Total Rewiring of my 1970 Barracuda

[elevenssc]

I'm getting into rewiring my Cuda and have some questions.  I have my E-Z harness and plan to replace the stock ignition with an MSD6AL ignition and MSD coil.  My questions pertain to the "old" stuff that needs to be reused or replaced to complete the job...namely steering column harness and the various connectors.  Here are some specific questions for those of you who have rewired your cars...

1) Did you rewire the steering column too or did you leave the original column wiring?
2) If you did rewire the column, where did you get the harnesses?
3) Various connectors...tail light, reverse light and fuel sender...Did you splice the old stuff into the new harness or get new stuff? (if new, where did you get it?)
4) Any words of wisdom from those that have "been thru the fire" (no pun intended ) ( I am going the halogen headlight upgrade route)

I'll probably have more questions as I get into things more

Thanks in advance...

Tom

[Chryco Psycho]

I have never rewired a column unless the column was replaced with a flaming river  or similar replacement column
 I have used the original light sockets & spliced them back on & I have replaced them as well , on one car we used hot rod billet type sockets , often you have to replace the sockets due to corrosion
 I generally add the relays for the headlights to save the switches

[quagmire]

1.  I did not modify my steering column wiring so it would be easy to replace the ignition and turn signal switches should the need arise.  I reused the original harness connector and installed it into my Painless Universal Harness

2.N/A

3.  I reused the old connector bodies but installed new terminals onto the wire ends.  I didn't trust 30 year old terminals.

4.
- Use relays on the headlights and anywhere else that high current circuits will be needed. 

-Make some kind of replacement bulkhead connector for easy removal should you need to do bodywork or some harness work.  My harness just used a grommet, and I just got done installing two 35 pin Ampseal connectors (one for chassis, one for EFI) after the fact.  It sucked.

-Thoroughly plan and lay out the wires before doing any cutting, make sure you protect the wires as much as possible from chafing and provide some kind of strain relief.  Try to plan for future additions when building the harness.  It'll be much easier and cleaner to do it now and just hook stuff up later.

-Make a wiring diagram manual for future reference!  I mimicked a factory manual.  I have all splice points, grounds, connectors, etc. everything cataloged.

-Soldering and crimping, when done properly, are perfectly acceptable.  But both have there places; dont solder wires that will see a lot of vibration or movement.  You will never see soldered connections in cars or over the road trucks for this reason, and it isn't a cost issue.  Soldered connections are more brittle and susceptible to failing over time.

-Use weather sealed connectors where ever possible under the hood and outside of the car.

-Use a light coat of dielectric grease on all bulb sockets and terminals to prevent corrosion.

[dodj]

1.  I did not modify my steering column wiring so it would be easy to replace the ignition and turn signal switches should the need arise.  I reused the original harness connector

Same as Quagmire, I kept the original wiring harnesses for simplicity of replacement, if needed. The turn signal switch/harness is available  as a repro if you want new, not sure about the ignition sw.
I used new light sockets and terminals. When I did my rewiring you could still get all the connectors and terminals from the dealer, but I've seen sockets are available at stores like Napa, Canadian Tire, O'Reilly etc.. . New headlight connectors to make your own headlight harness are available, I bought mine from the dealer. For the connectors I couldn't replace, I spliced them together.

-Use weather sealed connectors where ever possible under the hood and outside of the car.

I used bare crimp-on connectors. I first slipped a piece of heat shrink on one of the wires, then crimped the connection. Then I smeared a little rtv on the connector before shrinking the heat shrink on. A little rtv would seep out either end making me feel it was a good waterproof connection.

Good mechanical protection is important, slip on, tape, convoluted tubing (that purple stuff you see on MEK's engine) etc.. to prevent possible future grounds.
 

[elevenssc]

Thanks for all the great advice. 

Regarding the steering column connectors, How do you remove the terminals from the connector (wiring harness side of the connection), and where do you get new terminal ends to fit the connector?  I'm assuning that there is a tool to remove the terminals from the connectors?

Thanks,

[ragtopdodge]

I think Mopar Muscle showed that a DUI distributor makes more HP than an MSD.  Less wires to deal with, although you're dizzie will look like a GM unit.

[dodj]

I thought if you got a DUI - you don't drive anywhere

[quagmire]

Yes, a connector disassembly tool is required.  They are pretty cheap and available at most parts stores.