Wiring Nightmare!

Terence

Terence

Active Member
Wiring front & rear is now complete... EVERYTHING now works!
I had to resort to cutting back everything to the dash & start over, 43yrs of bogged repairs & endless earthing problems sorted with a few snips of the cutters!
Today's job was rear lights... 6hrs later DONE. Example of my nightmare... No. Plate wired into brake switch, no feed to lights been blanked off, All bulbs had earth issues in sockets, brake lights & lights wired opposite & wired direct to earth... all wrong colour wires etc etc... Wiring is not my strong point but 2wks Doing most Eve's & most of weekends has triumphed.
 
Lol yeah!... I've kept red as the mains, black as earths... But everything else is my own secret recipe!... Blue, green, brown & yellow depending what it is.
I've added a few more live feeds to the dash for USB's , Sat Nav etc... But the best I've kept for last ! DO YOU know what a PURPLE warning lights are for?...lol
 
Hi All.

Has anyone found a kit that works for vans? The last time I wired my V8 commer I bought a hot rod kit and had to butcher it so much that it wasn't worth it and only the fuse block and rear lights remained relatively unscathed.

Otherwise I might rewire the whole thing in red to screw over any future owners.
 
I have been converting my van to alternator. So this involved taking out the dynamo and voltage control box, installing a Lucas alternator with inbuilt regulator then sorting the wiring to suit. There are plenty of internet articles that help with this. So far so good.
The trouble was that I discovered quite a few err... 'improvements'... that made me wonder how the van worked at all! Live wires dangling behind the dash, the oil pressure switch wire connected to the coil (what??) and miscellaneous bodges, taped joints, dry solder joints .. the list goes on. It is turning into a "check everything just in case" job. But I think I am getting there now. I am trying to use a sensible colour scheme rather than the random set up from the 'improvements'.
I changed the ammeter for a voltmeter and I will be installing a proper fuse box to supplement the single fuse system on this van (1960). Do the later models have more than one fuse?
Also installed a leisure battery and split charge relay while I was at it. I will wire in a fuse box on the leisure circuits as well. It might work again one day!
 
I think I may be better off doing it from scratch myself. Shouldn't be too hard. I'll just get one of those all in one flasher/relay/fuse assemblies and wire in and out of that with some decent thickness wire.

I have a lucas 45 amp alternator in mine and it's 1970. It also has 4 glass fuses but it's such a spaghetti mess I have no idea what they actually do.

Right next to the driver's seat is a fire extinguisher.
 
Just bought myself a 8 Gang toggle switch with LED display... Plan is to strip out All toggle switches from my dash behind the steering wheel & relocate them in front of the heater/blower...£38 well spent! + fit A new LED voltage indicator with USB ports...£12!
 
I am toying with the idea as well. Some of my wires are actually the same colours as in the w/shop manual though lol. Be nice to tidy up all the warning lights etc. Manual shows a few fuzes, would have to check how many if you needed to know.
 
Terence said:
Just bought myself a 8 Gang toggle switch with LED display... Plan is to strip out All toggle switches from my dash behind the steering wheel & relocate them in front of the heater/blower...£38 well spent! + fit A new LED voltage indicator with USB ports...£12!
Click to expand...

Awesome! Do you have a link or pics of the item in question? I'm going to build mine outside of the van and then spend a weekend doing the ol' switcharoo.
 
Time to sort Pootle's wiring......
First problems - Where is ECU and where do I plug in the OBDII scanner?

Which wire do I cut.jpg
 

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I think it is behind the electronic throttle body, which is located under the Air Con compressor which is connected to the ABS servo located in the void above the auto dimming head light electronic con trol box which is just behind the ODB socket, I hope this was helpful
 
Fortunately it’s so simple even I managed to do a good job!
Great upgrade was relay headlights so much brighter and the switch doesn’t get warm when on :)
 
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