well I'm commited to re wiring

[Young Ed]

Or maybe it should be just committed....

[Mr. Belvedere]

Beats laying on your back with dust falling in your eyes, not to mention spiders and rat poop. Good chance to clean it all up inside then it'll be good till you retire someday.

[Young Ed]

Reason for pulling the dash is I will be installing this one in its place. Figured I might as well rewire since this will be the easiest time.

[Mr. Belvedere]

Ahhh...I can almost smell the fresh paint smell from here, looks like it just came off the assembly line. Beautiful!

[Young Ed]

That was painted last fall. But it had runs in it and I didnt get it sanded and recoated before winter. So will recoat now. Tan is Sandtan rustoleum.

[randroid]

Gents,

Some time ago one of our members posted a picture in which the inside of his dash was painted yellow for better visibility when under it with a flashlight. I found the idea to be brilliant (okay, small pun) and so simple that I'll do the same when I paint "The Pig". Have you considered this?

-Randy

[Andydodge]

Randy, just beat me to that suggestion, I painted the back of my 40 dodge dash grey primer, much easier to see what you're doing, any light colour is good.......andyd

[Young Ed]

The back of my dash is painted that same tan color. I read that old post too

[steveplym]

Glad you've decided to bite the bullet Ed and get going on the project. That dash will look very nice in your car.

You'll find that the rewiring job isn't too bad. Just remove the main harness grommet on the firewall and start removing all the protective tape from the front of the car to the dash.

Then get a wiring diagram and start replacing each wire one at a time. I'd remove a wire and remake it with the same connections and splices, then put it back on the car. You'll need lots of yellow connectors and a few blue ones. Once you're done with all the wiring you want to replace take electrical tape and tape the harness back up and put it back in to the wire clamps on the inner fender and under the dash.

Looking forward to seeing your progress, good luck!

[Young Ed]

I pulled most of the harness out with the dash. So I will be doing the 1 wire at a time thing in the comfort of my basement. Only wiring left in the car are some of the runs for the lights. I've got the dash underhood and charging harness's out.

[steveplym]

I also reused the lamp sockets and fuse connections. I just cut off the wire, pulled out the lamp connection and soldered a new wire to that element in the socket. Taped it really good and put it back together. I did mostly the same with the one inline fuse I found.

[Young Ed]

Glad you mentioned that-was one of my questions I meant to ask. I'm sure I'll end up doing that with the dash lights. Park and tail lights will be converted to dual filament sockets for turn signals.

[steveplym]

Luckily I already had dual filament rear tail lamps. I went ahead and bought a new turn signal switch and wired the brakes lights thru that. It really works good.

I think I bought it off ebay for $20, but I bought a bit of a heavier duty one last summer and plan on installing it later this year.

[Young Ed]

I've got a factory 46-48 mopar unit to install. The only piece I don't have is the flasher holder so if anyone has a picture of what that looks like and where it goes that would be great.

[Norm's Coupe]

Ed,

I had the old type flasher in my coupe when I bought it. The flasher holder was just taped to some other wires up in the far left corner under the dash, just inside the firewall. Almost directly above the highbeam switch button. Wasn't really a holder, just the plug to plug the flasher into. Don't have a picture of it and replaced it when I put in the new flasher so that wouldn't help you. We simply used wire ties to hold the new one in.

[Young Ed]

Interesting Norm. I was thinking they would be mounted under the hood on the firewall. That's how the early 50s cars are with factory signals. I will probably do mine that way too-the ticking bugs me

[BobT-47P15]

Ed, there is a little "U" shaped holder for the flasher cannister you can attach someplace under the dash. I think I hung mine on another wire. I had two

different brand flasher units.....one worked better than the other (made the

lights flash faster, better)......so not all of those items are created equal.

[Bodacious]

Rewiring is not difficult, especially on cars of this vintage, if thought out in advance and approached methodically. It's very satisfying and rewarding work if done well. And it'll go a long way towards making a vintage vehicle much more reliable. It's actually one of my favorite things to do when building or rebuilding a car.

[Young Ed]

OK little wiring update. Found and ordered a source for the 90degree ring terminals. Also learned the technical name is a Flag ring terminal. Still have to find a source for a workaround for the terminals that have 2 wires into 1 terminal. I have quite a bit of the wiring redone already. I need to find a replacement wire or a terminal end to redo the dash light bulb connections. Also its not looking good for wiring in my factory turn signals and also having combo brake tail and turn signals at the fenders. So I might have to give up and go for an aftermarket type turn signal unit.

[Don Coatney]

Also its not looking good for wiring in my factory turn signals and also having combo brake tail and turn signals at the fenders. .

Why?

[bob_amos]

Here's an idea for you on that rewire job. Get a piece of plywood large enough to handle your harness. Take the harness and lay it on the board. Now put some nails in the board at points that will support the harness. Then dismantle the harness one piece at a time. Make notes directly on the board as you go. Then as you replace the wires they will all end up on the board and in the exact same position as the original. Nails placed at terminal ends help to hold them in place too. You can paint the board white so that written instructions and notes can easily be read. When done just store the board away for the next one you do. (Paint over the old notes so you can write new notes for the next harness.) This works well for the novice and keeps things neat and in order. I've been dioing this type of work for over 40 years and have used this method when I get a harness that might be very large or has many wires in it. Like new cars with many hundreds of wires. Oh yes, before taping the harness up. Go along and tape at all junctions and about every 6 inches along the harness. Then slowly remove the harness and tape as you go.

[Young Ed]

Why?

The factory turn signal switch only has 3 wires. Apparently thats not enough to operate properly.

[steveplym]

The factory turn signal switch only has 3 wires. Apparently thats not enough to operate properly.

Get a 7 wire switch Ed, that will do the job. Will make wiring much easier too.

[Young Ed]

Any help on the terminals that have 2 or 3 wires into 1? Is there a reason not to have them seperated each with their own terminal?

[steveplym]

All I can figure out with three wires you have power to the switch, left side turn signal and right side. Not sure where or how the flasher would connect to the circuit.