wiring harness help

[crytough]

I need to ask these questions because I don't want to screw this up.The red & black wires I'm pulling out from underneath dash I am cutting clips off & adding wires, running back thru same slots but drilled out. Haven't done anything yet just trying to get the facts straight. The black & red wire pulled from firewall side am I cutting clips off and tying new wires to them, and then running to relay.This is where I'm a little stumped. Or am I running new wires with circle clips straight to relay . If so what about fuse links. And lastly there will nothing hooked to ammeter. Please let me know which of this is right and which isn't. I'm starting to grasp it a lot more the way you've given step by step how to. But I want to be exactly sure what I'm doing before I start.

 

[aussiemark]

Are you good at soldering? these connections need to be good. With the amp meter I feel it is better to disconnect it entirely just like what was done in the 2nd diagram in the article, amp meters run hot and are a hazard. First disconnect and remove the battery you can connect the 2 wires for the amp meter together with a small bolt & nut wrapping heaps of insulation tape around it or you can cut the terminals off and solder the 2 wires together and use heat shrink tubing to insulate the join (the best way). You need to get rid of the 2 push together terminals from the firewall plug (from inside the car) one for the black wire and one for the red wire unclip the terminals from the plug and cut them off the end of the wires. Then you need to get rid of the red wire terminal from the other side of the plug (in the engine bay) it is in the headlight wiring harness plug unclip the terminal from the plug and leave it for now. Then you need to do the same to the black wire (in the engine bay) it is in the engine wiring harness plug unclip it from the plug and leave it for now. So when you are done you will have removed 4 push together spade terminals 2 male and 2 female from the plugs and cut 2 female terminals off 2 wires inside the car. Then enlarge the holes in the plugs with a drill bit slightly larger then the wire you intend to push through the plug. The neatest way to re join the wires is from inside the car solder a length of red wire to the red wire you cut the terminal off (the same thickness as the original wire and long enough to reach the starter solenoid on the LH inner fender near the battery) slide a piece of heat shrink over the join and heat it then slide another piece over the first one and heat it (this will make it twice as thick and twice as safe). Do the same to the black wire (inside the car). Then feed the 2 lengths of wire you just added through the enlarged holes in the plug through the firewall and into the engine bay. Now carefully unwrap the headlight harness in the engine bay until you get near the starter solenoid now cut the car's original red wire just after the fusible link (leave about 1"of red wire after the fusible link). Remove the red wire you just cut from the harness and throw it away, route your new red wire from the firewall plug along the headlight harness and carefully re wrap the harness as you go until you reach the starter solenoid then leave it for now. Next carefully unwrap the engine wiring harness (this time you may need to use some insulation tape to hold the wires that branch off in position just wrap a short piece of tape around the branching wire and the rest of the wires to hold it and mark where it branches off) until you reach the starter solenoid now cut the black but leave enough length so the black wire that remains in the harness can reach the starter solenoid. Remove the length of black wire (from the firewall plug to where you just cut it) from the engine harness and throw it away. Now solder a short piece of special fusible link wire (14 gauge) to the end of the black wire that remains in the harness (it leads to the alternator) crimp and solder an eyelet terminal to the end of the fusible link wire and attach it to the starter solenoid. Next go inside the car and feed your new black wire through the enlarged hole in the firewall plug and route it along the engine harness re wrapping it as you go until you reach the starter solenoid. Now join the 2 new wires to the short piece if red wire that leads to the original fusible link again solder and double heat shrink and your done. This method is time consuming but you eliminate 2 extra joins in the engine bay and get a more professional reliable result.

 

[crytough]

Unclip the headlight wiring harness and the engine wiring harness plugs from the firewall plug in the engine bay by pressing the tabs in and pull them out of the firewall plug. the thick black wire is in the engine wiring harness plug and the thick red wire is in the headlight harness plug. The thick black wire goes to the alternator B+ terminal, the thick red wire goes to the starter motor relay on the LH inner fender. Go under the dash and unclip the fuse box from the firewall plug there are 2 metal clips diagonally apart push them in and pull the fuse box off the plug. You will now see the other side of the firewall plug. If you don't like working under the dash undo the 2 nuts (engine bay side of firewall) that hold the plug to the firewall then you can pull the plug out a bit so it's easier to work on. Unclip the thick red wire from the firewall plug from inside the car and from the headlight harness in the engine bay. Unclip the thick black wire from the firewall plug from inside the car and from the engine harness in the engine bay. Enlarge the holes in the plugs with a drill bit so you can feed the wire through both plugs where the terminals use to be clipped in this way you get the power through the plug and eliminate the terminals. Cut the terminals off the 2 wires inside the car join a length of wire to the end of both wires (same colour and thickness) pass these through the plug into the engine bay and join them to the wires in the engine bay (I would run them up to the starter relay to cut down the amount of joins in the wires).Bypass the amp gauge by cutting the terminals off and joining the wires together by soldering and use heat shrink to insulate (I use 2 layers of heat shrink to be safe). Remember this is the same wire it starts off at the alternator as a black wire carries the power through the firewall plug to the fuses, light switch, ignition switch and then the amp meter after the power passes through the amp meter the wire changes colour to red but it is still the same power flowing through it, it then passes back through the firewall plug and the power then goes to the starter relay, starter motor and battery+. So think of it as the same wire starting at the alternator doing a big loop and ending up at the battery. All your doing is rerouting the wire to go to the starter relay/battery/starter motor first then onto the parts it used to power up first.

 

[crytough]

Thanks Aussie, Your right it is time consuming. I haven't got that far yet. I'm having a hard time trying to on-clip the two main power wires from inside the dash to cut. I was wondering if I could cut them, then try to drill the clips out ? Also after I run the new wires thru the dash out to the firewall, I'd like to get back to you before I connect them. One of my concerns is you say tie a fusible link to the old black wire then connect to the starter relay, but don't I have to extend the black wire i cut leading to alt. then tie in fusible link so it will reach. Either way when I get to that point I'd like to get back to you if I can. Thanks again for your response.