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Typical Problems With Harnesses
A variety of trends are now apparent with refurbishment of
dozens of harnesses. Some are due to previous owner's attempts for repairs
and others are due to deterioration of the harnesses themselves.
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Broken and/or Exposed Wiring: Many wires are missing
connectors, or have cut insulation exposing the copper stranded wires.
Often times, we see splices into various wires to power various add-on
items. Radio plugs are often missing.
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Burned Wiring: Some harnesses come in with various wires
that have their insulation completely burned off due to a short in the
system. Ammeter wires, neutral safety-switch wires, and courtesy wires
seem to be typical of this problem. Some harnesses have experienced so
much damage that they cannot be repaired in a cost-effective manner and
thus become a source of connector parts.
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Molded Plugs: Surprisingly, many of the OEM molded plugs
simply have too much resistance within the plug. 1967 and 1968 gauge
feed plugs (i.e. oil, temperature, and coil lines) have a failure rate
of up to 40%. When these plugs are encountered, they are replaced with
OEM molded plugs that are good; if that is not available, commercial
reproduction plugs are used. When these plugs are on the engine side of
the firewall, we splice the wires on the passenger side of the firewall
for higher reliability and to reduce the exposure of splices to the
elements.
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Spade Pins: These are pins that make up headlight
connectors, brake switch connectors, etc. About 25% of these connectors
have high resistance, as the original crimps are no longer making
sufficient contact with the stranded wiring. We re-crimp these
connectors whenever they are found.
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Circular Pins: These are pins that make up the dash
cluster connectors, ignition switch, door jambs, etc. These pins usually
pass muster, although door jamb pins are a bit more problematic.
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Fuse Boxes: Pre-1967 fuse boxes were located where water
can leak onto the fuse box, causing corrosion of the fuse clips. Post
1967 fuse boxes are prone to cracks and chips, but functionally, they
are fine. We check all fuse clips for continuity and repair clips when
required. Most clips can be removed and cleaned of corrosion. In rare
cases, the entire fuse box is replaced.
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Wrapping Tape: The OEM used a non-adhesive tape, which
worked well. Once it unravels, it can rarely be re-used. We use 3M 700
adhesive tape designed for electrical applications.
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Resistor Wires: Surprisingly, we have found very few
resistor wire issues, with the exception of the braided sleeving. These
wires have NiChrome cores, and cannot be soldered except with silver
solder. However, they can be crimped without issue. We have procured
both the coil (pink) resistance wire and the idiot lamp resistance wires
for repairs.
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