New wiring for a 77 standard bug
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- Posts: 45
- Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:21 pm
New wiring for a 77 standard bug
Hello, I recently bought a 77 standard bug I'm trying to keep it simple and reliable for daily driving. The car is nice and solid and mostly original. This car Was originally a fuel injected car but now has a carbureted 1600. I've owned older bugs before and the wiring was a little more basic, but this car has so many unused knotted up wires ...I just wanna rewire the whole car. It drives me crazy. any way... What would be the best wiring harness to get. . I don't was the stock one since I don't plan on using any of the injection wiring. Just looking for the simplest solution ...I usually don't mind doin all of my own work but I'm not much on wiring... Thanks for any help.
- Marc
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Re: New wiring for a 77 standard bug
The fuel injection wiring is totally independent of the main wiring harness. When they converted your car to carburetion, they evidently didn't remove the FI harness. It would've been easier with the engine out, but you can still do it now - once the FI harness is removed the remaining wiring is basically the same as that of a `74. It'll never look as simple at the dash as the older cars you're familiar with - when the change was made to the modular fusebox in the early `70s a lot of things were rearranged; then for `73 VW switched to what they call "current track" wiring diagrams which most folks find more difficult to read than the old-school semi-pictorial drawings. Fortunately, 95% of the wiring is the same as on a `72, so you can use that diagram to help you get your bearings when working on it (always use the `74-up diagram as the final authority if there's any discrepancy, of course). The `74-up diagram is the most recent one published, and it doesn't show any of the FI wiring - carb'ed cars were still sold in other markets after `74, using the same basic harness as the injected US-market cars...like I said, the FI harness is independent.
You'll need to make a patch to cover the hole in the firewall where the harness passes through to the ECM and double relay.
Pull away the tarboard on the RH side of the engine compartment to reveal the resistor block.
Presumably the carb'ed engine has a mechanical fuel pump? You should look into how they went about bypassing the FI electric pump up front, and adapting the larger FI fuel pipes to "carb'ed" size for the engine. The hack job done on the wiring is pretty much just a cosmetic problem, but if they did the same slap-dash work on the fuel plumbing you may have safety issues.
You'll need to make a patch to cover the hole in the firewall where the harness passes through to the ECM and double relay.
Pull away the tarboard on the RH side of the engine compartment to reveal the resistor block.
Presumably the carb'ed engine has a mechanical fuel pump? You should look into how they went about bypassing the FI electric pump up front, and adapting the larger FI fuel pipes to "carb'ed" size for the engine. The hack job done on the wiring is pretty much just a cosmetic problem, but if they did the same slap-dash work on the fuel plumbing you may have safety issues.
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- Posts: 45
- Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:21 pm
Re: New wiring for a 77 standard bug
Oh ok cool thanks for the info all the fi stuff is gone but I have a lot of hacked wires to sort through in the truck... I also think some was from ac .. I'll look into the 72 wiring diagram.... I kinda still wanna start fresh with an aftermarket harness. Thanks
- Marc
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- Joined: Thu May 23, 2002 12:01 am
Re: New wiring for a 77 standard bug
Aftermarket harnesses such as Watson's are abominations IMO, made for those who are only comfortable with `60s/`70s GM wiring - they require changing a lot more than just the wiring, since VW switches, etc. aren't compatible with "Chevrolet". If you're going to commit to ripping out the stock wiring, be aware that there will be a lot more to change before the car's ever ready to go back on the road. I recommend that you make every effort to salvage the factory stuff first.67vdubya wrote:...I kinda still wanna start fresh with an aftermarket harness...
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- Posts: 45
- Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:21 pm
Re: New wiring for a 77 standard bug
Ok I'll take your word .. Thanks... I'll just sort through the mess .. Can't be too bad my 67 was burnt painted over and spliced hundreds of times.. At least these wires I can see the colors.