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Big Mike Cbad Samba Member
Joined: December 19, 2019 Posts: 73 Location: Carlsbad
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:58 pm Post subject: Ghia wiring loom for 63 vert restoration, 12 volt |
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Hi all, still new to this and could use some suggestions. I have a 63 Ghia Vert that is a basket case. Sat for 25 years pulled apart and I am restoring it. It had been converted to 12 volt by prior owner and was running as a 12 volt car, but has not ran for decades. The wires were all pulled from their connections, its a total cluster f**k and I can't tell what is still 6 volt vs. 12 volt as far as switches, motors, bulbs, etc. Plus the wires have been spliced, some are cut, they were painted over by the prior owner so its a mess. I am doing a frame off resto and have come to the conclusion it will likely be better for me to buy a new complete wiring loom that is 12 volt vs. spend 1000 hours trying to trace and repair whats in place.
Good or Bad call on my part? I don't care if its original, just want to to run and not have shorts or start fires.
My Ghia is 63 is 6 volt, I don't want a 6 volt loom I want a 12 volt loom. What year Ghia loom would I buy?
Suggestions on a good quality product? Not concerned about price, very concerned about quality and ease of use.
Thanks for any feedback and insight you can provide. _________________ 1963 ghia convertible project |
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anthracitedub Samba Member
Joined: June 20, 2007 Posts: 3241 Location: Michigan
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2020 6:22 pm Post subject: Re: Ghia wiring loom for 63 vert restoration, 12 volt |
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I would just get a harness for the year model car you have ... the wires don’t care if there’s 6 or 12 volts running through them. |
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Big Mike Cbad Samba Member
Joined: December 19, 2019 Posts: 73 Location: Carlsbad
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2020 6:41 pm Post subject: Re: Ghia wiring loom for 63 vert restoration, 12 volt |
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I might just replace with the same 6 volt. Trying to understand if the 12 volt loom will be more plug and play with things like new light and washer switches, 12v bulbs for headlights, turn indicators, etc. Seems it would be easier than using 6 volt but don't know for sure.
Also looking for recommendations on new looms/harnesses from folks that have done it before. I assume there are good and bad brands to buy and have no idea which ones are good ones. _________________ 1963 ghia convertible project |
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bnam Samba Member
Joined: July 02, 2006 Posts: 2931 Location: El Dorado Hills CA/ Bangalore, India
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2020 10:00 pm Post subject: Re: Ghia wiring loom for 63 vert restoration, 12 volt |
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I bought a wiringworks built harness for my 65Ghia. I run it on 12v. Easy conversion.
Wiper - I bought the 12V armature from WW and installed that.
Clock - it will run on 12V just as well
Starter - I had bought a 12V one to match that larger flywheel I installed as car came with a 1600, but I've read of people using 6V starter with no issues in a 12V system _________________ 1971 1302LS Convertible (RHD) owned since '74
Click to view image
1965 Karmann Ghia Coupe - under restoration
1966 Fiat 1500 Cabrio (with 1600 Twin cam)
1952 Citroen TA 11BL |
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Big Mike Cbad Samba Member
Joined: December 19, 2019 Posts: 73 Location: Carlsbad
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Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2020 7:25 am Post subject: Re: Ghia wiring loom for 63 vert restoration, 12 volt |
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Great, thank you for the info. Where did you buy it and how much was the harness? _________________ 1963 ghia convertible project |
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dkbryant Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2011 Posts: 14 Location: South Louisiana, USA
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 10:58 am Post subject: Re: Ghia wiring loom for 63 vert restoration, 12 volt |
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I can highly recommend a Rebel Wire harness. I just finished replacing the wiring in a 69 Coupe. The guys at Rebel are great if you need help with anything. It was tricky for me looking at a wiring diagram with the original wire colors - but the Rebel harness has every wire labeled at 6 inch intervals. Whenever I could not figure something out, I was able to email a photo of what I was working with and I would get an answer/advice on how to proceed. Again, highly recommend Rebel Wire. |
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sputnick60 Samba Moderator
Joined: July 22, 2007 Posts: 3907 Location: In Molinya Orbit
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KGCoupe Samba Member
Joined: July 01, 2005 Posts: 3580 Location: Putting the "ill" and "annoy" in Illinois
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 4:05 pm Post subject: Re: Ghia wiring loom for 63 vert restoration, 12 volt |
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sputnick60 wrote: |
A 6 volt harness would have thicker wires than a 12 volt harness. The wires don’t care about the voltage , so better to get the thicker wires of a 6 volt and run your 12 volt devices with that. In electrical terms the harnesses would have the same, runs, lengths and colours.
Nicholas |
Not only that, but it may be better to go with an original style 6V wiring harness because that would make it easier to revert the Ghia back to the original 6V system should you or whomever you may sell it to in the future decide to do so. |
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9603 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2020 7:48 pm Post subject: Re: Ghia wiring loom for 63 vert restoration, 12 volt |
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Careful- 12 V Ghia harnesses would have a few extra wires for the 2-speed windshield wiper motor. If your '63 is using an original 12 V wiper motor that has 2 speeds, do you also have the 2-stage wiper switch?
-A 12 V harness would also have wiring for the emergency flasher module and switch that a '63 would not yet have.
- 12 V system has wiring for the light switch so that the parking lights stay on when the headlights are turned on. IIRC on the 6 V system the light switch turns the parking lights OFF when the headlights are on. 12 V light switch would be a better match than the '63's original switch.
-A 12 V Ghia ('67 and later) would also have a small wiring harness for the reverse lights, though that harness is separate from the main body harness and goes from the engine to the transmission nose cone switch, then back to the engine compartment and splits to the two lights.
So- I recommend selecting a new harness for a '70 Ghia which also had a few more fuses (and thereby a wider fuse panel) than for a '63.
When I converted my '64 Ghia to 12 V in the mid '90's, my original harness was in good shape. I kept it, and used a WolfsburgWest 12 V conversion armature for the 6 V single-speed wiper motor. That made it run reliably with the 12 V system but you only have a single speed. I also plumbed in a 4-way flasher module and switch, but was able to add the wires to the existing harness based on studying a 12 V system schematic.
Before you pull your original harness out, firmly tape a few extra wires onto the end that will end up in the engine compartment. That makes it very easy to add extra gauges in the future. I used 4-wire trailer wire; I think 16 ga. is more than sufficient. If you don't use those wires right away, you can loop them up, tie-wrap them and tuck them behind the left side of the firewall tarboard to hide them. |
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sputnick60 Samba Moderator
Joined: July 22, 2007 Posts: 3907 Location: In Molinya Orbit
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Big Mike Cbad Samba Member
Joined: December 19, 2019 Posts: 73 Location: Carlsbad
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2020 5:53 am Post subject: Re: Ghia wiring loom for 63 vert restoration, 12 volt |
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Thank you all for the feedback. Very helpful. Looking at some other posts looks like Wiring works and Rebel seem to be good choices on the wiring harnesses. Saw info on Watson wiring kit, American autowire. Any other brands that anyone suggests looking at? I'm not worried about price, mostly about quality and ease of use and install. If Wiring works and Rebel are the highest quality that's all I need to know. _________________ 1963 ghia convertible project |
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c21darrel Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2009 Posts: 8206 Location: San Dimas
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