i second that!

 

I'm all about using what I can from whatever source I can. I am a true tightwad. On my 49 my original plan was to make my own wiring harness. I have several pieces of GM harnesses including a brand new complete dash harness with fuse panel from a mid 80's Caddy. After I got to looking at things and then calculating the amount of spools of different color wires, etc it was cheaper for me to go ahead and buy an aftermarket harness.
In my case I bought an EZ Wiring 21 circuit harness. This was several years ago and I bought it from an ebay vendor for I think $145. Well worth the money!!
I just got a Speedway motors catalog in the mail and they have harnesses for about the same price. I would highly recommend an aftermarket harness as opposed to try and build your own. I doubt you could build a comparable harness for that kind of money and have the same quality.

Bobby

 

May not apply in any case here but I also recommend R.I harness, I dont know if they cater to newer stuff but if you have something that really goes back they make a very nice harness.

 

What not to do. Expensive fuse block hidden behind a complete mess.





As you can see I started marking wires before I cut. I know I can start completely new but don't want any surprises. So I' ll trace every wire from origin to source.

 

I heard a rumor that Porsche is looking at putting in a "facility" at the Hapeville site. I can't imagine it's big enough to consider?

 

With about 30 wires coming off of the dash, that's really easy to do.

 

Mine looked like that too. The POs had done more odd things. They just pieced things together so they worked. Trying to track down each one and correcting things was a pain. I would clean up one area only to have it cause a problem somewhere else. The ignition switch and the headlight switch were the worst. And there were no fuses, circuit breakers or fusible links anywhere (connected) in the system. I tried piecing things together and fixing problem areas and it wasn't worth the effort . . . which is why I decided to tear everything out and start over. There is enough really qualified help here on FTE if you have any questions.

 

Yes, that is why I wrote that. I lived in Lilburn and used to spend a lot of time on Lake Lanier but when I left in '86 several years of drought had left it half the size that it normally was. Since the lake was man made guys were tearing the bottoms out of their boats on tree stumps. I towed one 35 footer ashore that was full of water and was only kept afloat because it was wooden I guess. The last I heard they were having even worse problems keeping Lanier full of water due to drought conditions.

I actually took a tour of the Doraville Plant. I was sorry to hear that it closed. I never went into Ford's Hapeville plant but I drove by it a lot. It was pretty good sized. I can't believe that Porsche would seriously consider reopening it as these days it is cheaper and more efficient with all the environmental compliances needed to just build a new facility. Maybe they just want to bulldoze it and use the land like so many plants. They just tore down the T-Bird plant in Wixom just up the road from me. Its just a big empty field now.

 

Jeff / Nicole

I wired using donor wiring harness; I mounted the ECM high under drivers side dash which meant my harness connector is on the upper drivers side of the firewall.

In hind sight I would locate the "brain" lower and penetrate the firewall out of view behind the engine. I am contemplating fabbing a wiring trough that would span the firewall to clean up some of the wiring. I haven't eliminated all the un-needed wire from the harness yet.

Tom

 

Tom, in regards to the EFI related items...relays, bap/map sensor, did you mount them in the cab or in the engine? I want to mount mine somewhere besides the engine compartment.

 

When I was wiring my truck I opted not to use the factory wire loom penetration (high up on the driver's side of the firewall) because I was trying to keep things clean. There was a hole in the passenger side footwell up near the tranny hump that I opted to use.
This worked out great as the harness came out down low and hidden and right near the starter on my Caddy engine so I could have my main power connections right there. I kept all of my wiring down low. I was able to bring the engine wiring up from the bottom keeping a nice clean look and not having wires draped all over the engine.


To mount my fuse block I fabbed a bracket that bolted onto my hanging pedal assy so that I wouldn't have to poke any holes in the firewall.


Again, I think the key on a succesful wiring install is to take your time, think things through, and do not maky any terminations until you are completely satisfied with the routing of the wires. Afterwards you can cover all the harnesses with split loom for a nice professional appearance.

Bobby

 

The plant has already been bulldozed. I just can't imagine a small landlocked parcel of land like that would even be attractive (except it's next to the airport)when they can get hundreds of acres elsewhere in GA (or any state).

 

i'm still listening! I am liking the posts of what you would have done different.
Thanks!

 

It is a great thing, We all still learn from posts of others. I'm enjoying this thread also Jeff. I will be excited when I get to the wiring stage. One of the first things I did when I got the truck was evaluate the wiring. What a mess. Original cloth covered and disintegrating. I removed every piece of wire. During the rebuild, I temp wired the ignition so I can move the truck

 

My design is evolving as I go, but right now it looks like I may use five 6-circuit fuseboxes (Function, Location):

1. Main, Engine compartment near battery
2. Always ON, Passenger side kickpanel
3. RUN, Drivers side kickpanel
4. ACCESSORY, inside center firewall behind stereo
5. LIGHTS- Engine compartment drivers side firewall

I realize that this seems like extreme overkill, but keep in mind that the fuseboxes themselves (except for the one used for the MAIN fusebox) are not very expensive and the main reason for splitting them up is to cut down on the "big old bundle of wires" phenomena and make it a little easier to troubleshoot in the future.

I do plan to produce detailed wiring diagrams when I'm done and keep a copy in the glove compartment.