Demand for quality wiring harnesses for 914's?

[Jim Osborn]

The subject says it all. I'm doing some research for R.E.S.(I am not acting as an agent for this company rather an enthusiatic 914 owner) to see if anyone would be interested in purchasing harnesses in their entirety. So in essence this is a survey(of my own to sumbit to R.E.S. for consideration) and would like you to say yeh or ney, also if you have any other requests for additions to the stock harness.
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---The night time is the right time---
2000 Jetta GLS 1.8T 5speed Silver/ Black/Beige leather----- chip(AMS), exhaust(TT/Borla), abt filter
1973 Porsche 914 HO2.0L Black/Black
1968 Camaro RS White/Black currently on the back burner until I get out of school.
Too many projects
http://www.whosnextracing.com
"Some people have shrinks, some have garages"


[This message has been edited by Jim Osborn (edited 06-08-2000).]

[Jim Osborn]

Yeh---------I would like there to be a better fuse block and relays built into the harness for my H4 headlights.

[Neal Colingham]

Are you saying this would be a complete rewire of the car ?. It would be good but I
would not feel comfortable doing this job unless there was a pretty complete tech article.

[Jim Osborn]

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[This message has been edited by Jim Osborn (edited 06-08-2000).]

[bowlsby]

I think there would be a big interest in wiring harnesses as these cars are getting old and the harnesses need replacing, especially for electrical upgrades.

I have seent eh RES website and have been impressed...but their prices seem pretty high. Anyway to reduce the price and maintain quality?

[Jim Osborn]

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[This message has been edited by Jim Osborn (edited 06-08-2000).]

[Germain]

I'd love to get a complete rewire kit for the car. From top to bottom. Worse case, I'd love a F.I. harness...

[Patrick]

Wonder who the "Restoration Specialist on the East Coast" is! Hahahahah... I can see it now: Full 914 Wiring Harness - In Development - Send your $500.00 deposit today!

[Jim Osborn]

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[This message has been edited by Jim Osborn (edited 06-08-2000).]

I would LOVE to have one! After pulling my current one prior to doing some work, I noticed that some sections are brittle or have insulation that's cut. Getting a whole new harness would sure look better than patching the one I have. . . .

[Mike Mulligan]

I would definitly be interested in replacement harness. Also would like to add connects for additional fog and driving lights as used on some of the racing GTs.

I think a replacement FI harness would be in order too, if not a higher priority. In some places mine is more like uncooked spaghetti than wire!

Geez, I hope The Evil Empire has nothing to do with this. I can just picture my "new manufacture" replacement harness arriving covered in dried mud and just as brittle as the old one. Oh, and a clean spot where the factory sticker used to be!

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Mike
'73 914 2.0

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The important question--how much are you willing to pay for the wiring harness? At $350 for the FI harness alone, you can guess that the full set will be a good chunk of change.

--DD

[Jim Osborn]

(has hands in front of him with palms up like a scale) Chunk of change, stuck on side of road, chunk of change, fire, chunk of change, losing the concours...............CHUNK OF CHANGE

[Mike Mulligan]

(Thoughtfully)Stuck on the side of the road, Yeah, I hate that. Fire, that's no fun. Losing the... huh?

Is that French for autocross?

(Just kidding! Couldn't resist. No CW flames, please.)


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Mike
'73 914 2.0

[mejulihn]

Thought I might be a candidate for a new FI wiring harness from RES, but this evening I managed to make yet one more successful repair. After 24 years the heat of the engine bay has made my FI harness fairly brittle and particularly vulnerable to breaks at the connectors. I would be interested in a new harness if the price were right. For now $350 is too rich until I have a failure that is not repairable.

[Germain]

Seriours question, what do you mean Mike when you say no CW flames. Whats CW?

[mike mueller]

Jim, one thing that you might mention to R.E.S. is to offer a "kit" which would consist of so many feet or inches of each wire needed, the correct connectors and connector housings and instructions (full size layout preferably).
This way the buyer could assemble the harness themselves. The biggest price for the harness after the one time reverse-engineering cost is the labor to put the darn thing together. This is something I'd be interested in. Heck, I'd be interested in just a full Bill of Materials and the layout, so I could slowly put a harness together. As long as the price was held within reason. ($20 or so for a BOM and plans)??

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Mike Mueller
Antioch, CA
1970 1.8
http://www.pelicanparts.com/MotorCity/mmueller/personal.html

[Mike Mulligan]

It's a little joke from the 914 mailing list. CW stands for "concourse weenie". Used to poke a bit of fun at those who spend more time cleaning their car than driving it. Used by those of us who's cars would be laughed out of the registration line at a concourse, but are used for racing, autocross, etc.

Nothng against those who enjoy concourse events, just a bit of fun.

So no CW flames please!

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Mike
'73 914 2.0

[ggipson]

If the quality is there, (you get what you pay for) and the return policy is not a bunch of legal-ez, I would buy one.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Jim, you seem to imply that it's a no-brainer choice--plonk down the bucks for a new wiring harness or burn up. The choice isn't really that simple. For instance, you are very unlikely to have a fire because of a wiring harness problem.

If it really were a no-brainer, the FI harnesses would be selling like hotcakes. RES would also not have to ask before they started making them--they'd just go ahead and charge whatever price they thought was appropriate.

No offense to anyone out there, but 914 owners are in general a rather cheap bunch. If there is a way to save money, it seems that many or most 914 folks will do that. And that means that big-bucks expenditures on parts that can be patched together with some time and effort probably won't sell that well.

--DD