FINALLY!!! I just got my new wiring harness for my '31 Dodge Brothers coupe!

FINALLY!!! I just got my new wiring harness for my '31 Dodge Brothers coupe! Now the fun begins....

If anyone out there has gotten a new wiring harness and has any installation tips, I would love to hear them. It looks pretty straightforward, but a person can always use advice from someone who has installed one. Thanks. John

Hi John,

Nice !!!!.......The only thing I found was to start at the firewall and go from there. I started at the back of the car and by the time I got to the front and due to the thickness it wouldn't fit through some areas.

Ian

Thanks. That makes sense.

Try not to cut

Take pictures

Soak the nut studs (WD40-etc.)

Lay the new harness out to get familiar with it.

Try to stay on the job without a break, our memory isn't what it used to be.

#1- Have patience.

When hooking up- standby to disconnect just in case.

Just got done with a rewire on a 48 Chry.

GOOD LUCK!:cool:

Whooooohoooo John!! Let us know how it goes!! We have to rewire our car so any tips or bad moves that you make along the way will only help us too!! Shannon

Hi John,

Nice !!!!.......The only thing I found was to start at the firewall and go from there. I started at the back of the car and by the time I got to the front and due to the thickness it wouldn't fit through some areas.

Ian

Never thought about it but you are right. I did mine starting under the dash and fed the smaller portion of the cable out. Probably would not have been able to fit the larger diameter stuff under the dash through the hole on the firewall. I don't recall making a conscious decision on the way to do it so I guess I guessed right.

I go along with Dave, If you work on it some today and go back next week you will be frustrated.

Get the shop warmed up and get it all the way roughed in.

I run everything leaving wires hanging out of the headlight, tail light and dash openings etc. then come back and hook up the ends.

Have fun !!

Someone suggested to use a 6 volt flashlight/lantern battery to check the circuits. It has enough amperage to light a light bulb or test light, but not enough to do any damage if you have a wire crossed.

Hi John,

I used RI Wiring on both my 31 coupe about 7 years ago and more recently my 31 sedan. When I took of the old wires of my 31 coupe I labeled all the connections and I must have made a mistake because things didn't work out. Then I followed their instructions and everything worked out okay.

They don't give a whole lot of extra wire to each area but it's enough. I would suggest that you stretch the harness from light switch to the tail light first then the branch that goes to the dash gauges will fall in place.

The headlight harness is a no-brainier. Work from the light switch out to the lights.

Good Luck

Joe C.

You guys are great and thank you so very much for the helpful hints!

Update

IT must have worked out OK as John hasn't said that the garage burnt down

Life has gotten in the way again. I still have to install the harness. I WILL install it soon. The weather is getting better and things are calming down. I can't believe it's been a year and a half already since I got the new harness!! I guess I had better get off of the computer so I can do something about it.

I too have a few cars to wire so really appreciate all the info guys are giving on doing the install. I guess I should be saving my nickels to buy the new harness LOL.

I purchased my harness 5 years ago John and I have only partially fitted it to my 2249 Senior. The main components of the harness is 3 sections. Fire wall to the rear lights and gas tank. Fire wall to front lights and generator and from under the dash through the fire wall. I have installed the front and rear wiring and most of the under dash loom apart from about 4 wires. It is combined with wires that connect to the steering column mounted headlight switch.It is so much easier the install the frame wiring before the body is fitted to the frame.So John I suppose that after all my ramblings I am trying to say that you will have yours fitted before me I made comment to my wife that the wiring on the Senior was so simple and the reply was "If its so simple why has it taken all day to install" So then I explained that it was a very basic wiring system and that had nothing to do with the difficulty of installation The problem was finding clips etc that I had refurbished 20 odd years ago Yep you guessed it they were in the last container # 43 from memory Still that's part of the fun of restoring Good luck John