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75 complete rewire

17K views 106 replies 13 participants last post by  agoristmike 
#1 ·
Started the project of rewiring my 1975 Elky today (the elky is named 'Big Hulking *******', or the ******* for short). I started by hiding the horn up into drivers side fender, which will ultimately make more room for a procharger supercharger! In the short term, it just looks better.

Second thing was to crack open the smugglers box (which hasn't been opened in at least 2 years, longer than that possibly, by the looks of it). I did so, and found it to be in pretty good shape, all things considered. I plan to mount my optima redtop in the smugglers box, along with a master disconnect switch. The master disconnect I hope to punch through the rear wall and wire up, so that I have access to it from the cab.


Pictures may be included if anyone gives a damn.
 
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#6 ·
You can see at https://bighulkingbastard.shutterfly.com/pictures/8 that I got a bunch of goodies in the mail yesterday!

Optima redtop, electric fan relay/harness, and a complete wiring harness from jegs. Can't say enough good things about them! Wiring harness looks fantastic, came with the complete fuseblock, fuses, instructions, and terminals.

Best of all, between the harness, fan relay/harness, and optima, I only shelled out 450 clams! :nanawrench:

Soon....
:driving:
 
#9 ·
how long did it take you....? I'm estimating at least a few weeks for mine once I start actually wiring it up...
 
#10 ·
Another important note. Take lots of pictures and notes for each picture of what comes apart and what goes where.
Mine is not my daily driver nor is it in a garage and i did it during winter. I'll say it took me a month or 2. Mine did not have terminals so I spent a lot of time soldering.

Not sure if your current fuse box is the original. If it is, it has one bolt going right through the center holding the outside harness to the inside.

I got confused in a few areas when re wiring and had to look at the old fuse box. The biggest confusion was the new harness had a power wire for the heater and a power wire for the gauge cluster and on the original the power for the heater, piggybacked off the power for the gauge cluster wire.
If you're going to cut wires to solder later on to the new ones, leave plenty of length on the old in case you make mistakes like soldering the wrong wire.

Since we don't have computers, the install is easy. Don't know what gauges you have, mine had idiot lights. Now is the time to research and buy a tach, oil pressure, temp, and batt gauge cluster you like.
Buy grommets too. a nice variety pack.

Also What not to break!!! When you are unbolting the steering column to drop it, for the love of God, undo the the GEAR SHIFT INDICATOR CABLE!!!! It's one tiny screw on the right side of the column.

Think about things you want to do behind the dash once you have it out. I bought all new shiny chrome ac vents and got some plexi glass and made all new lenses since mine was all scratched up. Even sent my fuel gauge off to be re calibrated and painted.
Also it's a good time to lube the speedo cable or replace it.
Keep an eye out for any bad, broken, corroded or burned wires and connectors, so you can buy those too if needed.

Also my headlight switch harness was wired a bit different than the way it came from the factory and took me some time and emails and research to figure out. I'll find my thread i posted back then.

OHHHH yeah. One mistake I made was trying to pull the rear wire assembly through. I left the zip ties that kept the wires bundled together on. One of them got wedged permanently between the wheel well and the body panel. I ended up breaking a wire or two. I'll find the pics I took on how to safely feed those wire to the back.

Here is a thread I started when i first joined. Pages 4-5 were when i was wiring. There's a lot of wiring schematics too if you need them. Gilby is an electrician, but don't tell anyone I told you.
http://www.elcaminocentral.com/showthread.php?t=54503

I'm sure I will think of other things I broke or wish I had or had not done .
There's a lot of wisdom on this site and everyone was most helpful to me.

You will enjoy being able to say "I did this" and you'll feel better knowing you have all new wiring.
Don't be afraid to ask any question.
 
#11 ·
Oh God.

I'm leaving the current dash in for now, until I get cashola for the new floor pans and roll cage to be installed, got an aluminum dash just waiting to get put in when I can...Maybe I'll pull the dash I have now, and put in the aluminum dash, knowing that I'll need to pull it out again later?

Gah! :alcoholic:
 
#14 ·
I wasn't trying to scare you. I get excited when I can help. I was so blessed to get all the help I received here and i want to pass it on. Plus I want to help you avoid the mistakes I made. I know it can seem kind of overwhelming. Like I said though, the pride you feel having done it, is awesome.

To run the wires to the back, remove the air vent above the striker on the drivers side where the door opens.

You can see my wire loom in there.
Go ahead and loom the wires for protection then feed them through the hole down by the carpet then pull a few feet up through the air vent hole so you can tape them to the pole or pipe you use.
I thought i had pictures but I can't find them. I used a 12 foot 1/2 inch pvc pipe and taped the wires with masking tape, leaving a bout a foot of wire hanging down so I didn't have to reach up in the body cavity to pull it down. This is the drives side side marker, where I fed the wires to.


Here's what happens if you don't remove the tiny zip ties or cover them with loom. You can see I broke the pink wire.


Here's my old and new head light plugs. Replace anything that looks bad.
 
#12 ·
When I bought mine, the battery, spare tire, and some tools were in a "custom" box on the bed of the truck. Relays for lights were where the battery had been. I've removed all but the platform of the box and have a lockable shell over the bed. I plan on enclosing the relays in a weatherproof box to protect them. My wiring is in fairly good shape, so not agonna do dat. Wiring and a whole bunch of other stuff has been done to the '56. :tongue2:
 
#13 ·
Do my relays need to be in a waterproof/weatherproof area?! @beepster, do you have pics of the 'custom box' ?
 
#15 ·
Nice! Thanks for the heads up! I still have to order some parts prior to getting really started with the wiring itself, will probably just be setting up the smugglers box as best I can this weekend, and maybe some other ****....:Eyecrazy:
 
#16 ·
What about the relays? I've got no issue sticking 'em somewhere safer than I had planned, just wanna make sure that I adequately protect them.
 
#18 ·
Alrighty then! I will bear all of this in mind. I may fab up some simple stupid splash cover or something to help shield against debris for any relays that are in the engine bay.
 
#19 ·
Wonder if you went to a junk yard if you couldn't pull a relay box off of any car and make it work for you.
I did not install an electric fan yet or put relays on my lights, but that's something to consider.
 
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#20 ·
I've got an electric fan, and an aftermarket horn. Pretty sure the horn is covered in the harness I got, and I know the fan is. :rockon:
 
#22 ·
#23 ·
Hmm, that doesn't look to shabby. I'll swing through a local pick-n-pull and see whats laying around.

:redxrobot:
 
#24 ·
New pictures added at https://bighulkingbastard.shutterfly.com/

Got a little bit of work done over the weekend, scraped and sanded inside the smugglers box, primed half of it before I ran out of primer and money, and finished painting and applying bed liner to the cap(?) of the smugglers box.

Should I be running weatherstripping around the cap to help keep water out? For right now it will be getting bolted back down, but eventually I want to put hinges on it for quick access. Ideas?

:nanawrench:
 
#25 ·
Just uploaded some pictures of what I am working with, it is terrible. They will be available later.

****balls
 
#26 ·
This subject of the so-called "smuggler's box" cover has been discussed here occasionally.

On the back panel, under the rear window, down below towards the bottom, there is a seam that's caulked at the factory. It runs over the "hump" in the bottom skin. When that seam leaks, water ends up on & under the carpet behind the seat, and rusts the floor panel.
If you plan on using that cavity for storage, make sure that seam is really water tight, and that the drain holes in the bottom are clear.
 
#27 ·
So I got some work done over the weekend, additional pictures are still uploading, but you can take a peek at what I got so far at https://bighulkingbastard.shutterfly.com

Dashboard has had all of its gauges and accessories removed, including the glove box.

If anyone needs any of these parts, let me know, I'd be happy to give 'em up for a couple of bucks plus shipping.
 
#28 ·
a few more pictures uploaded. Wish I had proper space for this!

BTW, is anyone on the hunt for a worn bench seat? I'll be selling mine at some point in the future!
 
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