Project rewire

[oldironoffroad]

Just thought I would post up some pics and a little how to on a rewire and gauge conversion I did for someone a couple months back so you folks don't think I am slacking. This very clean Traveler came to us from Charlotte, NC. and is owned by a MR. Tom Call. Great guy all around to work for!! Overall the electrical system in the rig worked OK, but had a ton of randomly hot loose wires in the dash, interior lights not working, blinkers working when they wanted to and a ton of add on stuff. So we decided to start fresh with a 14 circuit Kwik wire kit and a gauge conversion panel from IHPARTS AMERICA!!!

Well.... Ain't nothing to it but to do it. When removing your old harness don't get to happy and throw everything away. I keep all old connectors off of the old harness. The terminals will be removed and new ones installed so everything remains plug and play without the use of a bunch of male female spade/ bullet/ whatever your connector of choice would be.

With shiny new parts in hand the dash was removed for wire routing and modification for the new gauge panel.

Now the first place to start on a rewire is the turn signal switch. If you don't know when the last time it was replaced it is a good idea to throw a new one at it just to prevent problems with brake, turn, horn , and what not. Also it is a good idea to consider a new headlight switch. Common chevy part. If for no other reason to get rid of the crusty old rheostat so your dash lights dim and brighten propely. A few special tools are required to get to it.

old and crusty

New and shiny turn signal switch and cam. New horn contact also was installed.

 

[oldironoffroad]

Now onto the dash modification. With the dash on the bench new gauge panel was fitted and any holes that needed trimming were done.

What you are left with.

The gauges where then fitted into the panel and a harness built. Your best bet for trouble free service is to NEVER use butt connectors if at all possible. Solder and heat shrink everything you can!!!

Here you can see the connectors I use for the conversion. These are basic Packard connectors that fit Packard 56 terminals one side is male and one is female so that upon installation there is no hooking it up wrong. Again all terminals are crimped and soldered.

Now we move on to fuse panel placement, wire routing , sorting and all that jazz. With the fuse panel mounted the first group of wires I terminate are the column group

Here you can see the terminals crimped and soldered.

Old headlight switch connector with terminals removed and ready to plug up.

 

[oldironoffroad]

Now I will spare you the circuit by circuit details, so here are some random photos of wire groups, routing, and circuits working as they are completed. Also may add it is not a bad idea to add some dedicated grounds to the front and rear of the vehicle.

After all the in dash stuff was dressed in and protected the dash got a couple coats of paint and was reinstalled.

Gauge panel back in

New door ground switches were installed and the dome and interior lights put back into service.

Outside at night and all lit up inside.

So that's pretty much the high points of the rewire. The last thing we did while the traveler was here was install some safety equipment. Tom wanted to be able to run 3 point retractable seat belts so a roll bar was built and installed and some safety belts added.

Helper and wife bending tube. They are pretty good....

Fitted

Painted and installed

And that's all I got.

 

[Tucker H]

Very nice work levi .
Think we can do this to a 70/71 800B with a V8 swap???
Its all there i just think all new wiring would be a tremendous upgrade.

 

[tmcscout]

Just to add to what's been said, Levi's work is as good as it looks. I own the Traveler in the photos and am very happy with the way it turned out. Although he does not mention it, Levi fixed a bunch of other little things that he came across while wiring the rig, but the bill stayed at what he quoted me originally -- when I got it back from him, the Scout ran better than it ever had since I owned. Anyway, if you're around WNC or TN way and want someone who'll do great work at a fair price and treat you like a neighbor, Levi's your guy.