JBugs Video Series

1971 VW Super Beetle - Wiring Series - Part 3:

Electrical

Video Overview:

Our 1971 Super Beetle electrical is well under way. We’ve got most of the wiring from the back up to the trunk complete and work continues in the trunk as we install the dome light harness, the front wiring harness and more of the wiring in the trunk. Follow along as we continue the installation and see how simple it is when you take it one wire at a time.


Video Tips:

Tools used in this video:
Electrical Tape
#2 Philips Screwdriver
Pocket Knife
Silicone Spray
Flush Cut Pliers
Wire Stripping Pliers
Wire Crimping Pliers
Ratcheting Crimp Tool
Small Flat Blade Screwdriver
Dash Escutcheon Tool


Other Parts Used:
Female Open Barrel Terminal Ends
#8 Sheet Metal Screws

Video Transcript:

00:01
Hi! Sam here, JBugs.com.
00:04
Still in the trunk of our 1971 Super Beetle.
00:07
I'll get out ... eventually ...
00:14
We've got most of the main wiring harness hooked up, so we'll get to work on the dome light harness now.
00:19
We tape off the end that will run up to the light, and then we tape it tightly to the original harness we left in the A-pillar.
00:26
Inside the car, we start pulling the old harness in from the dome light opening while feeding the [new] harness up the A-pillar.
00:33
Once our new harness is at the opening, we can unwrap it and hook up the dome light.
00:38
The positive red wire hooks up to the single terminal side.
00:42
The brown wires hook up at the opposite, switch side.
00:46
One wire if for our door switch, the other is for our chassis ground.
00:51
The wide terminals on our wires can be used on the narrow terminals on the dome light by pressing them on to one side or half of the terminal.
01:01
In the trunk, the solid brown wire, from the dome light harness, is routed along the back side of the dash
01:06
and plugged into the ground terminal on the speedometer mounting screw.
01:10
The first terminal of the brown/white wire is run down the door jamb and pressed out of the door switch hole.
01:17
The red wire is run to the front side of the fuse box and plugged into a terminal at the fourth fuse from the right.
01:25
The long leg of the brown/white wire is run along the back side of the dash, all the way to the passenger side door jamb, and pressed out of the door switch hole there.
01:36
Inside the car, at the door jambs, the wires are attached to the door switches and the switches, with new seals, are screwed in place.
01:45
Now we'll grab the front harness and lay it out in the trunk.
01:48
The legs and the splits are all laid out towards the front of the car.
01:53
Then the back of the loom is set in place over the fenderwell and routed behind the brake fluid reservoir.
01:59
So we can get the headlight wires run through the sheet metal, we cut down some standard beetle headlight wire tubes as replacements for the original style Super Beetle grommets.
02:08
The grommets are sprayed with silicone spray, inside and out, and installed at both left and right inner fender wells.
02:17
At the left side of the car, the shorter leg of the loom with the left leadlight and horn wires, is fed through the grommet
02:24
Then, the harnesses are held in place at the fenderwell with the factory securing tab.
02:29
The longer leg of the harness is run along the back of the spare tire well, at the front of the gas tank cross brace,
02:34
held in place with securing tabs, and the headlight wires are run through the grommet on the opposite side.
02:41
The ground wires for the headlights, are screwed in place after we use a screwdriver to clean some of the paint away so that we'll have a good ground contact.
02:49
Then we'll move back up to the top of the trunk and work on the other end of the harness.
02:55
Like the main harness, we'll shorten the wires as needed to clean up the wiring.
03:00
Once the harness is in place, next to the main harness, we pull the black and black/red wires from the front harness, so we can confirm we have the black/red wire.
03:10
It will connect to the black/red wire from the main harness with a shrouded connector.
03:16
Since we're changing up the layout of the harness, both wires are cut to length, the ends are stripped, and new terminals are crimped on.
03:24
We'll follow this same method any time we "shorten" a wire.
03:28
Once both wires have been shortened, they're connected and we've eliminated about 20 inches of wire.
03:36
The black wire we pulled aside, is shortened, and connected to one of the terminals at the front of the fuse box at the first fuse on the right side.
03:44
The white and white/black wires from the front harness, are shortened and connected to the fourth fuse from the left side of the fuse box at the terminals at the front.
03:53
The yellow and yellow/black wires from the front harness are shortened, and connected to the third fuse from the left side of the fuse box at the terminals at the front.
04:03
The doubled gray wires are shortened and connected to the second fuse from the left side at the terminal at the front of the fuse box.
04:11
We'll run the brown wire, from the front loom, up along the back of the dash [and] we'll run the white wire, from the turn signal, switch up to it.
04:19
We shorten the white wire to meet up with the brown wire and connect the two with a shrouded terminal connector.
04:26
The red wire from the front harness is connected to the loose 25 inch red wire, that has a 1/10 connector on one side, with a shrouded connector.
04:36
It gets routed along the back side of the dash and up and through the hole in the dash for the brake warning light.
04:43
The loose 24 inch long red wire is connected to one of the 30 terminals on our headlight switch.
04:49
The loose gray wire is attached to the 58 terminal on the headlight switch.
04:54
Then, the longer leg of the daisy chained white/red wire is attached to the 58B terminal.
05:00
Our wire has a 1/4 inch terminal end for the original switch but our replacement switch has a 1/10 terminal.
05:07
Like the dome light, we can still plug the two together.
05:10
But, as we're here and we have the tools and the correct end, we'll cut off the 1/4 inch end and install a smaller 1/10 terminal end and attach it to the switch.
05:21
Next, we look at the terminal ends of the loose white/black wire.
05:25
One end has a small tab on the back side.
05:28
The end without the tab is attached to the 56 terminal on the headlight switch.
05:34
The end with the tab will be routed to the relay deck on the fuse box and plugged into the slot at 27 for the headlight relay.
05:42
The tab will line up with the side of the slot that has the notch.
05:46
There are a few more loose wires that will hook up to the headlight relay.
05:50
A yellow, a white, and a red.
05:52
They are all about 8 inches long and one terminal end on each will have a locking tab.
05:59
The yellow wire will plug into the 24 slot,
06:02
the white wire plugs into the 26 slot,
06:05
and the red wire plugs into the 28 slot.
06:08
The red wire will then plug into the terminal at the fifth fuse from the left on the front side of the fuse box.
06:15
The white wire is shortened and plugged into the fourth fuse from the left side at the back side of the fuse box.
06:22
The yellow wire is shortened and plugged into the third fuse from the left back.
06:27
The white/black wire is routed along the back side of the dash and plugged into the 56 terminal on our headlight switch.
06:33
We pull off the black/yellow wire, we temporarily installed earlier, from the X terminal of our headlight switch
06:40
and plug it into a shrouded connector along with the loose red/black wire.
06:47
That wire is shortened and plugged back into the X terminal on the headlight switch.
06:52
The headlight switch and wiring are routed up in place to the dashboard and the switch is installed making sure that the wiring won't get caught in the wiper linkage or contact the radio later.
07:03
Keep in mind, we typically recommend keeping the switches out until after everything has been tested.
07:09
The grey and the red wires from the headlight switch are routed along the back side of the dash.
07:15
The red wire plugs into the back of the fuse box, at the fifth fuse from the right.
07:19
The grey wire plugs into the back, at the first terminal from the right.
07:24
We'll finish up this video by plugging the white/red doubled wire into the two dash light bulbs on the back of the speedometer.
07:30
As that's where they would have been installed if we had a stock speedometer.
07:34
We'll expand that harness later as we're going to take a break here.
07:38
In our next video, we'll still be in the trunk and we'll get to work on the turn signal, flasher, and wiper motor wiring.
07:44
Thanks for watching!
07:46
Make sure to click the like and the subscribe button.
07:49
Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below, and when you need parts or accessories for your vintage VW,
07:54
stop by JBugs.com