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‘55 vs ‘56 Wiring Loom Compatibility
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Bigjerm88
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 3:34 pm    Post subject: ‘55 vs ‘56 Wiring Loom Compatibility Reply with quote

Just bought a ‘56 ragtop that had a bunch of parts with it.
In it was an unopened wiring loom for a ‘54/‘55. Does anyone know if I can use it or what the differences might be between ‘54/‘55 and ‘56? (I haven’t opened the bag yet.)
-WCM suggested that I buy the ‘56.
-Wiring diagrams on here don’t show any difference (that I’ve found.)

Thanks,
Jeremy
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Dan22
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 4:33 pm    Post subject: Re: ‘55 vs ‘56 Wiring Loom Compatibility Reply with quote

They are different. The main fuse panel is in a different location than the '56 than the 54, 55. Yours is to the left of the speedo from the trunk side, with earlier is to the right, requiring longer wires here and shorter wires there.

The 54, 55 harness may not have accommodations for the right turn signals (semaphores not bullets) There may be other differences such in position of body through holes that end up having wires of a different length.

Now if it is a true 55 harness that has wiring for bullet turn signals, and you want to sell it to get the right setup for your 56, let me know! That is just what I need and I have not found any domestic retailer that has exactly what I need. I know shameless plug. Razz

Seriously, the 56 loom should fit the best. Is it a Euro with semaphores?
Dan
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ZENVWDRIVER
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 25, 2020 6:55 pm    Post subject: Re: ‘55 vs ‘56 Wiring Loom Compatibility Reply with quote

… I used a 1958 harness in my '54 - the differences were minor - the wire color codes were the same AND yes, some wires were shorter and some longer - where shorter, we just spliced-in a piece - no big deal...

… the big differences, were 1954 and 1955, to April had semaphores and with semaphores, they had a 3 wire, column mounted switch. In 4/55 and after was a 6 wire column mounted switch - also, any '55 or '56 with snow flake tail lights and front bullets, has a flasher - you'll need to add some wires and not use others...

… over the years (about 50), I have collected harnesses to use as parts - correct color coded and size - PM me, if you need any original VW wire ( at no charge).

… when installing a '54/'55 harness in a 1956 - refer to the paragraph above and re wire according to a 1956 diagram - you'll be fine, IF you are pretty good at re wiring - if you lack the confidence, buy the 1956 harness...

Now that I think of it, I have a 1966 harness in my Iceland green 1955 - z
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Dan22
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 9:19 pm    Post subject: Re: ‘55 vs ‘56 Wiring Loom Compatibility Reply with quote

Mad Mad

OK so I just cautiously purchased a Wolfsburg West wiring harness for my US spec 55 with bullets. Their site says buy the 56-57 harness if you have bullets. They say it fits, and I even called them to discuss the fit.

Well BS. The main harness is about 18" shorter than my original. The normal route for the 1955 is over the glove box. This new one has to go under. Well OK. I roughed it in place to see how the wires reach in the trunk area. The two tail light wires are too short by about 6". I could deal with that. Engine area looks fine.

The headlight harness is a cluster of too short wires. Main headlight power, park lights, and horn wire at least 4" too short. NOT GOOD. The route of the harness on the '55 goes straight back to the left side of the column.

Same story with the remaining harness. Power is good to the headlight switch, but everything else is not long enough to reach the fuse box.

The only realistic way to use this harness is to splice the heck out of it, or move the fuse box to the 56 location. Not going to happen.

So after I document the wire by wire and sheath changes, this brand new wiring harness is going up for sale. I may have to go the custom loom route, or alter a 1954 version to add the turn signal wires, and delete the semaphore wires. Everything else should match.

In a nut shell, if you care about a nice clean install on April to July US spec cars, do not buy this harness. Build quality looks great. Instructions are great. Design is wrong and in my opinion not compatible. They should state this clearly in the description of the harness.

Oh, and to top it off, NO returns on electrical items either. WTH it is not like it is an electronic gadget that can get burned out by some other problem. NOT happy. Evil or Very Mad


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aa390392
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2022 6:28 pm    Post subject: Re: ‘55 vs ‘56 Wiring Loom Compatibility Reply with quote

Im glad this thread showed up. I purchased mine directly ftom wiring works 1956/57.for a 1955 car.
So far only a few wires are to short, only because of placement of fuse box, to right of speedo,instead of center. I was glad to hear that wires are color coded the same from 55 to 56. BUT I got confused about which wire goes to which fuse connecter. They are place opposite in wiring diagram...
But yea if in doubt buy from wiring works directly, small indepent brick an motor store in San Pedro.
Or go to Y N Z wiring in Redlands Ca.



Thomas
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Dan22
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:15 pm    Post subject: Re: ‘55 vs ‘56 Wiring Loom Compatibility Reply with quote

To be fair. Wolfsburg West did accept the harness back. Maybe my purchase record of several thousand dollars helped open the return path. 🤔

I ended up using Wiring Works but had to pay the custom wiring harness price. He missed a couple small wires for the speedometer and when I asked about it his response was not helpful at all. Pretty poor customer service for sure. He refused to send me the missing wires even though I paid a hefty price.
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Kjell Roar
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:15 am    Post subject: Re: ‘55 vs ‘56 Wiring Loom Compatibility Reply with quote

In UK, www.vwlooms.com makes good ones 🙂
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2023 3:53 pm    Post subject: Re: ‘55 vs ‘56 Wiring Loom Compatibility Reply with quote

Reviving this thread to add my two cents. Wiring harnesses are yet another part nobody does really well. Most of the vendors cater to the VW enthusiast who just wants a part to get a car back on the road as cheaply as possible. It's a shame really.

I bought a harness from VWLooms thinking this will be a very nice harness given the feedback. Jon was great to deal with. Received the harness and sat on it, after a quick once over, for about a year. I am at the point where I am sorting through things and seeing what I have for assembly and I decided to compare the VWLooms harness to the harness that came out of the car. I wanted to make sure there were no surprises.

The biggest issue that I noticed is that the sheathing is really loose. The headlight harness really needs to have a tight wrap on it because of the way it fits in the car. It looks like garbage if it doesn't. I am not sure why they do not use shrink tubing so it looks decent.

The gauge of the wires are all undersized. I think that is because they are not trying to use vintage wire but modern wire with as close a match as possible to the original color. Because of this, I am not sure if it is the gauge of the wire or the wire coating that is the issue, it just looks very thin.

There are wires for different parts of the semaphore harness that come out in the wrong direction as well as being about 3 inches too long on one side.

The horn harness is about a foot long or longer... not sure what happened there. The original is about 5 inches.

Long story short, I need to find someone who can replicate a stock harness as closely as possible. Do they exist? Are the wires and sheathing impossible to source? Does anyone else care about this stuff?
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sunroof
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2023 5:06 pm    Post subject: Re: ‘55 vs ‘56 Wiring Loom Compatibility Reply with quote

I bought a harness from CIP1 that was made by Wolfsburg West. It went in like butta and fit perfectly. I was very pleased. The only complaint was that the wires from the generator light and oil pressure light were almost impossible to tell apart. I wired them wrong and spent a good hour trying to figure out what was wrong with my regulator when it was the oil pressure light switch that had failed. Other than that...

I can see how 1955 would be a problem tho, VW made lots of changes that year.

Don
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lardawge
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2023 7:41 pm    Post subject: Re: ‘55 vs ‘56 Wiring Loom Compatibility Reply with quote

sunroof wrote:
I bought a harness from CIP1 that was made by Wolfsburg West. It went in like butta and fit perfectly. I was very pleased. The only complaint was that the wires from the generator light and oil pressure light were almost impossible to tell apart. I wired them wrong and spent a good hour trying to figure out what was wrong with my regulator when it was the oil pressure light switch that had failed. Other than that...

I can see how 1955 would be a problem tho, VW made lots of changes that year.

Don


Hey Don, do you mind taking a picture of the harness that goes from the headlight fuse block to the fuse block? Appreciate it. I may take a look at the WW harness next time I am there.
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