Hot Rods Thankfully -I was smart enough to have left it where it was.

yup. if it wasnt a rust bucket wiring is easy to fix right

 

I've been wiring cars and trucks for many years. Done correctly, and everything functions, but making it look pretty must be beyond my grasp. It tends to look like spaghettis under the dash.

I've pulled the covering off a lot of factory harnesses, they are not pretty either. I guess I need to friction tape all my wiring so it looks better.

 

Try hockey stick tap. Works better than friction tape. IMO

 

The steering column wiring was a milestone for my Ford. I had taken out 99.9% of the crappy wire before I started. I only saved some of the dash cluster, heater control wiring.

The wire stripes on the column wires were wiped out with age, so I had the basic colors going for me. I made a few cave sketches that were a big help. Patience is a virtue, I twisted wires together and ran through the running lights and turn signals, then made the connections permanent.

 

Wad them up and hide them under the dash, that's what dashboards are for.

 

Starting to rewire my coupe. Cut it all out then one by one route the wires. Then start to terminate them. It starts to look like lost goose flying. It’s better than before but it’s not looking like my vision two months ago. Also 107 with the fans in the garage.

 

Nope, just little pieces of duct tape.

 

That was the exact method the previous owner of my '40 Ford used.

 

My car had brown lamp cord and terminal blocks galore under the dash... ripped all that crap out. Not one bit of it was on the schematic.

 

The first thing anyone should do when buying a car is to look under the dash at the wiring. That kinda tells the rest of the build. Also, if the wiring shown above has a problem just stir it with a broomstick. that always fixes the problem.

 

My first car at age 14 was a '40 Olds coupe. One day the rubber grommet for the harness at the firewall gave out while I was out for a drive and literally fried the entire engine compartment harness and some of the under dash harness. Towed home. I was a serious Noob to working on cars. I had no wiring diagram for the car and had to separate each wire in the melted harness with a razor blade. I traced and replaced every wire with the proper gauge of whatever color wire I could get. The electrical supply house only had so many colors. I did a very good job of it and it didn't look like spaghetti at all when finished but there was a LOT of the same color wire going everywhere. I've HATED doing wiring ever since.
I bought a factory style harness for my '54 Chevy 1/2 ton when building it. It was really inexpensive and went in easy and still works great over 15 years later. When I built my '30 Ford coupe, I decided to use the exact same harness that I used in the truck, extending wires when needed. Even used the truck headlight switch and ignition switch. Works very well and is reasonably neat under the dash. Plus, the truck dash switches look period correct. It may not be an OCD perfect looking job, but it's safe and gets me down the road fine every day. I still hate doing wiring though.
Andy

 

Having worked in a factory where all the 24V wire was blue, the 110V was red and the 480V was was black, the all one color thing doesnt bother me so much, as long as there are labels on each end. BradyMarker is what I consider the best, but they are a little steep for only a car or two, but you may find an electrician friend who would let you borrow one or even make them for you if you provide them with a list. Then there is the old school method where you get a book with numbers and letters and make your own label.
Most troubleshooting will be done at the ends. If something happens and you have physical damage somewhere in the middle, well, Good Luck to you trying to figure that out.