Wiring under dash on 78SC

[JSV798]

Here is a shot of the under dash wiring on my 1978SC. When I first got the car I removed handfuls of wiring used for various deleted alarms etc. but this is as far as I got. Can someone show me what the wiring under the dash should look like when it's nice and tidy?

[strictly]

I don't have a picture to hand,so not very helpfull, but i'm loving the cork interior in your 78. I had almost the same one in my old 78 (RHD as well).

With your electrical connections, use HEATSHRINK if you dont allready (I know the previous work above is not yours). Also i quite like those new clear heatshrink with solder inside for connecting two wires together permenatnly

check out www.beal.org.uk

HA9 for the adhesive heatshrink, or the 6.4mm mini reel, get some other sizes too, or just get a pack from Halfords for £8

[Dr J]

I have something called the Moch 1 under dash cover. Its a black piece of ABS plastic, appropriately contoured to fit and covers the mess. Cleans that up nicely!

[JSV798]

Strictly,

if you like cork interiors here are a couple of other shots of the front seat and rear seats (original as far as I know - I've had the car 23 years):






And a shot of the car I found on the internet taken by some unknown admirer; paintwork looks better in the photo than in reality

[strictly]

ah very nice, looks like Minerva Blue as well? Thats a lovely colour combo! Heres a pic of my old one

P.S i'll have a look under the dash of my current 78 tomorrow, and take a pic of the wiring if its tidy! If not it will be my 75 instead, lol

[Jonny042]

Wow... what a mess!

I don't think it should look quite that bad (my 78 didn't). I wonder, though, if the RHDness of your car has something to do with it.

I had a chuckle at the trunk release. Not very convenient. But the exact opposite of the hood release on my wife's daily driver Cooper S (LHD), which is one the passenger side.

[skylark]

Mine s the same. JSV798 . NICE looking car by the way.

[theiceman]

Cork is the best !!!

I don't think pictures will help you. Making a detailed overview of finished wiring bundles is almost impossible. Under dash wiring is more or less chaotic. That's German perfection!

I think you should start with making room to work. Remove the seats, the ash tray, radio, knee pad and other easy removable parts to get the access to the wiring.

Use a wiring diagram ('78 is available here on the board) as a reference. Looking at the "disorder" it seems that there is some wiring added. Try to keep that aside or remove it when not used. Make notes/pictures to refer to when you rebuild the harness. Remember that the 40 year old wiring will present you some loose connectors or wires coming loose from connectors.

Clean up the wires from dust and dirt to distinguish the colors. Start taking wires together in a logical way and tie the together with tie wraps - not too tight! Then you can replace oxidised connectors and add connectors where wire end are just wrapped together and insulated with tape (I saw some examples in your picture...).

Important is that you take your time for the job and try to be patient with the old sometimes delicate wiring.

Otto

[JSV798]

Iceman,
That interior looks superb; is it original? And can I get you to take a shot of the under dash area as I suspect that will be super tidy and give me something to aim for.

And Otto,
I think It's going to be a seats out job as you say. I've been putting this job off for more than 20 years. Everything does work so worry that I'll introduce some faults but also worry about a short circuit so always disconnect the battery when it's garaged. I think it's going to be my winter project

[theiceman]

yes that is all original interior.. my car is in the garage right now but next time out id be happy to take a shot .. but unfortunately what you see there is pretty standard in every 911 and mine looks no different.

[ganun]

Could it be it was converted to the driving on the other side??? a lot of wires seem to have been spliced.

Here is my 87, the few wires seen are the result of my own radio install. not too neat from this view.



On the driver side pic you can see 3 harness plugs.....if those wires had to be carried to the other side of the car at least they should have been put them in a plastic sheath!

[gregoryp]

Here are two pics from my 79 targa one from the passenger side and one from the drivers.

Passenger side



Drivers side

[JSV798]

Thanks for those shots guys.
It's always been RHD but has had a number of radios and alarms fitted so that accounts for the mess. As I said, I removed quite a bit of wiring when I first got the car in 1993; looks like I have a lot more wiring to strip out!

[strictly]

I have some pics for you from my 78 (RHD) but i forgot to bring my camera home, i'll post them on sunday, basically there was not a lot of wiring except at the very right by the ignition switch, and a little around the radio, and not a lot else.

I'm a wizard with electrics, better than CIS thats for sure, so if you get stuck give me a shout. I'll post the pics in a few days

[strictly]

p.s nothing do to with being RHD, all my 911's are RHD, that was a previous owner! Simple to return back to spec, ive done it quite a bit!

[strictly]

here are the pics from my current 78 (RHD)

[strictly]

[JSV798]

Thanks Strictly.

That gives me something to aim at. Everything works at the moment which is why I have left it alone, but I do seem to have a lot of extra wiring in there. It looks like a seats out job as I am going to have to spend quite a bit of time under there.