New Wiring harness - Thanks Paul A

[kmathis]

Hey everyone:

I have just about completed my new harness install that Paul A, on this board (Pete's Wiring) and Rebel Wire put together for us Sunbeam owners.

What a nice harness...it has probably taken me 24 man hours to install as i am a little slow; however the way this harness is layed out, marked and grouped together, it really goes in nicely and well worth the 200 bucks or so for the harness. This is the first time I have completely re-wired a car by myself and I am very satisfied with the results.

I Followed the instructions, and also bought the Gauge Harness which really made the dash look good and now it is plug and play. I tested all of the circuits last night and everything worked first time...I did have my wires crossed in the rear turn signals, but got that straightened out in no time.

When I pulled my old original blue taped harness out and disassembled it, I was a bit shocked at how many wires had melted through the insulation, but had not quite touched each other yet. Looked like I was about 3 drive hours away from an electrical fire.

Thanks, Paul for working with Rebel to get this harness dialed in for our cars, going from two circuits to 12, including a Cell phone; Radio switched and Radio constant circuits, as well as a separate accessory circuit, really will make me feel better going on out of town trips.

If you would like to get one of these wiring harness' send Paul A a message.

I can't say enough about this as I have been worried about this two circuit system since I bought the car and hearing about some of the fires and burn outs caused by electrical shorts didn't exactly make me feel too warm and fuzzy.

I have a few photos that I will post as soon as I get them downloaded.

 

[bulldurham]

Didn't know the gauge harness existed. Does Paul sell it also?

 

[kmathis]

Hi,
Well, I actually bought mine from Rebel Wire almost two years ago when Paul was helping to create it; I think I got one of the first ones that was available, and later found out that Pete's Wiring and Paul A were one in the same.
So, contact Paul A and I am sure that he will have all of these answers.

 

[Paul A]

Thank you, Kelly, for the nice comments. I am pleased that your installation worked well for you!

Anyone interested in more information can contact me via the forum or by sending a message to pete@petesperformancewiring.com

To date I have sold units to Sunbeam owners all over the USA, as well as Sunbeam owners in Canada, Australia, Germany, and France. They have been installed in both LHD and RHD Sunbeams, both Alpines and Tigers.

Thanks again! Pete (Paul A on this forum)

 

[Paul A]

Didn't know the gauge harness existed. Does Paul sell it also?

I think Kelly was referring to the gauge harness that is available for the gauge set he used in his car. Kelly can correct me if I am in error.

Sunbeam owners who retain their original gauges can re-use the gauge lighting and "daisy-chain" ground wiring.

 

[crs]

Kelly,
You mention various Alpine fires and such with which I am unfamiliar.
I have owned Alpines since the Series III and have been fortunate not to have had any wiring problems. Can you inform me of which wiring issues caused these fires?

When installing the V6 in my Series IV, we did replace all the under hood wiring and remove the old wiring there for better compatibility, function and appearance. It also makes sense to install new wiring when doing a ground-up restore, but I do not understand why new wiring would be needed if the original wiring still functions properly and no new features like air conditioning are to be installed.
Thanks for any light you can shed on this.

 

[Tom H]

Charles, I have not used Paul's or anyone's replacement wiring and I have original wiring in my Alpine. But I am an electrical engineer and I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express a couple times and here's what the issue is:
(notes based on SV wiring , but earlier Series are very similar)

Almost none of the circuits in our Alpines are fused!
1 There is no fuse anywhere in the "brown" circuits, Those are the circuits carrying live battery voltage before any switches or fuses. This includes the big cable from the Battery to the solenoid - not an issue since even modern cars would be that way, although they would use a "Fuseable link", a week spot in the cable so any short would cause a failure in a readily visble and safe location. But then from the solenoid to the ammeter, from the ammeter to the fuse block, from the ammeter to the Alternator, from the fuse block to the ignition switch, from the fuse block to the light switch, and from the light switch to the headlights and Taillights and Panel lights, all these wires are unfused and vulnerable to a short. If the brown wire going thru the firewall to the ammeter should wear thru the grommet and end up having the edge of the hole cut thru the cable insulation, you will have full battery current running thru that short , It will get red hot and start a fire. Even if the ignition switch is OFF. All the other wires noted above have similar vulnerability

2) There is no fuse anywhere in the "White" circuit. All the white wires, from the ignition switch to the coil, from the ignition switch to the fuse holder, from the ignition switch to the tach, are all unfused. Any short circuit of one of these wires could cause a fire if the ignition switch is ON.

3) The "green" circuit is fused and switched. This circuit powers the wipers, heater blower, turn signals, brake lights, Horn, Gauges. That's a lot of the auto wiring running off one fuse. Not so much a safety prbblem, but makes it harder to isolate problems, Like when the turn signals cause your tach to not work!

4) There IS one more fuse , but it's really allocated for just the Interior courtesy Lamp. Although most of us have our radio wired to that circuit.

One of these days I may add a larger fuseholder and break out some of the circuits and add fuses to some of the circuits described.

Tom

 

[kmathis]

Tom: Lol on the "I slept at a Holiday in Express" comment...that was a good laugh.

Thanks for that detailed analysis of the different colored circuits in the original harness; I noticed that the brown circuit was un-fused, but I thought it had been changed over the years by previous owners...I didn't realize that it came that way...scary.

I had a lot of cooked wires in my original harness.

Take care,

 

[kmathis]

Kelly,
You mention various Alpine fires and such with which I am unfamiliar.
I have owned Alpines since the Series III and have been fortunate not to have had any wiring problems. Can you inform me of which wiring issues caused these fires?

When installing the V6 in my Series IV, we did replace all the under hood wiring and remove the old wiring there for better compatibility, function and appearance. It also makes sense to install new wiring when doing a ground-up restore, but I do not understand why new wiring would be needed if the original wiring still functions properly and no new features like air conditioning are to be installed.
Thanks for any light you can shed on this.

Hi:

As you know, I did my V6 conversion almost two years ago, and I didn't change any wiring, the conversion itself was a lot of work and I didn't want to get overwhelmed with another project...and I could see by looking at my wiring that it would definetely be a full seperate project.

I did buy the harness back then, and I have read on this board about many electical shorts, fires and just plain smoke. However, I mainly wanted everyone to know what a good harness it is and very worthwhile and certainly don't want to scare anyone into a project before they are ready for it.

During this paint project, it did seem reasonable to remove all of the existing wiring and install all new during the re-assembly, otherwise I wouldn't have done it until next winter.

I put the dash in today, and i hope to test all gauges tomorrow and maybe crank it over.

 

[whoizrob]

Wiring and future projects....

Hi guys, I have a S4 which is undergoing mild modification right now, mostly reliability upgrades, with more fun planned for later (engine swap, seat heaters, hidden stereo, etc.). My question is this.

I am worried about electrical issues NOW. The rest of the projects might take a little longer if I am doing a fire restoration =P. So, with the upgraded wiring harnesses available today, how much of a hassle is it to wire the car up for it's stock condition now, and later adapt for the extras I want (since it is likely most of the engine wires will be going to different locations in a swap, and I am guessing leaving unused circuit wire bundled up until I need it so say, seat heaters, might make a bit of a mess under the dash).

Are these harnesses "modular": can I replace parts of the harness which have been used and need to be longer or add a circuit I may have clipped off as unused? Or will I have to rewire the car a second time? Thanks!

Rob

I know it'd be easier if I just built the car from the ground up in one go but cash is tight and projects are done one at a time....

 

[crs]

Kelly and Tom,
Thank you for the background and the information on the available wiring harness. The re-wiring project does sound worthwhile and I will see where I can fit it into my overall plan.
Tom's comment on the firewall grommets reminded me to double check all mine, as there was one that looked suspicious.
My son has visions of installing a sound system (God knows why with the sound level what it is with the top down), so I may tell him include the wiring project $$ into his audio project. For me, the sound of the engine and pipes is music enough!

 

[kmathis]

Hi guys, I have a S4 which is undergoing mild modification right now, mostly reliability upgrades, with more fun planned for later (engine swap, seat heaters, hidden stereo, etc.). My question is this.

I am worried about electrical issues NOW. The rest of the projects might take a little longer if I am doing a fire restoration =P. So, with the upgraded wiring harnesses available today, how much of a hassle is it to wire the car up for it's stock condition now, and later adapt for the extras I want (since it is likely most of the engine wires will be going to different locations in a swap, and I am guessing leaving unused circuit wire bundled up until I need it so say, seat heaters, might make a bit of a mess under the dash).

Are these harnesses "modular": can I replace parts of the harness which have been used and need to be longer or add a circuit I may have clipped off as unused? Or will I have to rewire the car a second time? Thanks!

Rob

I know it'd be easier if I just built the car from the ground up in one go but cash is tight and projects are done one at a time....

Hey, Rob: I am with you, I try to do one project at a time; not only to keep costs on a pay as you go basis, but to keep from getting overwhelmed with a car being down too long. I really like driving my car as we all do, so I try to keep the projects as short as possible. This paint project has been 11 months...tooo long; but I am almost done, I did crank over the motor today, so now it is just oil, fuel, and a few interior items.

The harnesses are not modular, however the fuse block is and I would guess that you could add more circuits pretty easy...I guess. It already comes with 12 circuits and I had three left over for later use, and I just coiled them up and they will be ready when I am. In a day or two, I will post a few pictures of my install under the dash showing the location of the fuse block, it is made to locate in the original place on the inner fender well, but I choose to locate it under the dash. I wouldn't say that it is easy to install, however, the instructions are really good, and the wires are grouped together where they need to go and easy to see where they go.

 

[whoizrob]

Hrmmm....

I suppose I could make a connector for the motor connections and just change it out from the firewall forward.

As far as the unused circuits, you said you just coiled up the wire for future use. How much extra wire do you have there, is it a big pile or were you able to bundle it up neatly and stick it out of the way.

Where are you all placing your fuse block? Pictures would be great! Thanks!

Rob

PS. any write ups with pictures out there? I am a visual kind of guy and would love to get a ball park idea of what is involved as well as any tips/tricks. This is pretty high up on my to do list.

 

[Paul A]

sent you a PM

Pete (Paul A on this forum)

www.Petesperformancewiring.com

 

[kmathis]

I suppose I could make a connector for the motor connections and just change it out from the firewall forward.

As far as the unused circuits, you said you just coiled up the wire for future use. How much extra wire do you have there, is it a big pile or were you able to bundle it up neatly and stick it out of the way.

Where are you all placing your fuse block? Pictures would be great! Thanks!

Rob

PS. any write ups with pictures out there? I am a visual kind of guy and would love to get a ball park idea of what is involved as well as any tips/tricks. This is pretty high up on my to do list.

Hi, Rob: You can use a connector like that, I used a 9 pin Molex connector for the rear of the car, and also for the dash, so my dash is completely wired by itself and I just plug it in when installing. The rear lights...all of them are all plug and play as well.
I will post pictures real soon, I usually use Webshots, but they are closing down their site and so I am going to use DropBox, but I don't have it set up quite yet. maybe later today.

 

[kmathis]

For those interested; a few pictures of the wiring going into my car, I don't have pictures of everything, but you get the general idea. I will be adding pictures to this site as everything comes to completion. These pictures are not in order either, for reasons that i don't know.

If I can answer any questions, don't hesitate.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/d0y1qok9rj58yf7/_QApvprsq6

 

[KenDemp]

Kelly,

Do you like the fuse box in that location? How do you think access is going to be once you get the dash and steering wheel back together?

I like the idea of the fuses inside the car, though I don't exactly know why. Old habits maybe?

Are there any other inside locations that anyone has used and would recommend?

Thanks

 

[PROCRAFT]

wiring

We wired the Tiger with a painless fuse panel on the passengers side nexto the wiper motor works great and you dont have to crawl under the wheel for
access(we just did another Tiger and the owner had a Nissan fuse box on the drivers side not very nice.

 

[Paul A]

Kelly,

Do you like the fuse box in that location? How do you think access is going to be once you get the dash and steering wheel back together?

I like the idea of the fuses inside the car, though I don't exactly know why. Old habits maybe?

Are there any other inside locations that anyone has used and would recommend?

Thanks

Ken

Most of my customers install the fuse box in the original location on the inner fender well. Alternate locations for some customers include on the firewall, inside the cockpit, on the drivers side (LHD). That is where I installed the unit for my Tiger. Several other owners indicated they installed the unit on the floorboard, passenger's side (LHD), under the false floor. Another spot close to the original location is the "flat" area at the junction of the inner fender well and the firewall. I located the unit for my V6 in that location.

Fuse box location is a personal choice. I will be happy to help anyone wherever they choose to locate the unit.

Pete
www.petesperformancewiring.com

 

[kmathis]

Kelly,

Do you like the fuse box in that location? How do you think access is going to be once you get the dash and steering wheel back together?

I like the idea of the fuses inside the car, though I don't exactly know why. Old habits maybe?

Are there any other inside locations that anyone has used and would recommend?

Thanks

Hi, Ken:

I like the new location, and I don't see it as a difficult place to reach...maybe I will change my mind once I get the steering wheel and seat installed, so far it is clearly visible and easy to reach. However, there is enough wire with the kit to install it just about anywhere up front, I guess it is personal preference and all of my other cars had it under the dash left of the column, so maybe you are right...old habits.