VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Rewiring

Hi, folks:

My son and I are in the process of rewiring my '41 Special Deluxe 4-door, and I may have reached the scary part. Is there any way short of removing the whole dash panel to connect wires to the back of the gauges?
For that matter, I would sincerely appreciate any hints or tips that would make this job easier. It looked so easy before we started.
One detail: the car was converted to a 12 volt system by the last owner.

Thank you.

Mario

Mario,
I can't tell you about the dash coming off on a '41, but I can tell you how I did my '37, which has a non-removable dash.

I found the easiest thing to do, was to remove the front seat, the steering wheel and the brake & clutch pedals. This allowed me to be able to place a head-support on the toe-board and lay down to remove the existing harness. I removed one wire at a time and placed a small wire tag on each wire as I removed it. On the tag was a good description of where it came from and the position it was in (i.e. "Ammeter - positive post") and any other pertanent information (i.e. "wire ran under bracket") or whatever might help in reinstallation.

Once I had the entire harness out & tagged, I placed it on a 2'x8' piece of plywood. I placed small nails in the plywood and ran the wires around the nails, so I could check length & details quickly, as well as compare it to the new harness.
Nice thing about the board is, that you can stand it up and it's out of the way.

I made my own harness, but if you have a purchased harness, make sure all connections are soldered, not just crimped. Also, take the time to inspect each switch & gage to make sure the contacts are clean & bright and there's no loose components that coul;d cause a fire. Years ago (on a car with original wiring), I had a fire when the ammeter bakelite (sp??) cracked and the wire shorted out. I was on the road at the time and darn glad I had a Halogen extinguisher !!

Use new lockwashers where applicable and don't overtighten the nuts.

Take your time and don't let the 'pile of spaghetti' intimidate you. Just hook up one wire at a time and if you get tired, leave for another day.

Have fun - it's a job, but one you'll be proud of when it's completed.

-Bob

The dash on your '41 is removable. The advice from
Bob is good, especially about removing the seat and
pedals. And, if you're doing your own harness, his
ideas are also good. I did my '48 with the entire
front seat removed - with a large pad under me...But, I purchased my harness from Y and Z's. It
was back in the mid '80s and works fine...Much
cheaper then!!

Hey Mario,

While you are standing on your head under the dash, take some digital pictures. It saved my bacon more than once when we rewired Sweetie Pie, my 40 Coupe.

Guys:

Thanks for the tips. The shop manual says that the dash comes off, once everything (and I really mean EVERYTHING) is disconnected. But I'd love to avoid that if possible.
I like the idea of taking the seat out, since it's about time to put in new carpets anyway, and it sure would make the job more comfortable. Even my son who is 21 and can still bend into strange shapes is complaining about his back.
My harness is from Y and Z's, and once we took the time to read the numbers and match them to the wiring diagram, it started to make sense. We've been taking wires out one by one as we change them to new ones, starting with the headlights which seemed easiest. And I can see the digital camera is going to get a workout. Time to put the extra batteries on the charger.

Thank you one and all. I'll keep you posted.

Mario

Mario - I don't know if the '41 is like the '40 but I was able to removoe the instrument cluster out the front of the dash by removing the 4 screws that hold it in. You can only pull the cluster out about 4 inches but it beats laying on your back. If the '41 is anything like the'40 the screw(s) are located at each corner of the cluster and the upper ones are difficult to locate and remove but still much easier than laying on your back.

Mike:

Thanks. This is what I was hoping for. Four inches would be enough to be able to see where the wires go into the gauges. The wiring into the light switch and ignition switch are easy since they come out.

Mario

Hey Mario,

The 41 is completely different than the 40. You might send JAR41 an email and ask him for some tips. He totally rewired his gorgeous 41.

JAR41's Blue Beauty

Big Bob:

That really is a gorgeous car. I'll look up JAR41 and see what I can learn. I should also enable HTML so I can add a picture of my car.

Mario

JAR41's car was on the cover of the February 2002 Generator & Distributor Magazine.

Check here for directions on posting pictures. If that doesn't work for you, email your pics to me and I will post them for you.

bigbob@rdgsons.com

BigBob...

Big Bob:

Even though I've been working with computers since 1982, I still haven't taken the time to set up a web page or even storage space at my ISP. This is pretty shameful. I'll email them and get to work on this. Good grief, I even know one of the owners of the ISP
And of course when one question gets answered another one pops up. This is a sort of update on my rewiring job.
I managed to get the front seat out (the bolts that hold the seat frame to the seat adjuster were in pretty sad shape) and then scootched under there to see about getting the light switch stem off. It looks like I'll be able to do all the new wiring without having to take the dashboard off. Thank goodness.
By spending some time looking at the labels on the new wires and how the old wires go, I've been getting a sense of how to do this job. Now my question is this: Where is the stop light switch? I looked on the master brake cylinder, on the bottom of the brake pedal and anywhere else that looked logical. I'm looking for a wire, and can't see one. Where am I going wrong?

Thanks.

Mario

Hey Mario,

On my 40 Coupe the stop light switch is toward the front of the master cylinder below the reservoir on the cylinder part of the assembly. That is where the switch is & your wires connect. I don't have access to my car today, but if you need a picture I will do that next week.

btw, is this your black beauty??



BigBob...

Big Bob:

That is indeed my car, looking a little out of focus now that I look carefully. But it's the only small image I had.
I've spent a lot of time just staring at wires old and new, and it really is starting to make some sense. After work today I'll put the car up on jack stands so I can see the master cylinder better. That really is the logical place.

Thanks.

Mario