dmoffitt

ok, i knew i'd run into this, taking a track car and making it (somewhat) streetable - but until I started into it, i didn't realize how much of a chore it would be.

chris's car came with much of the wire harness removed, just as he told me, and as i expected - so now i'm trying to figure out what i will really need, what i can live without, and so on.

i don't need a lot of frills, and i don't care one whit about factory switches / relays / locations. what i do care about is ease of wiring / maintenance.

i've been told by my dealer that all of the factory wiring costs something like $7600 and takes a month and a half as it has to be built and shipped from germany. so scratch that route. it's not that money is the big issue, mainly time, but why pay for a lot of stuff i'm going to just rip out again anyway?

here's my needs electrically:

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• <font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">aux. headlights (flip-ups removed)</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">taillight assembly</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">turns/sidemarkers (well, corner lights really) - incl. some sort of flasher relay unless i go with a prebuilt flashing LED bulb? i'm also going to need some sort of hazards/flahers (another relay? a switch wired to all 4 flashing led bulbs? hmm)</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">radiator fan (in-cabin override switch installed by chris, in additon to the big silver relay).</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">some sort of washer pump / sprayer, plus wiper motors - i plan to mount a custom, small reservior where the battery used to live, for less weight, shrorter hose runs, etc - and to transplant my factory wiper motors - one speed, on or off, plus a button to spray</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">eventually i'm going to get a small heater core of sorts and a simple one-speed blower motor, for heat, mainly defog (and run like dryer hose or similar). again, blower on/off, heater core mix/switch on/off</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">chris wired in an ABS reset switch, gotta figure out how that works...</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">all of the dash wiring, there's no wire harness in the car, i might be able to transplant mine, but am not sure the kind of shape it's in and don't want to be chasing bugs like we just got done doing (bad injector wires kept us frustrated for HOURS!!) - i'm thinking of going w/ stack or similar aftermarket digital gauges, and an electromotive setup for engine management, less wires to run / all pre-run, except the gauges... but i love our factory dash/gauges (the one thing i'd really like to hang on to). plus, besides the cost of the TEC3, i just got done installing a digital maf, and have it tuned pretty darned well.... drats</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">not sure, but i might need somethign to raise/lower the windows, unless i get sliding lexan/plexi ones (ala ferarri f40 style). anyone know if lexan windows will be street-legal? i'm scared about security / lockability - sure the door is fiberglass and could easily be ripped off the car, but it's a visual deterant, whereas sliding windows would seem to me as an invitation for disaster</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">wiring to the fuel-pump from accesories/ignition power (relay?)</font></li>
• <font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">a brake-light switch (how does that work, on the factory car? is it 12v from accesories power to the switch, then from the switch back to the lamp/housings? or is there a relay involved?)</font></li>

<font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">i'm sure there are a TON more things i've forgotton, please help me list anything else... also suggestions on ways to do this easily would be greatly appreciated. i'm pretty handy with a soldering iron, and have access to a ton of wire, heat shink, and terminals - and will likely fabricate something that sits in the factory "central electric" box to hold any fuses/relays (i'm a fuse nut, EVERYTHING has to be fused / labled. ok, so i'm a wiring nut, and am **** about how it all has to be done, part of why i'm rewiring the whole car - i want to nylon-sleeve and heat-shink EVERY single cable/bundle, to keep it separated, simple, clean looking, easy to work with/diganose, etc...)

TonyG

Get the factory harnesses used from a totalled car.

You can find them all the time in good condition.

And since the car is gutted, it should be very easy to install them.

dmoffitt

i could just reuse the ones out of my old car- but i'm trying to avoid using cracked/rotted/ripped/cut/worn-out 15-17+ year old wires... how "good" is good condition - any experience with this yourself, i am just worried i guess...

TonyG

I don't know what condition your harnesses are in.

Good condition means that the sheathing is soft and plyable. No cracks and no hard wiring.

Typically the only place you'll find a problem is in the portion of the engine compartment that is exposed to high heat.

The rest of the car's wiring harness isn't exposed to anything, and pretty much lasts forever.

You can find good used engine wiring harnesses for about $200-$300.

User 41221

To be real honest with you, for your application, you might be happier going to a street rod shop and having then custom fab you a new harness. Some of those guys are real artists when it comes to wiring, and not all of them are expensive. It won't quite be an "IceShark" job, but some of them can come pretty close.

A suggestion if you go that route, first, check out some of their work in person.

Also, for the windows, why not look at a manual window riser mechanism out of a 924? Lightweight, yet functional.

Keep posting, as I would love to see how your car comes out.

Regards,

TonyG

The problem with an aftermarket wiring harness is that you're "locked into harness".

Meaning that if you figure out later that you want something hooked back up (ala factory equipment) you can't.

If you know exactly what you need, and will never be changing it, then a custom harness would be OK.

User 41221

Agreed, its not the same as having factory documentation to back up the factory wiring loom, but I have seen some pretty incredible custom jobs that were VERY easy to troubleshoot. It really all depends on your intended purpose for the car and the quality of work the wiring guy does.

Regards,

Jeff Lamb

The approach I would recommend for now is to use all of the wiring Chris has left in the car. I am assuming Chris left enough wiring in there to start and run the engine (stock motronic) plus drive the dash. If Chris left some wiring in the car, I am assuming it will probably be in good condition. Unfortunately, I couldn't determine from your original posting how much wiring Chris actually left in the car.

For any components that you want to add (but there is no existing wiring) such as lights and turn signals, I would recommend doing your own wiring here. I think this will be the most efficient approach.

I think trying to drop in a used (or new) complete factory wiring harness at this point would be a waste of time and money. Why remove the good stuff that Chris left in the car for you???

Jeff

OriginalSterm

You should have all the hardware you need at RIT, it'll just take patience. Do you really need windows? If you want something to cover the window up, just get another piece of lexan and make it a removable piece that goes in the frame. Security? This is a bare bones car, what is anyone going to steal? Throw a toggle switch in someplace and be done with it.

guardsred951S

This is OT, but just the other week we were working on my buddy's 66 'El Camino (not exactly a Porsche) and we did something that resulted in one friend yelling 'SMOKE SMOKE SMOKE' while another went to the negative terminal of the battery and yanked it off. It turns out a connector that we had left dangling had slipped and shorted to ground through the chassis. This promplty melted a 37 year old connector to a pile of charred yellow mush. So the moral is be careful!!(which we weren't)

Back to the thread, I'd tend to lean towards new/good condition wiring as even the newest 951's are around 14 years old now. Old wires tend to get brittle and crack and that hockey tape they use to wrap 'em is a sticky mess. If you can get it done simply (easy to troubleshoot is key) then that's what I'd do - simpler is better!

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Ski

I agree with Tony, search through all the dismantlers, especially Ian@ 944 online, Geroge at 944 ecology, maybe even some racers, such as Powerhaus and Lindsey; I would think that you could find a complete harness in good condition and use what you need or give it to an electronics shop and say "build it I will buy it". I personally I have good luck on catching a few things on ebay. I have a brand NEW, never installed, engine wiring harness, that I picked up for under $200! I have seen complete uncut harness starting at $225. Check feedback though.

Bri Bro

When your salvage yard search , I would suggest you look for a car that is up in Northern US with low mileage, they have more rust issues but the wiring insulation tends to be in better shape, time and heat do the damage.

Chris Cervelli

Dave--

All the stuff you need should be there already, with a couple exceptions. I removed all the door wiring and I am pretty sure the blower wiring is all gone.

I had aspirations of running that car at night, so I think I left all the lighting wiring in place. But I modified that harness a long time ago and memory may not be 100% correct.

I am pretty sure I have a complete car harness from a Turbo S that I'd sell cheap. That will be a fairly big job to install.

HansB

Hi Dmofitt,

just finished a job stripping and putting back a wiring harness for a racer, just the opposite job that you will be embarking on. It took me about 40-50 hours.

My $02:

We considered building a complete new one, with an in-car fuse panel, but estimated it would take to much time. Major dilemmas: We would need complete new drawings, and what to do with all connectors? A way to go would be to use something like a Stack or Spa dash, comes with their own wiring harness, but at a price over $2k.

The best way is to take a used one, and take it from a totalled car yourself. This way you can label all the the connectors etc. Make lots of pictures.

The harness going through the car is easily stripped or redone.

The front harness, going through the engine compartiment, I would not touch, it is so neatly packaged.

Lots of Luck! Hans

Ahmet

I'll second (actually more like 5th now!) a factory wiring harness. I was amazed at the shape my factory harness was in, in my turbo. It practically looks new, that is except for the wires in the engine comp. where there's a couple of cracks in the insulation and they're a bit more brittle.

Also, I don't imagine wiring a stripped car (with a factory harness) being that hard...
Ahmet