the.goodhumorman Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 I have everything (and I mean everything) removed from the back of the car. I am trying to remove the grouping of wires that has everything for the tail lights, license plate light and so forth. I have it all good up until the rear quarter window. I cant get it through. Is it tie-wrapped? It will not budge and I do not want to rip any of the cabling. Thanks to everyonw for this awesome site! Thanks ~The Good Humor Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fear_me Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 If you are talking about when it goes into the fender, mine was stuck to the seam sealer. I had to try and get my hand in there and pry up on the harnes as much as i could, then i just gave it a good yank. So no cable ties. ~Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Zone Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Fear me is correct, the wiring is buried in the foam sealer inside the rear fender. If it isn't too deep you might be able to pull it out, but don't count on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.goodhumorman Posted August 6, 2007 Author Share Posted August 6, 2007 Hey thanks guys. I am going to try this today and with any luck it will work. Thanks ~The Good Humor Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 On mine one of the connectors got hooked on a sharp sheet metal corner up inside the B pillar. I pushed and pulled and jerked and did pretty much everything I could think of but I could not for the life of me get one stupid connector through. I ended up cutting that one connector off and the wires slid right out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinhZXT Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Don't forget to attach a piece of rope at the end as you pull it out. That way you can use it to pull the wires back in later on when the install begin. Does that make sense? GL V. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.goodhumorman Posted August 6, 2007 Author Share Posted August 6, 2007 Oh, definitely. I have already thought of that. Thanks for the reminder though. Thanks ~The Good Humor Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkach Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 perfect timming on this thread for me. Im about to install a Ezwiring Harness and have to re run all my wires to my fuel pump and so on. So minus the rope method any other tips? all my mechanical is up in place and Id rather not mess with it as it works fine (right now) Pass on the knowlage please ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.goodhumorman Posted August 7, 2007 Author Share Posted August 7, 2007 No other tips. Just make sure you can get the rope back through when you are done. Good luck with it. I just fnished that and I am happy everything still works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexideways Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Don't forget to attach a piece of rope at the end as you pull it out. D'oh!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 perfect timming on this thread for me. Im about to install a Ezwiring Harness and have to re run all my wires to my fuel pump and so on. So minus the rope method any other tips? all my mechanical is up in place and Id rather not mess with it as it works fine (right now) Pass on the knowlage please ! Next tip... Make sure you have a grommet for each place where the wires pass through a hole. Do not use grommets from Harbor Freight they are crap and do not fit correctly, you can go to McMaster Carr and order good quality grommits that will fit. #2) You will also want a piece of rope/line from your dome light. For ease of identification mark each piece with masking tape and a label. #3) If you are not going to put the harness back in the same day you take it out get label tags and label EVERY connecter both on the harness and on piece disconnected from the harness. This is even more important on the connectors from one harness to another. On earlier 240's they did not have the nice colored connector blocks. The way I labeled mine was like this: "Body Harness" "A" to dash harness, the corrosponding label "Dash Harness" "A" to body harness etc. It is also a good idea to take pictures as you go along for reference later, make sure you can see your labels in the pictures or the connection should still be intact and you can see each wire on both sides of the connection. #4) Do a continuity test on each wire then create a schematic from that showing which wire does what in the harness. #5) Do a visual inspection of the harness and repair/replace any damaged wires or connectors. #6) If you remove the factory tape from the harness use a small tie wrap about every 6" of length to keep the wires bundled correctly, also tie wrap directly on each side of any wire that branches out of the harness. When you retape the harness you can cut the tie wraps off as you reach them with your tape. Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkach Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Dragonfly thanks for the tips. (I had forgot all about the gromets) Im hoping that my install turns out as nice ,and easy as they make it out to be on the website. As long as I take the proper steps it should. I purchased this kit http://www.ezwiring.com/twentyone.htm It should fit my needs and give me a bit of room to grow. It also elimante many pita aspects of the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1zcarfan Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 I'm open to suggestions... I bought a '72 240 with an aborted rewire job. 98% of the wire is 16 gauge and it's ALL white! I bought complete harnesses from front to rear and thought I had everything covered. WRONG... The genius that did the rewire cut all the connectors off and crimped or soldered everything back together. So, things like side marker lites, clearance lites, headlights, taillights, license plate lights, blower motor, wiper motor, steering column switches are now direct wired!!! Anyone have a source of original connectors that's less expensive than a donor car??? Please don't flame me if you know of this being covered in another thread. A link or word/phrase to search for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 I'm open to suggestions...I bought a '72 240 with an aborted rewire job. 98% of the wire is 16 gauge and it's ALL white! I bought complete harnesses from front to rear and thought I had everything covered. WRONG... The genius that did the rewire cut all the connectors off and crimped or soldered everything back together. So, things like side marker lites, clearance lites, headlights, taillights, license plate lights, blower motor, wiper motor, steering column switches are now direct wired!!! Anyone have a source of original connectors that's less expensive than a donor car??? Please don't flame me if you know of this being covered in another thread. A link or word/phrase to search for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Paul Sounds like you are in a pretty tough spot there... I can think of two things for you to try and you are going to have to put out some money and time for either. The first would be to search the salvage yards for another 72' 240 and pull the entire harness from it (each and every wire and connection) than repair any damage that may have been done by PO's over the years, or do like one of my friends did and do searches on all the z car forums, ebay, craigslist etc. until you find a complete wiring harness for sale. I guess in reality there is a third option which may be the most realistic and that is to purchase an after market wiring kit and install that, that would provide you with the correct gage wires, proper labels and all the circuits you need plus a couple to grow into (and a new fuse block). If the last suggestion sounds like something you might like to do look at the link a couple post above or do a search for "painless wiring", you will find there are several out there and they differ in price and options. Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1zcarfan Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Thanks for the suggestions Dragonfly. Although not impossible, finding another '72 for a donor seems unlikely in the near future. No doubt, shortly after I give-up and do something foolish, that unlikely car will appear!!!!! I do have all the original replacement harnesses intact and unmolested for the car. What I'm lacking is the "pig-tails" off all the lights, motors and switches listed above to connect to these harnesses. Now you have me wondering how Painless suggests connecting to "factory pig-tails" on a rewired car??? No doubt there are aftermarket connectors I could use, but I'd have to cut and install them on my "virgin" replacement harnesses to make that work. In addition, anything else that requires replacing in the future would need to be modified to be compatible. Anyone out there care to share the method Painless uses (aftermarket "pin" connectors, crimp-on butt splices, solder/heat-shrink, etc) to connect thier harnesses to the "pig-tail" of a factory device? Thanks, Paul BTW: Where is the "Spell Checker" for those of us who's spelling is less than impressive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COZY Z COLE Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 BTW: Where is the "Spell Checker" for those of us who's spelling is less than impressive! Read this thread...http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=123430 LARRY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexideways Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 For 1ZCARFAN... I have a guy near by where i live who specialises in Z parting, I can check if he has an 72 harness for you, if you're interested, I could then ship it to you... Let me know by PM. EDIT: I just reread your post, if your concern is the fact that the moron soldered the wires directly to the pigtails, it's fairly easy to solve, time consuming but not hard... Just take you soldering iron and reheat the solder, pull the wire out of the solder and reheat it again. Then, with a Scott towel or something like it, just wipe the melted solder off the pigtail, you'll get brand new, freshly tamed, oxide free pigtails... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 From what I can tell is 1zcarfan has all the harnesses but doesn't have any of the connectors (on the ends of the wires) so even if he un-soldered all of the 16g white wires he would still have to solder the factory harnesses in. The unfortunate thing about this is that no one is going to hack up a harness to sell him only the connectors, plus each connector would have to be spliced into the existing wires which leads back to purchasing harnesses that have all the connectors in place. There are other ways to make this work but none of them are going to be easy or professional IMO. I do not know how Painless and the other after market system handle that problem but again that may be the best way to handle this unless alexideways can get a complete harnesses for a price that you are happy with. Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexideways Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 I do have all the original replacement harnesses intact and unmolested for the car. What I'm lacking is the "pig-tails" off all the lights, motors and switches listed above to connect to these harnesses. I think he has a harness that has all connectors but, not sure of what he means by "lacking" the pigtails... If it's only because there are soldered wires over the said pigtails or if the guy just cut the pigtails and wired straight inside the lamps and switches and the likes... That green Z in your sig. is very nice by the way!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 That poor guy is going to have his work cut out for him on this one no matter how you look at it. Dragonfly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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