The "Spaghetti Western". (a.k.a. BB re-wire project)

[351CFalcon]

Another fine mess....

Here's an excellent example of three wires soldered together....somewhat.
This is the high beam wiring that was under the carpet coming from the dimmer switch.
The switch connections were not in a clean condition either, henceforth new dimmer switch being installed..

Click to enlarge photo

 

[Rusty Olds]

You are finding lots of fun stuff.

 

[351CFalcon]

You are finding lots of fun stuff.

Yuppers, more fun than a barrel full of monkeys!

 

[351CFalcon]

It is getting done in between stuff getting fixed as I come across them.

Ignition system is now complete.
Ignition switch is installed as well as the HEI is hooked up.

Now onto Step C - Headlights and tail lights including the dimmer switch.

Old dimmer swiitch was a real mess but it did work.
Do note though that a wood screw was used on one side.
The dimmer switch was moved from the original location to be higher up on the floor boards, and the previous holes were covered with duct tape.
Original holes filled with closed grommets.
Also modified the new dimmer switch harness to convert one connection from a GM style terminal to a solderless terminal.

click on photos to enlarge

 

[351CFalcon]

Yesterday all my dreams...

The new headlight switch and harness is pretty skookum.


Just when the going was good, lost a bit of time trying to install the healight switch.
The jam nut was bottoming out and the switch was loose.
Found three washers with the appropriate sized hole to raise the jam nut out.
Of course, they needed to be painted.
And that's where I lost the time.

Wrestled trying to get the switch tightened but something was stopping it.
The chosen location was not working, therefore I moved the headlight switch over to where the wiper switch was to be installed and it worked.
Only needed two of the three washers behind the jam nut.
Wiper switch will go where the headlight switch was to be located.

Installed a few grommets where there were none.
Fished the parking light and tail light wires through.
Spent the rest of the day going over the parking lights, tail lights and license plate light to install bullet disconnects, heat shrink tubing and new grounds.

Click to enlarge photos

 

[351CFalcon]

Almost but not quite...

Step C is just about completed.
Park lights and tail lights. license plate light all hooked up
(note: only the power half, the turn signals wires get installed in Step D - steering column hook up)
Headlight switch and park lights connected to the fuse panel.

Also spent time to re-do the horn ground, the electric fan ground and parking light grounds..
Cut down the headlight shaft and installed the knob.

Dimmer switch connected.
Headlight wires fished through and now to get on the ground to connect.
Wires are accessible but not the pig tails.
Frenched headlights are nice, however, the bucket is mounted from inside the fender and to access the pig tails means removing a tire to work in that area to remove the bucket.
That is not impossible, just damn difficult to do at this stage with the car already raised.

 

[351CFalcon]

Todays challenge was fixing up all the old headlight wiring and grounds to be ready for the final hook up to the harness.

 

[Rusty Olds]

Good to see that you are still plugging away.

 

[351CFalcon]

Headlights wired up for now...just temporary.
Once the car is down on the ground, I can turn the wheel to access the headlight buckets and re-do the pig tails.
Lots of wire left so no worries.

Onto Step D - steering column.
This step also finishes off the parking lights and tail lights in Step C by adding the turn signals.
Plus leads into Step E - the gauge connections.

While reading the instructions (yes, I read them instead of " I can do this wiithout them, after all that's why there is a picture"), came across a small cunumdrum.

The hardtop has two dome lights with two wires: one hot and one ground.
The plan is to re-install door jamb switches in the original spots.
Stockdoor jamb switches , supposedly, were one wire self grounding.
The old headlight switch did not have the capability to turn on the dome lights, they only came on when the doors opened.

The new jamb switches are two wires and not self-grounding.
On top of this, I want to be able to:
1. turn on/off the dome lights using the headlight switch, it has the ground for the courtesy lights already connected.
2. and have the door jamb switches turn on/off the dome lights when the doors open/close.

AAW wire diagrams include four possible senarios, but not for the one above.
The tech line, after a few e-mails back and forth and some photos provided me the wire diagram for my scenario, which they will be adding to their wiring files.

Now I can proceed to start unraveling Step D wiring and hoepfully over the weekend finish Step D..

click on photos to enlarge.

 

[CDNflatlander]

Excellent stuff, tech line that added value to your project! I will be saving that.
Thanks again Brian, for taking us along.
Greg

 

[Rusty Olds]

Good to see that they helped you out.

 

[351CFalcon]

Excellent stuff, tech line that added value to your project! I will be saving that.
Thanks again Brian, for taking us along.
Greg

Good to see that they helped you out.

The tech line has helped out a few times to clear up some mysteries such as the electric transmission kickdown that their wiring system seems to have forgotten about.

 

[351CFalcon]

Prep Day

Spent a good part of the afternoon installing cable ties under the dash and getting the steering column connection in its location.

Then onto the harness itself by unraveling and separating the wires for installation.

I plan to cable tie those going to the rear and those going into the engine area for easier handling.

I can not complain about the amount of wire AAW gives you....more than ample.
For example, the brake switch power wire is over 12 ft long whereas I only need 12 to 16 inches as the panel is right next to the switch.

I'm not planning on installing a third brake light, however the next owner may want to
Third Brake wire is coiled and is under the Rear seat with part of it fed into the trunk to be under the package tray.
It will be easy for the next owner to fish the wire through to the brake light switch.

click on photos to enlarge.

 

[351CFalcon]

Step D is almost complete, just have the brake switch and hazards to connect to the fuse panel, then onto the Gauges.
Trunk wiring is also just about complete, fuel sender and ground is the only other item and that's in the Gauge step.

Couldn't use the new brake switch, too short as such it didn't engage the pedal arm, and the bracket holding it was not "adjustable".
Hence, spent a little time cleaning up the old one.

I must say it sure is nice working on the wiring with the car up in the air, saves the back and knees.

 

[351CFalcon]

Oh, oh..

Brake switch, hazards and horn all connected to the fuse panel.
Did some tidying up under the dash too.
Just when I thought I was really progressing and looking forward to the gauges wiring, I lifted up Step D 11 x 17 wiring schematic to find I missed an entire episode....the dome lights.

Wiring schematics always look good on paper until you have to to do them.
Spent quite a bit of time routing the dome/doorjamb switch wiring, and sometimes re-routing as I saw a better route.
Took the quarter window interior rails off to access the panel behind them to route the wiring to the hardtop pillars.
But no cigar today...ran out of 16AWG wire for the door jamb switch grounds.
Just a short piece is needed to complete the circuit between the domes.
Yes I could use another colour but that's one of the reasons I'm doing the re-wire instead of a haywire.
The local parts store is closed today.

But I did get the glove box light wiring done.

 

[351CFalcon]

Yesterday...
Picked up the much needed 16AWG white wire to
finish off the dome light and door jamb wiring, which I got to today.

Door jamb switch were installed in the original location.
Won't be able to get those out. They were a press fit with two flat metal springs that locked them in place once all the way in.

Didn't install the actual dome light fixture as I'm waiting for the painted door rails to install first.

Click on photos to enlarge.

 

[Rusty Olds]

Little bit by little bit, it all takes time

 

[351CFalcon]

The Gauge story...

The existing gauge package was from Dakota Digital.
While it works fine, it just didn't fit with the build style.
Plus it was an older system and at the bottom of their offerings.

Hence decided to upgrade to a an analog/digital format.
(I like watching needles move around)

The problem was I wanted to keep the existing sensors and wiring in place for ease of installation.
Which meant I still had to use a gauge from Dakota, maybe.
Dakota has three types of gauges, however their newest offering, a retro style*, would not work with the current sensors.
Apparently, sensors are not common between styles or manufacturers, they all have their little quirks, otherwise it would be too easy.
(* I could not justify the price difference of $450USD)

In discussions with Dakota, yes, I could use the next level of gauges keeping my sensors and wiring,
its the control box that is different, even though it looks the same.
In the older set up, speedometer had to be manually adjusted if out.
In the new one, constant GPS adjustment.
Other details:
The older set up used a computer style connection versus a Cat 5 cable.
The newer gauges now include a clock, for an additional price, that ties into the control box that has a time zone module in it.

The nice aspect is I don't have to install the actual gauges until I have to as everything is wired to the control box.
After the control box is wired, then the last step of the AAW kit is the Accessory package, the real meat and potatoes of the kit.
Without the gauges in place, it allows me to work under the dash through the gauge openings.
Once the gauges do get installed, it's just a Cat 5 cable to all three.

click on photos to enlarge

 

[ratrig]

the analogue type gauge is a big improvement imho . never was a fan of those digital ones.

 

[Rusty Olds]

Looks like a good kit, the control box is clearly labelled