NOS Wiring Harness? Are they available?, Or does everyone just preserve the original harness? Options

[larss]

I made a new harness on my own (since po had chopped the original one into one feet pieces to get it out). Not to hard really, used a piece of board and nails to represent different objects as the rear lights etc for to get the distances right, took some effort but almost no money.
No, I did not get all insulation colors same as the original but I could put in some spare wires for oil pressure sender etc.

/Lars S
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.lsmteknik.se-10787-1413564587.1.jpg)

[Mikey914]

Yes,
This can be done, but without all 7 variations and boards for each, along with wire and connectors, and dare I say snorkel tubes, it's a monumental undertaking.
It would require several thousand dollars of investment in wire and parts to do so, as well as space, and time to do it.

This is almost a full time job making these commercially.

[Dave_Darling]

Where did you get the connectors? Re-using the old ones is often not feasible, due to damage and whatnot. The connections between the new wire and the old connectors can also be problematic.

Doing a new harness with the right connectors (new!) using the factory methods (crimped-on with lots of force) and the correct colored wiring is going to be at least as expensive as Jeff is saying.

Jeff, I'd love to work on that with you, but there's no way it could pay the bills so I cannot clear it with Da Boss.

--DD

[mepstein]

Thought I should chime in on this.

The chassis harnesses are well protected from engine bay heat and contaminants unlike the engine bay harnesses so they are, all things considered, in better condition than the others. But why is it that some people still hack into these? PUT THE CUTTERS DOWN PEOPLE. There is never a need to cut wiring, ever. The damage can be difficult to fix. I have been restoring original chassis harnesses as I have the time, but it’s a time consuming process and that makes it expensive, but still cost effective by far, than building new. The interest in new chassis harnesses has been increasing from year to year.

I have been doing the upfront work on making the chassis harnesses as I have time, but it is a monumental task. The chassis harnesses are extremely complicated! Each model year USA 914 chassis harness is unique and not interchangeable with other years, so there are 7 for the 914/4 and as far as I can tell at the moment, at least 2 if not 3 for the 914/6. See the comparison chart on my harness website and below for details. They are different in their circuitry and connectivity requirements at dash switches, gauges and lighting, the relay board connector and by their changes/upgrades from model year to year.

Building them can only come after documenting their circuitry, connectivity and layout, which is where I am at currently. I have acquired 1 or more of each model year 914/4 (except the 1971 914/4 – SO MEPSTEIN CAN I BORROW YOURS TO DOCUMENT?) and am in the process of designing the tooling. Each harness is different than the other, but their similarities include that that have about 70 different combinations of wire gage, base color and striping color, combined to make about 170 different circuits. I have most of the connector terminals but others need to be sourced. I have roughly priced buying the bulk wire and to get the correct colors/gages and striping, will cost about $1000. for each harness, and that is only when buying in bulk quantities for discounts, that initial cost would be at least $5000. as of a year ago. Does not include the terminals, outer casing, or labor to fabricate, or the upfront design and tooling fabrication costs. Easily these are $2000. items to build new, each. These are in no way comparable to the $99. Beetle harness from JC Whitney or Painless. One fabricator that I know of charges $2,295. and they only offer one model year of the 914/6 harness on a custom order basis so that is a reasonable price. $2,295 is more than the value of some 914s, so you can see your car better be pretty valuable to justify this expense, as much as we would all like to have new chassis harnesses.

Seriously, I could use some help with building these 914 wiring harnesses so if someone in the SF bay area is genuinely interested in dedicating significant time and committing to consistent, ongoing effort to making 914 wiring harnesses as a long term endeavor, for pay, please contact me to discuss.

Yes

[stevegm]

Confirmed - AA has no genuine Porsche 914 wiring harnesses. They sold the last one last week.

[mepstein]

Confirmed - AA has no genuine Porsche 914 wiring harnesses. They sold the last one last week.

That's George's standard reply.

[stevegm]

Confirmed - AA has no genuine Porsche 914 wiring harnesses. They sold the last one last week.

That's George's standard reply.

Ya, I know.

[patssle]

There's a guy on the Pelican boards that builds new harnesses for 911s. Maybe somebody can chat him up see if he has any interest in doing 914 harnesses. He would need an original to duplicate from though.

[mepstein]

There's a guy on the Pelican boards that builds new harnesses for 911s. Maybe somebody can chat him up see if he has any interest in doing 914 harnesses. He would need an original to duplicate from though.

It's not just the labor that's an issue. It's buying many spools of different colored wire and probably having some of those colors specially made. It's one thing to stock thousands of dollars of material if it's your commercial business but hard to do as a hobby.

It could be done cheaper if you did it all with the same color wire and carefully labeled the wires but not the way I want to go

[arkitect]

Ah, Thanks. So, be very careful when taking it out. Or find an NOS main harness. It looks like AA may have some of the smaller harnesses, NOS.

When i replaced mine, i went with a unmolested harness from a parts car that was in really good shape.

Here's a good thread on how to remove and reinstall a complete harness:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=13582
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

SirAndy,
Thanks for pointing this thread out, first time seeing this. I've got a parts car that I can remove the harness.

Dave

[JeffBowlsby]

It's not just the labor that's an issue. It's buying many spools of different colored wire and probably having some of those colors specially made. It's one thing to stock thousands of dollars of material if it's your commercial business but hard to do as a hobby.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) Thats a main issue. 90% of the wire necessary is custom striped which means minimum bulk quantities of each combination of gage, base color and stripe color. I had also thought of making them in 1 or 2 stock colors with tags, but not only is that harder to fabricate if each wire looks the same, it only reduces the overall cost of the harness by about 20%, everything else is the same, so the savings are ultimately not worthwhile.

[Tom]

Jeff,
I have had some experience making harnesses while employed by the Navy. I would be glad to help with any info I have if you think it would be of any benefit to you. If interested, PM me and we can exchange phone #'s.
I looked into doing the main harnesses a few years ago and dropped the idea due to very high initial materials and tooling costs.
Tom

[gerakroo]

We have been working on our first 1970 914-6 for several weeks now. Many hours are spend on documenting and measuring. We always include our own installation drawings and only that took more than a week. A 914 harness is much more complicated than a 911 of the same year. As a comparison,the most time consuming harness is a 1969 911 E or S, i would say a 914-6 is 1,5 times more complicated. At this moment only the engine harness is finalized,and we will start with producing the main harness soon which we expect to have ready within a month from now. Because producing 911 and 356 harness is our daily job we have an enormous amount of color combinations on stock. Getting the color and diameters combinations in not really an issue, but getting all wire in the right quality is. More picture's will follow on our website soon. Anyone who needs more information can contact me at info@kroonwireharnesses.com.

Best regards from Holland,

Gerard Kroon

[IronHillRestorations]

I've been making 914-6 engine harnesses for almost 9 years now.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...&hl=harness

[914work]

and not interchangeable with other years,

Jeff can you elaborate on this statement?
Why couldnt you take a 74 harness & stick it in a 76 for instance or visa-versa

[Dave_Darling]

It won't have all the right wires. For instance, the 76 would have wiring for the CAT and/or EGR lights, while the 74 would not. I believe the fog light wiring would be different as well? And the 74 would have the wiring for the Dreaded Seatbelt Interlock Relay ™, while the 76 would not.

And there are probably other differences, as well.

--DD

[JeffBowlsby]

All the differences between the model years that I know of currently, are indicated on the chassis harness ID guide always available on my harness website and at the link posted earlier in my earlier post in this thread.

The 74 and 75-76 chassis harnesses are fairly similar actually. The differences being the fuel pump wiring both in # of wires and location, and the supplemental wiring harnesses for F&R bumpers on the big bumper cars. The EGR/CAT wiring is essentially just a supplemental harness integrated into the chassis harness casing, its stand-alone for the most part and was of course only on the California-only model 75-76 cars. This swap could be made to work with a little ingenuity, but the harnesses are not identical and modification would be needed.

[worn]

All the differences between the model years that I know of currently, are indicated on the chassis harness ID guide always available on my harness website and at the link posted earlier in my earlier post in this thread.

The 74 and 75-76 chassis harnesses are fairly similar actually. The differences being the fuel pump wiring both in # of wires and location, and the supplemental wiring harnesses for F&R bumpers on the big bumper cars. The EGR/CAT wiring is essentially just a supplemental harness integrated into the chassis harness casing, its stand-alone for the most part and was of course only on the California-only model 75-76 cars. This swap could be made to work with a little ingenuity, but the harnesses are not identical and modification would be needed.

Hi Jeff,
I cannot thank you enough. I am now sorting my 914 harness and find cuts, and wire abrasion through insulation and severing strands and burns where hot apparently had a brief affair with ground.
I hear you when you say put the wire cutters away, but in some cases I have bare heat annealed and corroded wire and in others separated strands and others dead ends. I have color correct wire from a donor harness and know how to make a good solder joint. Acceptable? Or do you have an alternative suggestion?
Thanks.
Warren

Ps I visited a shop that restores DC3s. They make new harnesses for them and it is darned impressive, but still in the plywood and nail school.

[worn]

All the differences between the model years that I know of currently, are indicated on the chassis harness ID guide always available on my harness website and at the link posted earlier in my earlier post in this thread.

The 74 and 75-76 chassis harnesses are fairly similar actually. The differences being the fuel pump wiring both in # of wires and location, and the supplemental wiring harnesses for F&R bumpers on the big bumper cars. The EGR/CAT wiring is essentially just a supplemental harness integrated into the chassis harness casing, its stand-alone for the most part and was of course only on the California-only model 75-76 cars. This swap could be made to work with a little ingenuity, but the harnesses are not identical and modification would be needed.

Hi Jeff,
I cannot thank you enough. I am now sorting my 914 harness and find cuts, and wire abrasion through insulation and severing strands and burns where hot apparently had a brief affair with ground.
I hear you when you say put the wire cutters away, but in some cases I have bare heat annealed and corroded wire and in others separated strands and others dead ends. I have color correct wire from a donor harness and know how to make a good solder joint. Acceptable? Or do you have an alternative suggestion?
Thanks.
Warren

Ps I visited a shop that restores DC3s. They make new harnesses for them and it is darned impressive, but still in the plywood and nail school.

Le bump to Jeff. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_bump.gif) Curious what the best solution is.

[JeffBowlsby]

Hey Warren,

Damaged conductors such as those without their insulation need to be replaced. Best repair is to replace the wire, complete, terminal to terminal (replace the terminals).

I have a NASA wire repair manual somewhere that indicates certain procedures for soldered splices in NASA applications. Soldered connections at terminals or conditions subject to vibration are a bad thing, not advisable. Soldered repairs at conductors not subject to vibration are accepted practice. If its good enough for NASA, it should be good enough for our 914s.