but you do.  The other question is are you looking to have your car Jusged at AACA events and other major car shows in which the judges are looking over the car with a fine tooth comb? If so then you would need to get the correct color and stiker setup. If you are doing a driver than you can use modern plastic covered wire fro a NAPA or AutoZone.

 

FYI  The cloth covered wire that people are using is also a plastic covered wire with the cloth covering pulled over the wire.  This is beeter than the old wire because they just used the cloth without the plastic coating.

 

So you need to decide what direction you are headed, BUT always purchase quality parts and wire do not be cheap on this area.  This is what makes the car run on the wiring.

 

Rich HArtung

Desoto1939@aol.com

[Young Ed]

In your car there are various gages of wire that run from 10, 12, 14 and 16 guage.

 

16 gage is the thinnest wire that was used.  I would suggest that you use and upgrade to at least 14 gage on any wire that was an original 16. This way you have more wire to carry the necessary current. 

wiring.

 

Rich HArtung

Desoto1939@aol.com

 

Excellent advice Rich. I did the same on my car. Saves on variety of wire/size combinations too. Win Win!

[mopar_earl]

I've done several harnesses on my car so far. I used modern wire and connectors. I also upgrade to the next gauge wire for each size. Some of the gauging they choose, seemed pretty boarder line to me. I have to do all the harnesses under the hood as the cloth is falling off the wire. Inside the car is good and I will leave it.

Earl

[desoto1939]

I've done several harnesses on my car so far. I used modern wire and connectors. I also upgrade to the next gauge wire for each size. Some of the gauging they choose, seemed pretty boarder line to me. I have to do all the harnesses under the hood as the cloth is falling off the wire. Inside the car is good and I will leave it.

Earl

Earl:  The wire might look good to the eye on the inside of the car, but remember that the cloth covering is now 64 years old.  When I touched mine and the wires on the inside the cloth covering was crumbling off the wire on my 39 Desoto.  So If replace the outside wire in the engine compartment or were ever else do the whole job just to be safe.  Just my two cents on this subject.  An electrical fire can ruin a nice car and then you will kick yourself for not doing the complete job.  As Ben Franklin said a stitch in time save nine. 

 

Rich HArtung

Desoto1939@aol.com

[Plymouthy Adams]

mopar_earl, on 10 Feb 2016 - 1:41 PM, said:

I've done several harnesses on my car so far. I used modern wire and connectors. I also upgrade to the next gauge wire for each size. Some of the gauging they choose, seemed pretty boarder line to me. I have to do all the harnesses under the hood as the cloth is falling off the wire. Inside the car is good and I will leave it.

Earl

modern wire insulation composition is such that it not near as thick as the older wires...the gauge is the conductor wire/wires not the physical overall look/feel..your wire could be stated as gauge and strand count also..

[50 coupe]

so auto wire and connectors from the local Orielly or NAPA will work?

[Young Ed]

so auto wire and connectors from the local Orielly or NAPA will work?

Between that and the hardware store that's where all my stuff came from.

[desoto1939]

Yes they will work but the new  crimp style witht he blue, yellow or colored plastic sleeve is not correct your the older vintage car and trucks.  Yes you can crip the wires but the best is to solder the wires into the proper connectors and then get some shrink tubing and the cover over the wire where it slips into the connector.  This is if you want it to look correct like the original looking wire harness.  Most of the connector that you can get from Rhode Island have the old sytle and also the old style connectors and the various sizes that you will need to do a complete job

[Young Ed]

I use the connectors from the auto store or hardware store and just toss out the red yellow blue plastic piece. I fount it cheaper to buy those and toss that piece than to buy the ones without. Then I crimp solder and heatshrink all the connections.

[desoto1939]

modern wire insulation composition is such that it not near as thick as the older wires...the gauge is the conductor wire/wires not the physical overall look/feel..your wire could be stated as gauge and strand count also..

Plymouth:  you might be right about the old wire overall thickness when the stranded wire was used. But I would think that a 14 gage wire in our modern day would be capable to carry the load of a 14 gage wire from the 30 and up.  The number of strands or total number of individual wires that are  combined into a single wire would be great to know but the electrical current if I remember correctly is only being carried on the outer sides of the stranded wire.

 

So to get a large or more stranded wire will cost more so I guess we have to use what is available right now.  If I am incorrect please feel free to explain. I am using the modern wire and do not have any issues with the modern wire carrying the appropriate currents.

 

 

Rich Hartung

desoto1939@aol.com

[Andydodge]

I did the same as Plymouthy, went to the local wreckers and bought a couple of wiring harnesses from large cars for next to nothing, admittedly this was over 30 yrs ago and things were cheaper then but in doing so I got miles of multi coloured wire and connectors, things that were not readily available from the spare parts places or even auto electrical shops, spent a bit of time pulling the harnesses apart and cleaning the sticky crap off by running the wires thru a cloth soaked in mineral turps but ended up with enough wire to rewire the whole car and its held up fine..........the only problem now with this method is that "modern" cars, ie, in the past 20 yrs or so have gone to the much thinner wire and I am not sure how this stuff is to work with.......me?......I'd try to find a wrecker with cars from the 80's or earlier, so long as the car has been closed up I'd think the wiring would still be o/k to use.......or bite the bullet and get a new harness from one of the aftermarket wiring companies..............my 2 Oz cents worth(1.5US)......lol..........andyd

[Plymouthy Adams]

as stated...14 gauge is 14 gauge...the more strands the better for DC....just stating that folks should be watchful and not be fooled to thinking they using to small a wire due to thinner insulation...that was all I was out to express....

 

as an added note...frequency play a lot in skin effect over that of lower voltage/freq.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Plymouthy Adams

[50 coupe]

OK, thanks for the tips. I will definitely be soldering and shrink tube. Never thought about pulling wire from a bone yard. There is one nearby where my car is that has lots of cars from 70s-1990s. I will have to stop by and check that out.
As always, thanks guys!!!

[mopar_earl]

modern wire insulation composition is such that it not near as thick as the older wires...the gauge is the conductor wire/wires not the physical overall look/feel..your wire could be stated as gauge and strand count also..

I work in a power plant, I know all about wire gauge. Lol if OE was 16 I up it to 14. Same with other gauges. No guessing, just doing. I myself wouldn't of used 16 gauge wire on any 6v circuit. Like I said, my feelings was the factory used borderline wire gauge, so I upgraded.

Earl

[Plymouthy Adams]

sticking with the 6 volt system, given poor grounds and such of the body/frame/battery as pertaining to grounds over the course of the years and oxidation.....yes...upping the gauge will do no harm...