Wiring and headliner, revisited

[DonaldSmith]

Re-wired the cabin. Half-day job turned into the usual several days. Spent an entire afternoon trying to fish the new wires through the windshield post. (Hint for the not-too swift; use the old wires to pull the new ones, or to pull through a separate pull wire.)

Finally got a pull wire in, but then tried to feed the whole armful of wires through the windshield post, all neatly wrapped up in tape. Mistaken assumption that the available space would be round. Un-bundled the wires and they pulled through.

Ran a few extra wires to the taillight area. All splices soldered. Ring terminals at the main terminal block that I had added under the dash, and at a new terminal in the tailight area.

Removed the cross brace between the door posts. Removed the existing fiberglass mat, which the mice had chewed into. Wire brushed and primed the underside of the roof. Most of the rust color was the previous primer, but there were a few spots of rust.

Found a cheap and available insulation with separate facing. Home Depot sells insulating sleeves for ducts. 8-inch package, less than 6 bucks, yields about 1" fiberglass mat 34" x 60". Separate facer sleeve is aluminum one side and white the other, splits into 36" x 60". 3 packages did the long roof.

Used up some old carpet adhesive to adhere the new fiberglass. Yuck! It was sleeting gobs of rubbery goo. But it worked. Used spray adhesive for the facing. I put it aluminum side up, following a thermodynamic hunch. Not that the underside is finished, but it is sort of white. It may have to do for a while.

I will try to salvage the headliner, which is maybe 20 years old. I washed it out in the laundry tub in my shop (saves a lot of arguments, not using the wife's laundry tubs). The first tubful turned a dark tea color. Part asphalt from the fiberglass mats, part mouse secretions and excretions. Second tubful much lighter. Added a little TSP. Rinsed the headliner, hung it over the clothesline, sprayed it well, and dried it in the sun and breeze. Smells really fresh.

I'll find out if the headliner shrunk much. A little shrinkage may be good.

I have to sand, prime and paint the bows, or ribs. The cloth sleeves caught on them really bad when I removed the ribs. I wired one end of each rib, to hang the rib. The number of turns of wire corresponds to the number of the rib, so I won't get them mixed up, he said, optimistically.

With luck, I'll have the headliner re-installed in a few days, and take a fresh look at my to-do list. Where was I before I was so rudely interrupted by a short? Way down on the to-do list is a new headliner.

[Normspeed]

Thanks for posting this stuff. I need to do the same in my old wagon. My old headliner is out, roof is insulated, bows in place. I need to rewire the cabin and install the replacement headliner that came with the car. Your tip on wiring through the post is really helpful.

[Guest Jack the '47 Dodge]

Those were great tips, Donald. I hear you on the headliner. Might as well get everything in perfect working order before tackling that.

For all D24 fellows, the middle "stop" light can be wired with the tail lights to create a modern style 3-light system. Looks really nice with lots of red when you hit the brakes. Don't know how it'll work with direction signals, though. They're not hooked up yet.

The whole car needs a new harness badly.

Anyone have new info on where to get a wiring harness at the best price? Please let me know the latest if you can.

Where'd you get yours, Donald? You sound like a smart shopper!

[DonaldSmith]

You mean they sell wiring harness already made up? Where's the fun in that!

I figured the lengths of the longest wires which I would need, times the number of wires. I could get two lengths out of a 30 ft pack of wire at the local auto parts place. Much cheaper than buying it by the foot at the hardware store. I cleaned out six packs of 16 gauge wire, in different colors, from one store, and got the elusive brown from another. Here's my bundle:

Blue and Yellow for the gas gauge sender. (I striped the yellow with black marker.)

Brown and Green for the turn signals.

Red for the brake light.

Yellow, without a black stripe, for the dome light power. (I ran the yellow back to the taillights, just in case I wanted power there someday.)

What the heck. White, and Blue with black stripe, for future who-knows-what.

So I was stuffing nine wires throught the windshield post. Of course, the new insulation is much thinner than the old.

Inside the cabin, I had to run back to the right side for the interior lights.

I split off a branch of the yellow near the windshield, to run back to the rear door post for the door switch and manual switch. I completed circuits with left-over red wire (with black stripe added) and white wire (with red stripe added).

I tapped into wires by removing about an inch of insulation, separating the strands, inserting the bare end of the other wire between the two groups of strands, and twisting the ends around. Reasonably strong physical connection. Then I soldered them.

At the metal supports for the wiring, I wrapped the bundles of wires with friction tape, to bulk them out and protect them from abrasion..

[TodFitch]

You mean they sell wiring harness already made up? Where's the fun in that!

I figured the lengths of the longest wires which I would need, times the number of wires. I could get two lengths out of a 30 ft pack of wire at the local auto parts place. Much cheaper than buying it by the foot at the hardware store. I cleaned out six packs of 16 gauge wire, in different colors, from one store, and got the elusive brown from another.<snip>

16 Gauge wire? I hope you are converting to 12v as 16 gauge is a bit on the small side for most loads on a 6v system.

[BobT-47P15]

Don.....sounds like fun stuff. That wide black brace across the roof greatly resembles the hood brace. I trust you made a written list of what color wires go where......for future reference.

[DonaldSmith]

Thanks for the concern, but 16 gauge is good for about 10 amps. That's a lot of tail lights.

The old wiring was 16 gauge, beneath much thicker insulation. I've got a wiring diagram for a newer car, but still 6 volts, that calls for 16 gauge for the back lights, dome lights, etc.

[eric wissing]

Don, looking good. Is that a split bench in front? And is that stock? Interesting car. Eric

[DonaldSmith]

Yep, it's stock. The first and second seats are split bench seats.

The front doors are wide enough that you can get into the second seat through the front doors.

The first and second seats are almost identical. The second seat frame has an extended apron across the front, and the seat moves 27" on a horizontal track.

And the third seat is a jump seat with single seat cushion and split back, that folds forward to extend the cargo floor.

[eric wissing]

That is really cool. I guess I have seen a few pictures of those cars but never a good inside shot. Are these the cars that wereb often Taxis? I think the movie is "Naked City" 1949? That shows New York City streets filled with them. Thanks for the picture. Eric

[DonaldSmith]

But the taxies were more like the limos and long sedans, with a full size permanent third seat, and two jump seats. N.Y.C. would not allow a passenger to ride in the front seat (despite scenes in the movie "On the Town"). So two couples going to the theater would need the jump seats and third seat.

Some time ago, Suburban owner and forum frequenter James Douglas attached a few pages from a "Special Interest Autos" Drive Report from 1974. I was fortunate enough to order a back copy while they still had some of the issue left. Fascinating 6-page article on the genesis of the DeSoto Suburban and its features. "Special Interest Autos" morphed into "Hemmings Classic Cars".

[Guest Jack the '47 Dodge]

Donald,

Many, Many Thanks for posting all that wiring information. It's going straight into my "Dodge Notes" document, filled with stuff I've gleaned on this site of the past couple of years (don't let the "Junior Member" stuff fool you. That's what they gave me when I switched to the new site).

So, you have a 6-passenger. What year and make? Was Dodge the only 6-passenger. Lots of interesting stuff on that car, and differences from standard. The shop manual is always sayiing "except 6-passenger."

Back on topic, your wiring ideas are great, and are more in line with the budget we have for Jack, and how we've been doing the work. Like you say, make it fun! More of your own accomplishment that way, too.

Here's a good one. The gas gauge sender? It works! Original sender and original wiring. Not going to change it either. It's so nicely routed in the trunk, why mess with it?

Cheers!

BTW, where can I see "reader's rides" on this site, and how can I get Jack the '47 D24 pictured. (the car, not me)

[Normspeed]

You can add a photo to your profile, and it will be part of the great photo show of members rides in the members list link. Fun to scan through the pages, great cars.

Use the user cp (control panel) link up top to modify your profile or add a photo.