I may be biting off more than I can chew here but I plan on building my own wiring harness for my 74 four door. I am going to take my time and make it very professional looking. I need a little information reguarding the amprage of some devices or instructions on how to use a meter to test them myself. I read something about high amprage devices and relays but I can't exactly figure out how that works. If someone could post a very basic diagram of how a relay should be wired in to say run fog lights I could build on it from there.
Well first of off do have Maverick repair manual? The ones that the Ford dealers used when your car was new? They can found on Ebay lots of times or you can buy the reproduced manuals from Autokrafters I believe. They have all the schematics etc. that you would need. Secondly, I would do some reading and research on some basic automotive electrical systems (how DC current works). For instance there are different types of circuits example Series, Parallel, or more common on cars Series Parallel. You need to find out how diodes, transitters, and capictors work. I will be honest, I had just bought a good meter, but I didn't know how to use it. I am currently taking an automotive electrical class at a local college, and I can't imagine doing this without it! I am sure there may be others out here that have been able to teach themselves this, or had someone teach them, but I personally realize how important it is that when you do any kind of electrical work on your car that it has to done right! Sorry so long, maybe some others may be able to help you more. Good luck!
I took a class in high school called Principles of Techonology. Great class. It tought me all about physics and electronics. But there have been one to many buds between now and high shcool for me to accuratly recall some of the more important details about electrical systems. This is going to be a long and drawn out process because I want to make sure it is done right the first time. Any hints/tips or online recources that you could share would be highly appreicated.
If you have your original wire harnesses (there are several in your car) you could pull them out of the car, lay them out and duplicate with new wire. You have to be sure you use the same gage wire or heavier. Be aware that automotive applications use wire with special insulation that is oil and gas resistant, lighter weight and usually rated for around 50 volts as compared to most electronics type wire that is rated for 300 or 600 volts. The automotive wire carries the designations SXL, TXL, and GXL. There are publications put out by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) that deal with how to determine current carrying capacity of wire used in cars. They do not use the same ampacity ratings as the National Electrical Code, but they are similar. It might be tough to do the complete harnesses yourself because some of the terminals that are applied to the wires require special crimping tools. I work for a company that builds automotive wire harnesses. A single harness may require the use of 4 or 5 different crimpers that can cost up to $400 apiece. If your good at soldering you may be able to solder many of the terminals, but you have to familar with different types of fluxes, solders and how to clean the connections properly to prevent corrosion. If you learn the right way to build the harness and take your time it could be very rewarding and maybe more reliable than the factory job. Plus if you plan ahead for changes you want to make in the future you can install new wires/heavier wires now and be ready. Relays are devices that use a small electrical current to control a much larger current. The starter solenoid on the fender of your car is actually an electrical relay. The small current from the ignition switch energizes an electromagnetic coil in the solenoid, the pole piece moves and causes a set of large contacts to mate. One of these contacts is connected to the battery, the other to the starter. When they meet the electrical current from the battery flows to the starter. That's how a current of only a few tenths of an ampere from the ignition switch can control several hundred amps that is needed to power the starter.
Barry- Does your company build harnesses for the oems or is it an aftermarket company like Painless? I hope you don't mind me asking. Seems a lot of people on this board have really incredible jobs. If only we could pool all our resources. We could take over the world! MWAH-AH-AAHHH! Oops. got a bit carried away. Sorry.
We're a contract manufacturer, we build anything for anybody that walks in the door. From one piece to a million, for a price. The great majority of our work is for OEMs. We even build a line of Ford engine harnesses for engines that are being retrofitted into cranes. The remote controls that I had listed for sale were from a job we were doing for an aftermarket company that sold pickup truck accessories. They sold a kit that allowed guys to turn on and off their light bars remotely. They went out of business before the contract was over and now we are stuck with three cases of those remote controls.
so bmcdaniel, I guess if I just wanted to buy a complete wiring harness for the entire Mav you would be the guy to talk to. Just out of curiosity how much. (hides wallett) dave
It would be a time and material type job. I'm not in Estimating or Sales so I couldn't really give you a price. I'm the Quality Manager, part of my responsibility is to teach people in production how to properly build these things. Also you would need to provide either a drawing w/ bill of materials or a sample of what you want. We need something to demonstrate what you need. Is the condition of your harnesses really that bad that you need to go through this?
A few thoughts: If you've ever seen a complete wiring diagram for your Mav (or any other car for that matter) you'll notice that it tells you, among other things, the color of each wire for a given circuit. This is invaluable for troubleshooting purposes. I remember grafting in the engine control wiring harness from a '95 Mustang when I did my EFI conversion, and the diagram told me exactly which circuit I had to splice into by merely finding the right color wire. Unless you stay consistent and record every detail of your homemade harness, you'll lose this ability for any future repairs/modifications. My car's wiring harness is full of modifications due to the EFI conversion. I had to retain the stock wiring diagram, the diagram from the new engine control harness, plus pages of handwritten notes and drawings detailing what I did in case I ever need to make repairs. If you don't do the same thing, you could be in for some headaches later. I certainly don't mean to put the brakes on anyone's creative initiative, but I would think if you need to replace your current harness, you may still be able to find one in good condition from a parts car. I'm thinking it may be more reliable over time. If you want to get a good look at what you're getting into, I'd be happy to send you a copy of a wiring diagram for your Mav if you don't already have one.
Thanks Barry! I got the remote control kit today. Nice stuff! I'm sure I'll find a use for it eventually. At the moment it'll look nice on a shelf or in my toolbox waiting for me to use it. The price sure is great and I recommend getting one of these to pretty much anybody on here as I'm sure we'll all think of something to do with it.
I think I'm going to get some solenoids and use one to unlock my Mav's doors and trunk. I also thought it would be neat to connect to the nitrous purge valve , blow it off when someone sticks their head under the hood at a car show!
Well Sam, I am the kinda guy that takes apart almost anything electronic just to see how it works. This is something that I have been doing since I was 5 years old (about 19 years now.) I am having some serious shorts in reguards to the tail lights and blower motor specificly. If I do decide to make a custom harness I plan on making lots of notes as well as having a friend videotape and take a lot of still pics of the entire process. That way if anyone else wants to try this I can just sell real cheap copy of my notes/pics/tape. I would be intrested in some of the materials that you have just so I can get a better idea of what I am looking at. I do have the smallest clue because I have had the privlage of striping EVERY SINGLE WIRE out of a 2002 VW Beetle. Let me just say that was not fun at all. Dave
you know bmcdaniel they have kits for that in the summit catalog. It wouldn't be that much trouble to do a little tweaking on the door popers to unlock your doors.
Yeah, I have the remote controls (about 50 of them), I had them for sale in the For Sale thread on this site. I just need to get some solenoids. Bulldog sells them online for less than $10 if I remember right. http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6262
