Quote:
Originally Posted by LMH
Those three bulkhead plugs on the standard late street car are the hard ones to replicate! I haven't looked into to it too deeply yet but I'm hoping they are part of the reproduced harness.
Larry
|
Depends on the source of the replacement. I have come across main harnesses:
• using new old stock Ford terminals, lamp sockets, and fuse block together with modern wire, wrap, and textile covers. If you didn’t have an original set to lay beside them and do a side by side comparison against very few small details give the new assemblies away as being replacements. I was told five sets were made and one person bought three sets.
• using all current made parts and wire including a functional reproduction of the fuse block.
• modern replacements as above with a few nos or nors Ford pieces included
• custom replacements without any of the over molds or fuse block
The last set of the three main sections I bought came through a dealer in Ford Falcon parts. They were very close to what original was except for the fuse block. That still leaves all the other sections to come up with. The front lamp extensions are being sold through parts dealers I noticed (after I wanted some made).
Here are what two of the adapter sections look like.
Some words of caution for anybody working on a CSX2201 and later car about reproduction wiring harnesses, the three main ones. I have now purchased three commercially made sets of these three. The first was made under the direction of somebody trying to get as close to what Ford supplied day one as possible under the circumstances and with the poor condition samples he started with. He used genuine Ford new old stock components like the fuse block and instrument light sockets. The other two were made from 100% modern made materials and components. Neither set version is a perfect match for the original parts we laid out on a long table for a wire by wire comparision. There are quite a few differences, a situation not uncommon for any commercial reproduction, but three stand out because they are problematic when installing them in an original car.
1) Not all the wire jacket colors are the same. This one caused us lots of trouble for us. It meant verifying many wires with a multimeter. The worst situation is a group in instrument wires that are all the same gauge, same black color, and all have the same terminal ends. Some are ground wires and some are 12V power with the ignition on to gauges. Since they all look the same you better test and tag them all before starting assembly. There are other wire color difference of significance at the ignition switch and tail lamp relay. The other differences in colors and markings are more subtle.
2) All the replacement harnesses have had more wires in the instrument gangs than there are devices to use them on. (It is my understanding that the first reproduction harnesses were based on two badly damaged pieced together harnesses and this might be where some of the differences got incorporated.)
3) Branched bundles, especially in the engine bay, occur at different distances or places than what was in cars day one. Most differences can be worked around but if one wanted to get just like day one some sections of wrap would have to be removed, the branch locations adjusted, and then rewrapped.
Linear Mode
