The NOVA Project Part 6

 Ok, some of you know from my previous posts that when Mr. Hanky shows up, it's crap day.

Well, today is that day.  It's one of the thing I detest the most....electrical wiring.  An old mechanic I used to work with years ago told me,  "If you hate doing something, it's because you don't understand it well enough."  That did ring true with me, so I spent a significant amount of time watching the guys that were good at electrical and asking questions, until the mystery went away. 

 I am a firm believer in new wiring in ALL my projects.  I hate wiring and I hate troubleshooting electrical problems, so I always install a new harness. I'm not a muscle car purist, I'm a hot rodder. If I see something that can be improved on, I do it. 
  Plus, it's insurance.  I would hate to spend $10-20K on a build only to watch it burn to the ground, due to cheaping out on wiring.

So, first things first.....out with the old.

I am hanging onto it for a while, just in case I need some of the obscure connectors etc.

I sometimes do product or service evaluations on various vendors.  I don't pull any punches, if their services suck , you will know it.

We rate each vendor/supplier/campground on a 1-5 Bubba system. 1 being the worst to 5 being the best.

I ordered a universal fit harness from Haywire, Inc in Joplin, Missouri.  I have bought several kits over the years and Haywire is my kit of choice, mainly due to the availability of the tech guys. 

 Very approachable guys and they speak redneck, my kinda folks.

This earns them a 5 Bubba rating.

I had bought a wiring kit many years ago from an unnamed source back east and we had a language barrier.  You would of thought I was from a foreign country.  The guy was rude and I swore to never buy from him again. That was a long time ago and pre-blog or I would have thrashed the guy on here.

The kit from Haywire arrived here very quickly and is very complete.  The kit is pretty self explanatory, but if you run into a question, give them a call.  They are always willing to help.

The next thing I did was to read over the instructions, which is foreign to most men, but I didn't want to cut something and regret it.

I wanted to sort of lay everything out and go from one central point, so I found a place to start from.  I mounted the fuse box up under the left side of the dash, close to where the original one was located.  I screwed it in place and started sorting out my harness branches.  Haywire does a good job of having it pretty much pre-sorted for you.  All of the wires are stamped with the final destination right on it.  That helps tremendously to the electrically retarded, like myself.

I wanted to do this initial routing etc. due to the fact that the seat is still out of the car and I am not a fan of standing on my head to access stuff under the dash. I'm too old and too fat for this.

At first, things are a little overwhelming, but just breathe and focus on one branch at a time.

I ran the engine compartment loop out through the firewall.  

 I will build a cover panel with a small hole in the center for a grommet.  That will have to wait though.

Little by little, it starts to look less ominous.

 I started tying up the harness with a few clamps, while I decided what needs to go where.  Don't be afraid to cut tie wraps after you have already routed your harness. Make it flow.  Nothing is more frustrating than having to work under the dash that looks like a birds nest.

To keep things simple, I opted to buy a headlight switch that matches their terminated plug, rather than rewire mine to match it.  After a quick phone call, the tech guys gave me several part numbers that would cross to a later model headlight switch.  Way easier and I was able to reuse my existing bezels.

I had to build a snake to pull the wiring through the inner quarter panel on the wagon for the rear tail lights and fuel sender unit. I routed everything down the trough on the left side of the car.  The door sills and carpet should hide this nicely.

I won't bore you with all the laborious details.  You guys get the gist of it. I'll probably spend a few more days on this terminating the wires and tying it all up.

 Just take your time, it's worth it to spend a little more time hiding the wires.