Can I do a full electrical re-wire?

[phillything]

Hi all, nice to virtually meet you all.. I've been reading posts here for a while, but this is my first.

I recently acquired my first Thing and am very excited! I've wanted one since I was a kid. I am pretty mechanically inclined, but have pretty much ZERO experience when it comes to cars. My hope is that my sons and I can spend the next few years brining our new acquisition up to it's former glory!

The good news is that the car runs.. I'm scared to death driving it, but that's another issue. I have an appointment in a few weeks with a local "old school" mechanic that specializes in VWs and has done a bunch of restorations back in the day. My hope is he can do some triage and let me know what's next.

For starters my question to this group is how hard is a complete rewire. The current wiring looks like a rat nest, and I've seen whole wiring harnesses online (with original factory colors) that I thought would be a good first step over the summer. I've seen the electical diagrams posted to this forum from Captain Spalding and seem to be able to follow most of it. Right now for instance, there is no brake line fault light (at all) hooked up.. don't even see the wires for it, but would like to be able to have in the future!

Are there any major hurdles I should be aware of before starting a full re-wire?

[Semper_Dad]

The Thing's rat's nest wiring was a OEM from the factory. I've never seen a pretty cable routing from the factory. Luckily, the 181 doesn't have a lot of extra stuff requiring wiring. No door switches, real interior lights, rear window defroster, seat belt switches, ect....

You can purchase full color coded wiring harnesses from the Thing $hop. Actually it's a assembly of harnesses but they do have the option of purchasing the entire set for a bit of a discount. The harnesses include everything but the old diagnostic wiring which you don't want or need anyway. The front harness also includes two additional undocumented wires which can be used as needed. I adapted the blue wire to power up an electric windshield washer pump. Another use may include driving lights.

My wiring was a bit more complicated as I had additional instrumentation to install

After:

Wiring up is pretty much straight forward. There's a wiring diagram in the Technical section. I had it blown up 2' x 3' and laminated it. It was my go to document. Do one harness at a time. You may find yourself connecting and reconnecting wires in order to get the routing right. I found installing the dash wire was the most challenging.

I'd install the harnesses in the following order
Main
Tail
Generator
Front headlights
Front Turn
Windshield Wiper
Brakes (Master Cylinder)
Left Over Dash wiring

Leave the dash wiring for last as they will be the most frustrating. Not much of a harness but individual wires that go from point A to B without much consideration for routing. I tried my best to organize the chaos but finally had to surrender to it. It is what it is.

Make sure you check out all your switches and relays before installing. It will save you headaches later.

There's now a replacement fuse panel available to convert the ceramic fuses to modern ones. I would have gone with that if they were available when I did my rewire.

You may want to have additional F style connectors and crimpers at the ready. Scotchlocks are evil, avoid them.
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Walküre Restoration Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=737492

[phillything]

Thanks Semper Dad! Your wiring looks great! I did the same large print of the electrical wiring.. Thanks for the advice.. When I bite, I'll follow the harness install in the order you suggest and probably upgrade to the "blade" style fuses too!

[oscarsnapkin]

That fuse box is pretty cool. Is that available through most VW parts sites? I was wiring a radio in my Bus the other day thinking about how much those fuses suck.
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- 1977 CEI Sunroof Bus 2.0L F.I. Hydraulic Lifters
- 1973 Thing

"It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind."

[Semper_Dad]

I believe they are only available through the manufacturer at this point.
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Walküre Restoration Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=737492

[74 Thing]

9 out of 10 Things wiring looks like yours behind the dash panels.

[KAmes]

I rewired mine and it still looks like that.

[Heiferman]

[phillything]

haha.. thanks all. .I guess I didn't realize a mess was the norm - I really want to rewire to get all the wire colors matching the electrical diagrams so maybe I have a chance of knowing what's what in the future. Also, maybe I'll actually be able to hook up my brake brake light switch.. what a novel concept!

I mean, I'm sure it won't work immediately, but at least I'll HAVE the wires to be able to connect someday...