Looking for whole new harness

[BilWilVegas]

I just bought my bucket and the wiring is a bit of a mess. The transporter dropped it off at my office and I checked all my lights before driving home. Headlights worked, tail lights worked, brake lights worked, and the blinkers worked. Half way home it was getting dark and I thought I better make sure I did not have my high beams on . . . I clicked the foot pedal for the high beams and the headlights and tail lights went out. I clicked it again . . . and they did not come back on . . . major bummer LOL At least my turn signals and brake lights still worked so I got home safely.

I was hoping for a bad switch resulting in a blown fuse. I lifted the seat to check on the wiring and this is what I found.

I am thinking it may be best to just remove all of this and start with a whole new wiring harness. I see a lot of choices on various websites (I will not mention names as I do not know who the sponsors are on here yet and do not want to speak out of line). Is there any system that you guys highly recommend or strongly suggest staying away from? Any difficulties I should expect in this task?

I want to keep my bucket relatively simple, no stereo, nothing fancy. A power port would be nice for charging our phones but other than that I am not really needing any extra stuff.

I look forward to your insights and suggestions. I want to get this handled ASAP so I can get her back on the road without having to worry about losing daylight.

Thanks!

Bill

 

[BilWilVegas]

Also I am thinking about having an aluminum box built to mount under the existing space that I can mount all of the electronics in with a lid on top. Basically I would be building another box that would extend from the battery tray across to the frame on the drivers side. This would open up all of the existing space under the seat for storage of personal items when we go on the road. Is there any reason this would not be a good idea?

 

[Island Girl]

Also I am thinking about having an aluminum box built to mount under the existing space that I can mount all of the electronics in with a lid on top. Basically I would be building another box that would extend from the battery tray across to the frame on the drivers side. This would open up all of the existing space under the seat for storage of personal items when we go on the road. Is there any reason this would not be a good idea?

Check your clearance above the driveshaft before you make too many plans, it's often very close to the underside of the flooring.

A lot of T's have the battery box on the right and the master cylinder is bracketed to the frame on the opposite side and slightly more forward.

 

[guilld]

Looking at the pic it appears the wires are tagged with a circuit name such as brake light, fan, ignition, etc. If that is the case my guess is the wiring harness is fine whoever wired the car just left all the excess wire under the seat. All the aftermarket harnesses come with lots of wire for each circuit simply because they have no idea where you may mount the fuse box. It may be you can just shorten each wire to the appropriate length and clean everything up.

 

[BilWilVegas]

Check your clearance above the driveshaft before you make too many plans, it's often very close to the underside of the flooring.

A lot of T's have the battery box on the right and the master cylinder is bracketed to the frame on the opposite side and slightly more forward.

Great point! I will cycle the suspension through its full range this weekend and see what I have for clearance. My brake master cylinder is mounted way forward of this area so I know I can at least make a box under the drivers size equal to the battery box size, which would hold the MSD box and a new fuse box for a wiring harness. Thanks for the quick response.

 

[BilWilVegas]

Looking at the pic it appears the wires are tagged with a circuit name such as brake light, fan, ignition, etc. If that is the case my guess is the wiring harness is fine whoever wired the car just left all the excess wire under the seat. All the aftermarket harnesses come with lots of wire for each circuit simply because they have no idea where you may mount the fuse box. It may be you can just shorten each wire to the appropriate length and clean everything up.

Thank you. I guess I just need to dig around and see where they mounted the fuse box. Maybe under the dash? I was expecting to find it under the seat for ease of access. Solving my non-functioning head lights and tail lights is the first concern. Then I can start working on making it look pretty under the seat. Thanks for the quick response.

 

[fletcherson]

Test the high beam switch first. Very common to fail and will cause your symptoms.

 

[BilWilVegas]

Test the high beam switch first. Very common to fail and will cause your symptoms.

Thank you! I guess I need to pull the polished firewall off to get to the switch. I do not know if I can access it from below. I will put it up on the lift this weekend and see.

 

[old round fart]

You did find the fuse box too right?

 

[BilWilVegas]

You did find the fuse box too right?

I have not found it yet. I am baffled. I searched behind the dash, under the seat and as much as I can see under the car until I put it on the lift tomorrow. I would think the fusebox would be somewhere accessible??? But this is part of the fun of getting a new to me project car!

 

[old round fart]

The fuse is a real possibility for your problems.

 

[BilWilVegas]

The fuse is a real possibility for your problems.

I am going to get it up on the lift today and look around under the car to see if I can locate the fuse box . . . it has to be somewhere LOL

 

[Neshkoro]

One of two things could be happening. One, is you just haven't found it yet or two, you just don't have one! It could be an inline fuse for that circuit. Does it have a headlight switch like a normal car? Many of those have a circuit breaker built in. Maybe it needs to be reset. If that's the case, you still need to find why it popped.
Or, you could just rip out all the wiring and restart from scratch!
I'd start tracing the wires from the battery to see where they go.

 

[BilWilVegas]

One of two things could be happening. One, is you just haven't found it yet or two, you just don't have one! It could be an inline fuse for that circuit. Does it have a headlight switch like a normal car? Many of those have a circuit breaker built in. Maybe it needs to be reset. If that's the case, you still need to find why it popped.
Or, you could just rip out all the wiring and restart from scratch!
I'd start tracing the wires from the battery to see where they go.

Great point! Thank you! I have been searching for a fuse panel but there may not be one. My gut tells me that starting over will be the best solution. That way I will have way more confidence in the whole system. I also really like neat and organized wiring. I am not happy with my gauges and dash so swapping those out with the wiring harness would make sense to do at the same time.

 

[T-Test]

Could be fusible links in line or you can just take what you have and modify with panel and switches--replace all if older build---if you are into wiring and don't FIU. Like I said in another post--probably a TP kit and was changed to owner/builder's speck and TP used fusible links in their wiring kits back then.

 

[iroct]

That harness that you pictured is labeled just like a Ron Franses harness There is a fuse panel somewhere

 

[choppedtop]

Now that you brought that to my attention, it looks just like the one in my 46 coupe. It has a huge fuse panel. Perhaps they just used the wires?

 

[BilWilVegas]

That harness that you pictured is labeled just like a Ron Franses harness There is a fuse panel somewhere

I would think so, it is weird to not have one that I can find. I spent all day clearing stuff in the garage and never put it up on the lift. I will get under it tomorrow and see what I can find.

 

[rbsWELDER]

Look under the dashboard for a folding out one!

 

[choppinczech]

That harness that you pictured is labeled just like a Ron Franses harness There is a fuse panel somewhere

Yeah, maybe a Bare Bonz?