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Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:19 pm

I've had this 69Baja for nearly 2 years, mostly a daily driver. The wiring has had many open cirucits and shorts intermittently all courtesy of the P.O. I finally decide to redo it and do some upgrades. Here's some pix's of my progress.

Stripping it down.

Sanding and cleaning.

The beginning....Damn that 12 gallon tank sure is big.

Ohhhh I've got some sand blasting to do!!!

Wow, 1st coat of Rustoleum Hammered finish looks good..

Now the dash....same kind of paint....

Filling some holes in the dash....Kept the idiot lights for the other driver in the house. Going to try the Nitros gauges.....we will see how they hold up.

Begin rewire. I like the fuse blocks....one for switched stuff and the other for unswitched. Relays are for engine ignition and starter.

A little close up of the beginning. Wires will be bundled later after the blinding flash test.

Wow, the gas tank works nicely as a work bench....

What we like to do when the Baja isn't wandering around Sacramento. Sand Mountain is fun. We just putt around the smaller dunes. The engine is a 1914cc.

Here we are at the Turtle Creek campground near Mt. Whitney portal. We explored the Alabama hills, and many back roads...On this trip we explored the middle of Nevada. Ghost towns and the like.
The truck is a 1994 f250 with a 2000 Bigfoot camper.

Well that's where I'm at now. I'll post more as I finish up.

Jim

Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:29 pm

Hey that's great, I've been thinking of doing the same thing eventually. Though I've been thinking about using circuit breakers for the switched items instead of fuses. I know they're more expensive and take more planning, but I think it will look good once it's all installed.
Let us know how long it took.

Like the TC. I've heard a lot of good things about Bigfoot. We've got a 1990 Lance that we take out from time to time.

Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:46 pm

Dirt Sailor wrote: Hey that's great, I've been thinking of doing the same thing eventually. Though I've been thinking about using circuit breakers for the switched items instead of fuses. I know they're more expensive and take more planning, but I think it will look good once it's all installed.
Let us know how long it took.

Like the TC. I've heard a lot of good things about Bigfoot. We've got a 1990 Lance that we take out from time to time.

If you use the same fuse blocks the OP is using they sell 20 and 30 amp auto resetting breakers that fit right into those slots. They're not very expensive, only a couple dollars a piece, if you're interested I'll try and find where to get them,

Also some very good work going on up there, 40 year old wires and many years of rigging make me very nervous in these cars. Are you setting up your own wiring diagram, or are you copying from "the book" to rewire the car?

Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:19 pm

Blue69Baja wrote:

Jim

never nice and clean job. what do you use to keep the rain and water from getting into the fuse boxes or do they have covers? do you have somekind of seal around the hood?

Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:10 pm

pafree, I have the standard wire cover that's avail. I also installed a fresh hood seal. My baja hood fits quite well. I've driven in rain and taken it to a car wash and between the seal and the fit there is no leakage that I can detect. The baja kit is quite old. The PO had the car for 20+ years. His daughter wrecked it so he did the baja to it and used it for a TOAD. (tow vehicle) He liked doing desert stuff and mountain fire trails like we do. He was 84 when I got it from him.

The orignal fuse and wiring all stayed dry with the cover and no seal...I put the seal on for extra protection.

The fuse blocks do not have covers.

Here's the source I have been using....good service.

http://www.wiringproducts.com/contents/en-us/d136.html

Jim

Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:43 pm

Quality work! Did it used to have a Winch under the cowl? Whats that hook for

Wed Aug 19, 2009 6:12 am

xirious, good catch. he he....

The PO used it to secure the spare tire. It sits on top of the gas tank. There isn't any room in the front due to the baja kit.

Jim

Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:53 pm

[quote="Cuog"] Dirt Sailor wrote:
Also some very good work going on up there, 40 year old wires and many years of rigging make me very nervous in these cars. Are you setting up your own wiring diagram, or are you copying from "the book" to rewire the car?

I am doing my own wire diagram. Some wire I'm not replacing, like the wires from the wiper motor to the switch. Some wires were replaced by the PO.....

I really like the original brass connectors....they have a tendency to stay tight unlike lots of the stuff you purchase at auto parts stores.
I was at Hot August Nights and there was a fella there that was selling wiring products. He had some terrific 1/4 in connectors they were different from anything I've seen....I've looked on the net for them...but not really hard because I purchased enough to do my project.

Here's a pix of the connector. Note the spring load tab. When you slide them on to a terminal it is really tight.

Also has a lock tab for multiple connector sockets.

Jim

Tue Sep 08, 2009 2:55 pm

Well, the wiring's done. I haven't laced things up and put the ribbed tubing on yet but thought I'd post a few pix to show the progress....

Some of the old wires.

A little dirty but the wiring's beginning to look great. 2 inline fuse blocks for high/low head lights, tail lights etc. The block in the middle is for the towing light hook up.

A new radio/cd installed.

A close up of the Un-switched fuse block and the switched. No more big current going through the ignition key...Relays for horn, starter and engine (coil, distributor/dizzy, choke and oil pressure switch.).
I kept the original Hi low beam relay.

No more big current going through small wires whahoo!!!!

A closer look.

Another angle...

Dash is almost done...

A shot from the other side...

Tue Sep 08, 2009 3:10 pm

fifty miles of wire and you didnt hook up this light. whats wrong with you? no, great job. i like your pigtail for the towing lights. are you using the car lights or is there extra lights for towing?

Tue Sep 08, 2009 3:16 pm

Using the car lights...Using blocking diodes.

On the dash pix you will notice two lights....one's alternator and the other's Oil....BIG LIGHTS for OLD EYES and gauges for those that like to know how much!!!! hee hee

Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:43 pm

Blue69Baja wrote: Relays for horn, starter and engine (coil, distributor/dizzy, choke and oil pressure switch.).

So do you have the starter and engine on one relay and horn on the other. It looks like only 2 relays so thats what I assume.

Tue Sep 08, 2009 7:01 pm

clemsonteg wrote: Blue69Baja wrote: Relays for horn, starter and engine (coil, distributor/dizzy, choke and oil pressure switch.).

So do you have the starter and engine on one relay and horn on the other. It looks like only 2 relays so thats what I assume.

Separate, I didn't have room to gang the 3 rd relay....It's just to the right of the right fuse block...

Had to rewire the relay sockets for the start and run, they came prewired...the wire gauge was too small....interestingly the pick coil wires were larger gauge than the relay contact wires. Next time I'll just get the sockets and wire them myself...

Jim