Wiring ideas

Ok I will give it a stab but others are way more experienced than I.  Alan having done over 50 cars.

Under the dash for the obvious stuff and fuses for those and in the frunk by the dash for most relays (including all the headlight relays) horn etc and wiring under the front body to the lights.  

Using Relays for all the headlights will save the headlight dimmer switch as well.

Back seat is where the Hella Main circuit cut off for not allowing the starter to start the car  aka, kill switch

I'm wiring it like a vw, or at least close as possible. I have a brand new bug wiring kit so determined to use that. I don't know why it needs to be more complicated than necessary. The only thing I've noticed so far that are different are the grounds for the headlights and turn signals. On a bug the ground is on the body. Obviously we can't do that with our cars but that's an easy enough work around.  No horn relay on the bug either. I'm not opposed to adding one but don't see the point.

@Michael McKelvey don't you have a CMC kit? Did you use their fuse block and wiring instructions?

Yes, my car is a CMC.  I used their wiring harness with some modifications and generally followed their wiring instructions, again with some modifications.

I mounted fuses on a box. Things like relays and wire connections are in the box.

I used fuses that have an LED that lights up when the fuse blows.

Most of your wiring goes to the dash gauges so under the dash seems logical (albeit a pain to get to once the body is mounted to the pan).  A VW wiring harness won't have all the grounds you'll need or wiring for other than speedo lights and fuel gauge.  I wouldn't want fuses that could park that close to the gas tank? I tried to reuse the old VW harness - and gave it up.  On one end the wires were too long and others too short - plus do you want open (sparky?) ceramic fuses and only 6-8 circuits.  I ended up with a Painless wiring kit --- not painless at all.  I think you'd be better off starting with a universal dune buggy wiring harness.  I hear the Rebel one is better. Or one from VM (more costly at $329 but more complete and labeled).  Believe DrClock sticks with the VM harness!

@JoeyLegos posted:

I'm wiring it like a vw, or at least close as possible. I have a brand new bug wiring kit so determined to use that. I don't know why it needs to be more complicated than necessary. The only thing I've noticed so far that are different are the grounds for the headlights and turn signals. On a bug the ground is on the body. Obviously we can't do that with our cars but that's an easy enough work around.  No horn relay on the bug either. I'm not opposed to adding one but don't see the point.

@Michael McKelvey don't you have a CMC kit? Did you use their fuse block and wiring instructions?

OK, I'm probably one of very few on here that also used an OEM VW wiring harness from my 1969 Beetle sedan donor for my CMC.  That gives you most of the basic stuff, but you have to add wires for grounds and for any additional items needing it, like a wire from the ignition coil to the tach in the dash.  It's a very good idea to add a couple of extra 12-14 Ga wires AND one 10 GA wire from the dash to the engine area "just in case".  The 10 GA can easily power a fan assisted oil cooler back there.  You will thank me for those extra wires, some day.  

The good news is that there is enough extra wire length in the OEM Harness that using it wasn't a hassle.  I also abandoned the VW wiring to the headlights because I ran high intensity H4 headlights and relays and the VW wires were barely adequate for the original Bug, but everyone forgets how poor the Beetle headlights were and sub-standard wiring was to blame.  I also added wires out front for Fog and Driving lights, driven by relays.  

I put my fuse/relay panel in the frunk on the firewall.  I pulled it from a Sterling Sports Car in a junk yard, mostly because it is a Bosch/Seimens wiring system ( In an English car!  They finally learned the Lucas Lesson) and because it had six relays, which I wanted.  Here is the schematic of the fuse/relay panel:

I run a lot of relays to remove high current from anything I can, like light switshes, wipers, you name it.  The switches are from the '69 donor and I want them to last forever.  Using them just to drive relays helps that a lot. The "ALT" relay is for non-ignition stuff, like the radio, phone charger, etc.

I have attached the Electrical section of my service manual to this post.  It covers everything from the original 1969 Beetle wiring down to the details of everything else and why that direction was taken.  Take a look.  It might save you some work.  It's MS Word and MAC Pages compatible and is all hyper-linked.  Click on highlighted text to jump there.

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If you use a VW harness or one of the aftermarket ones available, here's a headlight-specific change you may want to consider.

This applies mainly if you use old school sealed beams or one of the H4 conversion buckets, but not so much for lower current LED bulbs.

Some of us have installed short runs of heavy gauge wire (12 gauge or thicker) from the battery in the nose directly to the headlights. This increases brightness significantly. The lights are then controlled with two fused relays in the battery compartment (one each for low and high beams) and those relays are then triggered with the existing headlight wires from the old harness. If you do this, don't forget to run new ground wires of the same heavy gauge from the lights back to the battery.

And, oh, one more thing. If you run your headlights during daylight hours (a good idea in these hard to see cars) and if you're forgetful like me, you may want to wire the trigger wires for the relays that control the headlights and running lights to the ACC tab on the ignition switch.

Now, when I walk away from the car with the key in my pocket, I KNOW that anything that could drain the battery is off.

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Wiring is not one of my super powers. I found this guy and the way he explains stuff, pretty helpful.

One day I want to get rid of the trailer module thing that controls the rear lights in my car by using relays. It's on the list, somewhere.

@Carlos G

Are those trailer module thingies reliable?

I had considered one for Pearl when I first started thinking about the wiring, but ended up swapping bulb sockets around til I got what I wanted with the VW module I had.  Pearl has separate turn signal bulbs, unlike a Spyder.

It's been working OK, but the flasher and turn signal switch are both 55 years old now, too, so it might be a matter of time.  ⏳

Those trailer modules are solid state so they should work for years.

I'm not sure, but when my car was delivered to me new, mine was not working properly so I had to get a replacement. It's been in the car since 2015. It might be one of those things that if it's going to fail, they fail immediately or go forever.

One of the reasons I wanted to change it out is to incorporate hazards and maybe have my auxiliary brake lights behind my grill to also function as turn signals. My regular turn signals are pretty dim, so I'm told.

@Carlos G posted:

Wiring is not one of my super powers. I found this guy and the way he explains stuff, pretty helpful.

One day I want to get rid of the trailer module thing that controls the rear lights in my car by using relays. It's on the list, somewhere.

You do you, friend— but it would be VERY far down my list. Trailer modules work until they don’t and lots of guys hate em.

I don’t. They’re cheap enough to be disposable. I’d wire one on a molex connector and carry a spare to plug in when it dies.

Done.

^^That^^

If not a Molex, then the better connectors at your NAPA store.

I had one of those modules on my car hauler trailer.  I put it in a storage bin on the front of the trailer.  It worked for close to 15 years for Chris and me and never sputtered.  Sold the trailer and I assume it's still cookin'.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

@Carlos G

Are those trailer module thingies reliable?

Those trailer modules are solid state so they should work for years.

No, they are not reliable. My car came with one in 2002(on the road in 2005) and it lasted a few years. I think I changed it around 2010 when it burned out with one from NAPA. That lasted another 5 years.

I'm not fan of doing things more than once.

On my second car I used ALL LEDs. And I used relays for the turn signals along with a 2 pin LED flasher. And wired it with an extra switch for 4 way flashers. It has been 100% reliable since 2017.

Your modules have more reliability than my engines, @DannyP.

I hear you (and you know I’d end up with a 6th grade science-fair electronics project on my own car), but the module does KISS, and they ARE dirt cheap.

There’s a reason everybody uses them.

I was confused by the trailer modules when I built my Spyder, and ended up not using it: The PO had supplied the correct earlier turn signal switch and that, friends, got the parking lights, brakes and signals all working fine with a single 2 filament bulb.

(I did use the trailer connector for the rear lights though—it works great as a quick disconnect when removing the clam to R&R the engine over and over again).

@edsnova posted:

I was confused by the trailer modules when I built my Spyder, and ended up not using it: The PO had supplied the correct earlier turn signal switch and that, friends, got the parking lights, brakes and signals all working fine with a single 2 filament bulb.

(I did use the trailer connector for the rear lights though—it works great as a quick disconnect when removing the clam to R&R the engine over and over again).

Over and over and over I get it

@Stan Galat posted:

You do you, friend— but it would be VERY far down my list.

Oh, it's pretty far down on my list too.

I forgot to post up the link to that guy with the how to automotive wiring.

https://www.youtube.com/playli...iiUUfMZNyV-BUA_yrPIh

I found him looking for a way to be able to operate my tailgate window in my 4-runner. The control module for that process is failing and a replacement, if they even exist, is $400. OR, I could just sent that module to one of my good buddies on this site that is savvy with replacing relays on circuit boards??? I do have an extra.....