71’ wiring woes

[Mrorangecrush77]

Howdy,

Finally getting back onto my beetle project.

I have gotten the wiring harness installed and now need a couple of things to finish it off. Mainly being the connection to the steering wheel from the actual harness. When my bug was painted, they pulled the wiring out and snipped the wiring to the steering wheel. This has me a bit confused as I am not sure what wiring harness I need to connect to the steering column. The kit I ordered for my 71’ beetle didn’t have anything in there and now I’m a bit worried I might’ve gotten the incorrect harness. I did some more googling and it appears there is 2 kinds of harness’s for 71’

A 10 fuse and 12. I believe I have a 10 fuse wiring harness in a 12 fuse car. This wasn’t realized until now and obviously the harness is already in the car (albeit not connected to much) so with that,

Can I add 2 more circuits for the correct harness or do I need to get a entirely different harness?

[ashman40]

First, the most important question... is your Beetle a STD Beetle or a Super Beetle? '71 was the first year for the SB. As far as I know, all SBs were 12-fuse. Some early '71 STD Beetles came with 10-fuse fuseboxes and later in the model year transitioned to 12-fuse.

The wiring harness between 10-fuse and 12-fuse cars should be pretty much the same. The difference between the two fuse boxes were placement and distribution. What this means is that the total number of wires connecting to the fuse boxes are the same, its just where they are connected is different.

For example, fuses 3~6 are always for headlights (hi and low)
Parking lights used two fuses. For 10-fuse cars these were fuses 7-8. On 12-fuse cars these were moved to fuses 1-2. Depending on your fuse box you may need to fashion a splitter so the single #58 wire coming from the headlight switch can power two fuses. Some fuse boxes come with a bridge connecting the fuses together so a single wire is all you need.
10-fuse cars had two fuses for ignition switch powered devices on fuses 1-2. In '71, a third fuse was added and these were moved to fuses 10~12. This means the same devices could now be spread over more fuses. Later 12-fuse cars broke fuse #10 off as a standalone fuse so it could be powered by the black/yellow X-circuit coming off the ignition switch.
Battery constant devices were powered from a single #9 fuse on 10-fuse cars. VW added two more fuses (one being the spare) in '71 making fuses 7~9 battery powered. In later fuse boxes fuse #7 was broken off as a standalone spare.

So you see, using a 12-fuse fuse box gives you more room. You may need to buy some piggyback terminal splitters that turn a single male terminal into two males, but you can find these at your FLAPS.
https://www.autozone.com/miscellaneous-non-automot...600429_0_0

FYI, an original '71 12-fuse fuse box will have two sets of 3-fuses bridged together on their input side. 7-9 will have a brass bridge connecting them. 10-12 will also have a bridge. In later model year fuse boxes there were only pairs of fuses bridged together, no triples. Which fuse box do you have? It will effect how you wire the fuse box.
If you have triples, look to the '71 SB wiring diagram for how to wire the fuse box. If you have only pairs bridged together (or a single triple at 7-9)... use the '72 STD/SB wiring diagram as your guide.
_________________
AshMan40
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'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[Mben]

I have a 71 Super. The wiring to the “ steering wheel” consists of the ignition switch and the turn signal/ headlight dimmer switch. The wiring originates from these switches so I’m not sure if it would be included in an after market harness. There is also a ground wire associated with the horn circuit. There is a guy on YouTube who has posted a bunch of videos about 1971 Super wiring. Search 1971 super beetle wiring 101. See if they help.

[Mrorangecrush77]

[Mben]

Couple of thoughts. Looks like you have a 72( and later) ignition switch and a the same for the turn signal switch. Also since the wipers are on the column and you have a 12 fuse fuse box many signs are that you have a 72 model. More experienced guys than me can chime in. If that is the case the best thing is to wire it up like it was originally. But that not may be the easiest or cheapest. You would have to decide how difficult it would be to change the harness since you’ve put one in already.
Perhaps the best advice I can pass on is to get a volt/ ohm meter to go with your test light. Not difficult to learn how to use and really is an invaluable tool for doing electrical work.

[Mrorangecrush77]

[ashman40]

[ashman40]

The above pic of your fuse box tells me it is a '72 fuse box. The #10 fuse (3rd from the left in the pic) is stand alone and not bridged with fuses #11 & #12. This change was made in the '72 model year. More evidence you actually have a '72 Beetle?
I can also see fuses 7~9 are bridged together so this is not the later fuse box where fuse #7 was made stand alone.
I can see that fuses #1 & #2 are bridged together so a single grey #58 wire from the headlight switch can power both fuses. In later years the #1 & #2 fuses were isolated and the grey wire came with two female terminals at the end to power two separate fuses.


What I cannot tell... your fuse box comes with a relay bridge (black plastic bracket where the relay is plugged in). Wires snap into the relay bridge from the underside. To snap in these female terminals need to be locking terminals with a small tab which holds then into the bridge. Here is an example of a locking female terminal:

I don't know if the '71 STD Beetle fuse box came with a relay bridge, or not?? If your '71 wiring harness was meant for a 10-fuse fuse box... none of the 10-fuse cars came with a relay bridge. This means the female terminals at the ends of the wires will not have the locking tabs. Can you check your harness.
To make your harness work, you may need to snip off the non-locking female ends that connect to the relays and replace them with locking female terminals that can snap into your relay bridge. This will increase the cost as you will need to replace about a dozen perfectly good female terminals with new locking crimp on terminals.
Do you already have a good ratcheting non-insulated terminal crimper and stock type non-insulated terminals? Like this:

The above set included non-locking terminals. You will need a mix of locking and non-locking terminals to re-create the steering column wiring and the relay bridge wiring. Note in the pic there are different width terminals. You will need the smaller ones if you are connecting wires to the pins under your steering column.
_________________
AshMan40
---------------------------
'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[talljordan]

Another alternative: purchase the correct wireset that goes from the steering column from a scrapper. There are many folks in the classified who are parting out cars and will sell you just that section of the harness for cheap. Saves a lot of time, energy, and headache.

Also I am currently doing the same process with my '72. I dont recommend those terminal kits, the brass is thin and low quality. Instead I recommend buying a quality crimp tool ($40), and then buying the correct spade connectors from digikey, who will sell you the exact amount in any size you request. Navigating their site does take a bit of practice, but you can choose terminal size, thickness, material, locking/non locking, etc
_________________
1972 Super Beetle, Parked until adequate restoration funding is acquired in restoration!

Wanted: Male computer diagnostic plug end

[Mrorangecrush77]

After further inspection.

The chassis is a 72 and so is the body. I’m man enough to admit I was wrong but admittedly I truly believed I had the year right considering the title is a 71’. I also live in Idaho a large portion of the year and traveling back and forth between central Utah makes working on the car and remembering stuff quite difficult at times.

With this, I do have some questions, there are numbers on the column which indicate a 111 (71?), does this mean that it’s a later year 71 column?

Additionally when I got the car painted, they removed those harness’s from the column (there are pictures attached previously) , how can I be sure I get the correct ones?

Obviously there was some confusion regarding the actual vin and year of car.

However I think the easiest thing to do albeit expensive would be to run the correct harness and attempt to sell the current one.

If anyone is interested please hmu, I’ll attach a Link to the listings

[talljordan]

I dont think the pieces included in a 72 harness are particularly different than what you ordered.

Third party harnesses dont typically include the piece that runs from the column.

I think you can just order that piece and be okay.
_________________
1972 Super Beetle, Parked until adequate restoration funding is acquired in restoration!

Wanted: Male computer diagnostic plug end

[talljordan]

After a brief study of the wiring diagram for 71, the only differences I spot in the main harness are that some of the wires have different colours, and the 71 didnt have a fresh air fan, and things are attached to different fuses.

It should be fairly simple to just use a 71 in a 72, and hook it up according to the 72 diagram, youll just have to compensate for colour changes.
_________________
1972 Super Beetle, Parked until adequate restoration funding is acquired in restoration!

Wanted: Male computer diagnostic plug end

[ashman40]