Canadian 1967 11 window restoration.

[flemcadiddlehopper]

I purchased awhile back a complete wiring harness for the Bus. I got it through CIP1.ca and it's made in the US by Wiring Works.

It seems to be good quality and as near as I can tell the correct wire colours and gauges were used. The only concern I have with it, is that none of the terminals are soldered, just crimped. Now I have heard the debate on the subject and both sides of the argument have merit. I have not heard the argument from the VW Bus owner's viewpoint though.

Now, if you think you're going to convince me not to solder all the ends...you're too late. I will listen though, but for mine I soldered all the connectors and will be adding liquid electrical tape and a short piece of heat shrink over the soldered section to help keep them good for another 50 years.

During the installation of the harness I will also be adding Tesa tape and foam padding anywhere that the harness makes contact. Just one more step in the sound deadening of this Bus.

I will also be making another separate harness and fuse box to power and support the aftermarket items in this bus. I do not want to burden any factory wiring with the power loads of my lights or audio system. And all audio signal and speaker wiring will be kept separate from any power wires to avoid any unwanted buzz.


Happy New Year to all and have an awesome 2019.


Gordo.
_________________
Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.

Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others.

[BarryL]

[flemcadiddlehopper]

Okay, so you guys freaked me out a bit, so the dash tray is in now.

I had to spray it, as my painter misunderstood me and left the tray portion primer, not the underside. I applied the butyl and foil sound deadening in the tray before I painted it. Then once painted I applied the foam sound deadening inside the tray and up the back a bit. When I get the extra material with the upholstery I can colour match the liner of the tray.
But at least my column is attached.

Gordo.
_________________
Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.

Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others.

[flemcadiddlehopper]

I am now heading down an unfamiliar path. I am installing the wiring harness. The harness seems to have a couple of thing wrong so far, and these could be me or just an overbite on their part. There is no reverse light harness, and the wire for the gas tank sending unit seems to be about 2' short. Now both of these are easy fixes, but not ones that I thought I would have to.

So, fishing the wires through the rear frame section (no wire pulled through as the harness came out, of course) was not as bad as I thought. There was a small frame repair right below the torsion bar tube so I ran the feed wire over top of it. I then fed the harness into a piece of clear plastic hose that was near the correct diameter to match the wire harness. Taped the harness to it and used the feed wire to pull it through. Very slick and smooth. I did the same for the front section, adjusted the harness location for both ends and bent the tabs down to hold it in place.

Unfortunately this method did not help me get the harness ends through the grommets. But with generous amounts of hand soap it slipped through.

Now I am starting to run the major power and ground wires for the amps and additional fuse boxes.

I feel a lot better taking care of this stuff now, rather than on the side of the road on my way to Jerome.

Gordo.
_________________
Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.

Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others.

[BarryL]

Reverse light harness is alone and connects to the coil.

[flemcadiddlehopper]

[flemcadiddlehopper]

Carrying on with the wiring of the Bus. It is no wonder that most people don't put this much of a system in their bus. The amount of wire that needs to be run is staggering. Mind you much of this could have been reduced with different placement of the components.

This is a nice harness wrap. It is a velcro enclosure that is expandable and best of all re-openable. I figured I could use it there as it will be somewhat protected by the pedal pan. It will also be used in the dash to keep things tidy.

Still making progress.

Gordo.
_________________
Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.

Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others.

[mandraks]

i am not a big car audio guy, but i do like the idea that an apparent audiophile who ALSO cares about the bus is putting this together. looking forward to the reveal
_________________
regards

Uli

----------------------------------------
'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel

[flemcadiddlehopper]

[BarryL]

Mega wiring. Am I seeing this correctly; you are using the heater ducting as wire race? So you will heat the bus with the amp heat sinks.

[flemcadiddlehopper]

[Thompson2]

Nice! I love the extra effort on the audio side. I'm hoping to do a stealth install on mine (way, way, way down the road) so I may be stealing... I mean borrowing... some of your ideas.

Am I imagining things, or is the hole on the left in this pic missing a grommet / edge protection? I'm assuming you're planning to protect it, but figured it'd be worth bringing up. I know how details can get lost in a big project...

[flemcadiddlehopper]

Good catch...and, yes I did notice. At that point the wires had been run through to their destinations and I was balancing lengths before they were wrapped and grommeted.

As you can see here I have taken precautions to protect the wires, yet I have also left it so individual wires could be replaced as needed. So, inside the frame and heater tube the wires are not bound together. There are also parts where I used clear pvc tubing and fed the wires though it to protect them from oil, dirt and the odd piece of debris.

Gordo.
_________________
Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.

Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others.

[flemcadiddlehopper]

Just a quick test mount of the front mounted JL Audio amp.
This amp will be providing 75 watts to the Tweeters up front and 75 watts to the full range 6.5" coaxial speakers in the rear.

I mounted the amp on it's side so that I would still have access to the adjustments. Tucks in nice behind the seat, somewhat stealth anyways.

Gordo.
_________________
Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.

Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others.

[flemcadiddlehopper]

I'm still fighting my way through the wiring of the Bus. The front end of all the factory stuff is completely installed and I am now completing the aftermarket goodies harness. Another power wire was run back to front and a bosch relay attached so the extra fuse box only has power in "key on". Running off this fuse box is: stereo head unit, HID headlights, gauge power and power for the switch/relay of heated seats. Also running off the switched relay is a small power inverter/usb charger outlet. Trying to keep as much hidden and tucked away as possible.

While I'm twisted up in a ball under the dash of the bus, I've also been trying to deal with some Canadian companies who import interiors: CIP1 and Concept One. They both say they can get TMI stuff, just give them a list of what you want. But trying to make a list off of the poorly designed website is tough.
So, I ordered some swatches from TMI and after 3 1/2 weeks I called them to see where they were. They were very nice and got some to me one week later. Now being in Canada and ordering swatches online, the site straight up charges you for shipping the swatches over the wall to the great white north, $75 us dollars.

The envelope cost $0.68 to send to me ????? WTF!!! I will be having a discussion with them about that.

However, after the shock wore off, the colours I think I've chosen are:

Pea Green and Silver Beige.

The colours in daylight really tie in well with the Bamboo L241 and even bring out more of the green in it.

The other choice of Brick Red and Red Mesh went really nice with the Shwartz Black, but was a bit too Red-Green (Canadian reference) for my liking.
I should place my order soon, time sleeps and all that crap.

Gordo.
_________________
Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.

Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others.

[BarryL]

Way rad. So the tent is warm? Better not get more swatches. Is that a bamboo domelight?

[flemcadiddlehopper]

[flemcadiddlehopper]

First off, I found CIP1 carries the retaining clip for the fuse box.

Next up, This cold weather sucks. My little heaters can't keep up in the Bus Hut, so...not a lot of progress. Just things that I can mess with while at work.

What I have been able to get to is starting to make the gauges mount. The location I settled on is to the right of the speedo pod, between the dash and tray. I'm trying to make it look like it belongs there, so no Bamboo or carbon fibre, just steel.

I had the basic shape planned out, but I had to try a few different methods on the accents. I settled on pressing a dowel into a groove to try and replicate the slots in the dash. I might even open them up in the end.

Here's as far as I've got. I just have to bend the edge that meets the speedo pod and trim the right side to the profile of the dash tray. Then of course prime and sand, and sand and sand.....then paint it black.

Gordo.
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Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.

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[zozo]

Looks great!!

[flemcadiddlehopper]

In the past little while I mixed up some paint for the gauge section and shot it at work in a make shift spray booth. Unfortunately there was a problem with either technique, mixture, or temperature. The paint went on well, but it didn't stay that way, so it'll have to be revisited later.
The temperature in Kelowna has not been warm enough to get my bus hut tasty enough for paint or adhesives, so I'm working in other areas now.

Power cables are run for the amps and capacitors , so I was able to install the Tank. A new filter screen and seal, as well as the filler to body seal are on the way. With it set in place I was able to install the Blaze-cut fire suppression system and the constant duty solenoid for the capacitors

And the power and ground distribution/ fuse block found it's home near the battery on the passenger side fender.

Just need to clip and solder the cable ends for the amps.

Gordo.
_________________
Everybody Dies....Some Never Live.

Retrograde Garage. Vintage Aircooled, and others.