anybody ever used a "hot rod wiring harness" in a 911?

silverwhaletail · 07-23-2011, 11:14 PM

Hi fellas;

I'm getting ready to build a track car. I bought a nice long hood chassis, but I really don't want to deal with the 40 year old wiring that is in the car.

Anything I should watch out for, with regard to using a "hot rod wiring harness?"

Leaning toward Rebel Wire .:. Wire kits .:. Wiring Harness .:. Connectors and Accessories for Real Rods because they are made in the USA. (Tennessee)

My biggest concern is gauges. I have quite a bit of money (Hollywood Speedometer) in the gauges that I want to use, but I guess I could go with some new Autometer gauges if I have no alternative.

And what about lighting? Anything "odd" about oe Porsche headlights and taillights that will not be compatible?

Thanks.

sc_rufctr · 11:29 PM

Not a 911 but years ago I did it to a Fiat 500... Worked out perfect.

Not hard... Just focus on one wire at a time. And before you know it you'll be finished.

Like this. (Air cooled 2 cylinder + non synchro gear box)

fanaudical · fanaudical's Garage

What is your "need"? Do you need to rewire the car? Do you have existing wiring trouble?

Personally, I'd work out my own electrical schematic and assemble my own wiring kit before going after a generic wiring harness. It's not too difficult to find the wiring, fuse blocks, connectors, etc., plus you get to keep your own gauges.

motorcop · 07-24-2011, 07:41 AM

Check out Ron Francis Wiring. Used them for several street rods that I built, great kits and even better customer support if you need it.

DUK · 07-24-2011, 08:15 AM

Watson street works has one made by American auto wire, it's for a vw beetle but works super in our 911's. I've got one in my car and have referred several happy others.

DUK · 07-24-2011, 08:17 AM

VW Volkswagon Stuff Custom Cars Classic Hotrods Streetrods-Watsons StreetWorks

boba · 07-24-2011, 02:22 PM

We made a complete wiring harness using 'Painless'. This was on a '72 chassis and there was a lot of the original wiring that we would not be using. We used factory connectors eliminating all unused circuits. We used a 'Painless' fuse block.

Painless Performance: New Web Catalog

silverwhaletail · 07-25-2011, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fanaudical

What is your "need"? Do you need to rewire the car? Do you have existing wiring trouble?

It's not too difficult to find the wiring, fuse blocks, connectors, etc., plus you get to keep your own gauges.

Aha! You mentioned gauges. So there is something different about VDO gauges as opposed to Stewart Warner or Autometer or ???

My "need" is that the wiring is old (40 years) and I am going to strip it all out to sand blast the body shell anyway. I like the way that the "hot rod" harnesses are colored and labeled, and I want to use the modern spade fuses/fuse block because...well, I just want it to look more modern.

Nobody has mentioned light issues. Will there be any issues with the Porsche lights?

boba · 07-25-2011, 07:17 AM

No issues with guages or lights.

Here are a few pics of our project during the build of the harness.

boba · 07-25-2011, 07:19 AM

...and a few more.

silverwhaletail · 07-25-2011, 09:09 AM

Thanks Boba !

That's exactly the kind of encouragement I needed.

Very Clean! (and modern)

peter*g · 11-20-2011, 12:57 PM

Boba -- that is a gorgeous build. What gauges are those? Where did you get the carbon fiber dash panel?

I just picked up a '76 911 rolling chassis that I plan to build up as a race car. It currently has no wiring harness at all. Did you need any of the factory connectors (or anything else from the factory harness) to make the Watson kit work?

boba · 11-20-2011, 01:20 PM

Peter welcome to PP.

North Hollywood did the guages, they are the original VDO from this car.

The CF dash was done by John Simone from the San Diego area.

Yes we re-used most of the factory connectors.

Post your project as you get it underway. What plans do you have for it?

peter*g · 11-20-2011, 01:31 PM

Thanks for getting back to me. How big of a deal is it to not have the factory connectors for things like the lights and signals? I don't have a wiring harness at all as a starting point.

The chassis was prepped as a back-up for a friend's vintage rally car, so it was stripped, seam welded, and has a rally cage. My intent is to prep it for Targa Newfoundland and other tarmac rally events. That will require it to be street legal (horn, lights, signals, etc.) but still a proper racecar.

I'm thinking for this car (since I have no stock interior parts at all) that I'll get a blank dash like this one and then wire up race switches and gauges instead of factory switches/gauges. Not sure exactly what to do yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by boba

Peter welcome to PP.

North Hollywood did the guages, they are the original VDO from this car.

The CF dash was done by John Simone from the San Diego area.

Yes we re-used most of the factory connectors.

Post your project as you get it underway. What plans do you have for it?

fred cook · fred cook's Garage

I can build you a custom fuse panel that uses ATO fuses, smart fuses or circuit breakers. The standard panel has 21 fuse positions but I can make a panel with any number of fuse holders up to 24. The panels will mount directly to the original fuse panel bracket if desired. This would allow you to keep the necessary relays in their original mounts next to the fuse panel. See picture.

If you opt for fewer fuses, then there would be room for headlight relays or, with the full array of 24 fuses a longer board would allow for the relays to be mounted out on the right end (front of car).

Let me know if you are interested.

peter*g · 11-21-2011, 04:14 AM

Hmmm, for some reason my response to Boba last night got kicked back by the site. :-(

The car I'm picking up was being built up as a replacement tub for a friend's vintage rally car. It's an extensively prepped chassis, so my plan is to finish the project as intended and turn it into a tarmac rally car. I'll prep it primarily for Targa Newfoundland, but get it log booked for other events as well.

The car isn't coming with any sort of interior or wiring harnesses at all, so my thought is to get an uncut carbon dashboard like the GT Racing one and then wire up all of my own gauges and switches for lights, signals, etc., instead of bothering to source factory parts. As I will likely end up running either carbs or something like megasquirt on the motor, the lack of a factory harness doesn't seem like a very big deal.