Hey everyone,

I'm in the final stages of preping my project tub for blast and have come to a pothole in the road.

Taking out the wiring harness. I have got everything from the front in the passenger comp. and the rest at the aft side firewall.

Who has done it? Do I go from inside out or outside in?

Conrad

There's a thread in the classics forum:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=13582

And a link to the forum in general:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showforum=5


Basically, everything needs to come together in the drivers foot well. The rear needs to be pulled inside and through the front of the tunnel. The front needs to be pulled through the front bulkhead.

Naah, just sawz-all the car out from around the wiring harness!!

That's probably better than cutting the harness, come to think of it...

--DD

I'll suggest a couple of revisions to the chassis wiring harness removal/installation thread to make things easier.

It is easiest and best to take apart or remove a couple of the larger connector housings to ease the process and avoid damage to either the car, the wires, wire terminals or the connector housings, especially at the chassis holes where the harness passes through. Reinstallation is a 'snap'.

1. Don’t cut anything, there is never a need to cut wiring just for removal or reinstallation Connectors with housings easily disassemble. Make a diagram for where specific wires go in the housing before disassembling connector housings, for later use during reassembly. See diagram below to access the wire terminal release tangs.
2. Remove the plastic housings from the headlight branches.
3. Remove the cover and base from the 14-pin connector housing.
4. Remove the single pole box cover at the oil temp wire near the battery on the 1973-76 cars.
5. Avoid putting stress or severely bending any wire terminal or portion of the harness. Avoid nicking or chafing the wire insulation or casing by liberal use of a lubricant. Applying a lubricant like glycerine really helps pass it through the tight spots and can avoid damage. Glycerine is non-oily and wipes off easily, find it inexpensively at your local pharmacy and use it regularly on your other rubber trim parts to keep them fresh and prevent them from drying out.
6. The rubber double grommet conduit (‘snorkel’) is hard to deal with. Assuming it is on the harness already, leave it on the harness, do not slice it (unless is badly deteriorated). There are no new replacements at this time for this grommet. Lube this up to save it if at all possible.

Jeff and Dave, maybe add your comments to the end of the classic thread Andy referred to. Nice to have the good stuff all in one place.

Skip

Take lots of pictures and tag wires since reasembly may be months/years away.

Possibly years. Not that I know anything about that.

I added a link to this thread in the classics thread. Also quoted Jeff's replay above into that post in the classics thread.

Regarding Jeff's point number 6 in post number 4 above, so, just for clarification, if lubed up with glycerin the snorkel with the wire will simply push through the hole in the firewall?

Also, I haven't tried yet, but am wondering how the rubber thingies in the front fenders to protect the connections for the turn signal and parking lights are dealt with. Are they removed in the fender somehow or are they pushed through as well?

The snorkel goes through the hole, yes.

The protectors in the fenders are easy since the wires simply go through them, once you fiddle the wires through, the rubber protectors are free to fall on the ground.

Perfect, thank you!

Has anyone ever rewired the whole car? How hard would it be to make a whole new harness? You see cars being rewired on TV all the time....

I have only seen a couple race cars rewired with very basic circuitry. I have done preliminary work on new chassis harnesses, but they are complicated, not like the $79. V-dub harnesses or Painless hot rod kits.

Each model year of the 914 has a different chassis harness, so there are 7 of them just for the USA market cars, not including the /6 cars which are different. Each harness has about 70 different unique wire types, as combinations of wire gauge, color and striping...that custom wire costs $$$ even when bought in quantity. Each has ~170 circuits many with special connectors and wire terminals for the connections to dash switches, gauge lighting, etc. I know they can be fabricated, but the research and set-up for each is a huge undertaking. Once its all set-up, they will be expensive and existing harnesses are for the most part, still viable and restorable, and a less expensive option, at least for now. Even restoring them takes quite a bit of effort.

Thanks Jeff. Clearly you've got a good idea of what you are talking about. I will be going through the wiring of a late model 74 I picked up recently. Hopefully the harness is in good shape then. You are welcome to come by if you've got some time....

Great set of instructions! I have a couple of new snorkels from 914 rubber in silicone. Do these not count in your estimation as new available? They are not perfect matches I admit, but they feel nice and more pliable than the rotten rubber I had.

What are your thoughts about a more modern through-wall multipin connector that you can buy from many different vendors. They are watertight and a matching hole in the firewall can be made so you don't have to snake everything through. You just disconnect if needed. I know every connection is a potential failure point, but bending wires through tight spots is also a possible break when the wires have been minding their own business for 40 years. Also it would be non-original for sure, and the cuts would be irreversible.

I am working with a company that has a lot of experience with 356 and 911 harnesses to duplicate one for my '71-4. They have all the correct wires and most connections. I have an estimate of $1,500. I'll let everyone know as work progresses.

Note that my previously quoted post predates the availability of the new silicone snorkel tubes (technically called 'double grommets'). 914rubber's snorkel tubes are GREAT! I have used them several times and will buy more when I run out. Be sure to use the glycerin, I just don't think they can be installed/removed with out the lube.

As far as the multi-pin connector...I would avoid it. Not that it won't work, technically it will, but its a bit of a challenge to install for little to no benefit. I see it as a solution to a non-problem, and it creates more problems than it solves.

That's too cheap. The parts and wire alone, if the correct gage and color coded, are over a kilobuck. Then there are layout templates, circuitry diagrams, harness fabrication, wrapping, etc. The sources I am aware of are around $2kilobucks.