Restoration Project: '68 VW Beetle (o\ _!_ /o)

[Xulfiqar]

murti - If your electrician has started work then get him a genuine Bosch 50A relay to mount somewhere accessible and safe, Ask him to install it in the "self" circuit. Your original starter switch must be pitted and tired by now and will result in dodgy working, the relay will help a lot. If you search on google - its called a hot start relay.

The install should be very neat (very simple if its a new install) - with its ground going into the wiring loom not looped back onto its mounting lug and nitto taped. Use heavy duty wires for the contacts.

If your starter is labouring to start, get a new original zeolite bushing and put it in a cup of thin oil overnight, the material actually sucks oil and keeps itself lubed for years, do not use grease or your starter rpm will be low.

[AsadIshaque]

Xulfiqar,

Your words are worth their weight in GOLD :D. We are lucky to have your expert input which is based on first hand experiences, thus the valuable tips here, there and everywhere.

Many things have been covered in the discussion on the wiring issue......just my two cents below....

I have yet to find/see a local electrician who can follow/understand/believe in wiring diagrams. I am sure there are a hidden few but I have not had the good luck of finding one. I guess we shall be lucky, very lucky if we have a person who is at least ready to be guided by one of us to decipher and follow a diagram. Unfortunately, doing things like they were done in the Stone Ages is one of our National Traits, and most are bl**dy proud of it too. The rot creeps everywhere, even at hospitals. Imagine people doing 'jugaar' work on patients :-#

 Anyway. Id not let my rants distract......

 I hope you follow the advise of Xulfiqar and go to the suggested shop for wires. Yes the quality makes a world of difference. The reason why gurus like Khalid Sb swear by the original wiring is based on the super quality German wires. The more it can be retained, the better. Local wire, the cheap stuff, looks good in its bright yellow, blues and greens but functionally its crap. 

 A few years ago, I had met an aging uncle who had rebuilt an ex Army Jeep and had bought old wiring from Shershah to use to build a wiring loom. While it was not gold plated, it was of a very high quality and most expensive. If memory serves me right, he had bought some odd pieces for around 10k rupees. Maybe he got it by the kg as Xulfiqar informs us. 

 Anyway, I think the best thing to do is to get the wiring done at a place where you can concentrate seriously, be it the garage or (As I would personally prefer) your home. Just make one thing clear.....you would have to be involved, physically and mentally, in the wiring process to get a good result. As people have been telling you, its not Rocket Science, in fact its quite simple.

 From where can we get Zeolite to machine for the starter bushings??? I got these bushings made out of brass and they work good, Im sure Zeolite would be miles ahead.

[AsadIshaque]

We had to start it up directly via the engine starter. I have had a decent look at the diagram but I am still not sure on how much wire should I get.

Have a look at this diagram above, any comments?

 Ive just thought if a way you can quite accurately judge how much wiring you'd need.

 Go to an household electric shop (yes household electric goods shop, not automotive) and buy a 10 meter length of the cheaper wire in red or a light color. Red/light color so you are able to mark over it with a black marker. This wire would not be actually used on the car and you'd be left with it at the end. The idea is just to get a stiff wire so you are able to pass it easily through the various nooks and crannies on the car. This serves as just a guide wire.

  Now study your wiring diagram a bit and judge what route the individual wires are going to take. Group the ones having common routes. You may even mark some reference points, like take the fuse box as a starting point and mark the engine bay entry point, LHS tail light, RHS tail light, area under seat etc etc as other points. Use your own judgement and make as many reference points as needed.

  Now start measuring. Route the guide wire along the actual route on the car.

The main loom goes from the fuse box, down the LHS A pillar (behind the carpeting), over the LHS floor corner, under the back seat, some wires go to the battery, some to the cutout, and then to the engine compartment to split into wires for the engine and the tail lights/ license plate light etc. When you run the guide wire through, you shall get the actual amount of wire you'd be needing. Its more than the distance from point A to point B, since the wire loops over the curves and channels of the body. When you have reached a destination, say a tail light, do keep an excess amount of four to six inches to make up for the splice and terminal installation and bit more to keep sagged for future splice and replacement of terminals. Its always wise to have more than to have less and having to add a joint, which defeats the purpose of new wiring anyway.

Once you have put the guide wire from one point to the next along the route its supposed to go, make a mark over the wire, or better still put on some painters masking tape. Withdraw the wire completely making sure the mark does not rub off or the tape does not peel/move along the wire. Now you can measure the distance accurately using a "darzee walla tape" or the "mistri walla feeta", whatever suits you.

 You would have to take a lot of measurements this way and keep on adding the results on a large sheet of paper. Add the lengths up and then see how much of each type (color and gauge) of wire you need. Add the totals and you can have a good estimate on what you need to buy.

It is a long process but if you have the will to do it, its easy and the end result should be worth envying.

 Wish I had a video to make above explanation clear and simple to throw up on Youtube.

[AsadIshaque]

Can't seem to find Fuchs SAE-90, any other options?

What is so special about the Fuchs oil, may I ask??

Whichever gear oil you get, make sure it has the 'GL4' rating. An oil rated as 'GL5' is not suitable for VW gearboxes and wears some brass components inside prematurely.

[AsadIshaque]

These running boards are definitely slimmer than the ones I got made from islamabad and that I painted today:

Check today's post on my thread to see them cleaned, red-oxidized and painted

 The running boards were made using original VW items as templates. So the width is stock. People often like to put widened items as replacements, so I guess its difficult now to tell what is right and what is the 'accepted right'. 

 The way to go for corrosion protection is powder coating. It is a bit expensive but worth every penny you put in. Should outlast the car provided its a quality job and the running board is not banged up or scratched badly.

[Xulfiqar]

[QUOTE=AsadIshaque;3468676]Xulfiqar,

Your words are worth their weight in GOLD :D. We are lucky to have your expert input which is based on first hand experiences, thus the valuable tips here, there and everywhere.

Many things have been covered in the discussion on the wiring issue......just my two cents below....

I have yet to find/see a local electrician who can follow/understand/believe in wiring diagrams. I am sure there are a hidden few but I have not had the good luck of finding one. I guess we shall be lucky, very lucky if we have a person who is at least ready to be guided by one of us to decipher and follow a diagram. Unfortunately, doing things like they were done in the Stone Ages is one of our National Traits, and most are bl**dy proud of it too. The rot creeps everywhere, even at hospitals. Imagine people doing 'jugaar' work on patients :-#

 Anyway. Id not let my rants distract......

 I hope you follow the advise of Xulfiqar and go to the suggested shop for wires. Yes the quality makes a world of difference. The reason why gurus like Khalid Sb swear by the original wiring is based on the super quality German wires. The more it can be retained, the better. Local wire, the cheap stuff, looks good in its bright yellow, blues and greens but functionally its crap. 

 A few years ago, I had met an aging uncle who had rebuilt an ex Army Jeep and had bought old wiring from Shershah to use to build a wiring loom. While it was not gold plated, it was of a very high quality and most expensive. If memory serves me right, he had bought some odd pieces for around 10k rupees. Maybe he got it by the kg as Xulfiqar informs us. 

 Anyway, I think the best thing to do is to get the wiring done at a place where you can concentrate seriously, be it the garage or (As I would personally prefer) your home. Just make one thing clear.....you would have to be involved, physically and mentally, in the wiring process to get a good result. As people have been telling you, its not Rocket Science, in fact its quite simple.

 From where can we get Zeolite to machine for the starter bushings??? I got these bushings made out of brass and they work good, Im sure Zeolite would be miles ahead.[/QUOTE]

My electrician was myself, However there is a guy in Karachi whom I used a lot when I had too much stuff at hand or when I injured my right hand very badly (3 knuckles rebuilt) - anyway - his issue is that he is too occupied nowadays but knows that quality and craftsmanship is what makes perfection.

Like you said HOME is the best place for such a job if you know for sure that you wont find a good electrician that listens. The wires at shershah market are in long looms (100 ft plus) that come with an entire carnival of colours and thicknesses, If the item is good it wont be much different to new in price - But I prefer new because I know for sure there is no corrossion or anything anywhere.

The zeolite bushings are best bought new (get someone from outside Pakistan to send about 50 pieces - Its about 1 or 2 USD retail per piece - if you try to machine zeolite you will block off the pores

[AsadIshaque]

I agree that the best electrician is you yourself if you have the will to do it. Auto circuits are not at all hard to understand, at least the old ones.......the new ECU etc gizmos are a different story......I recommend that this VW be wired by its owner too.....with some guidance from us.....if he is up to it......

I did a VW complete wiring myself, after I was in a similar situation as what we see now..........the result was something quite good.....in fact if any electrician saw the wiring, he would exclaim....'who did that??'.......not to mention none ever had a word of praise.....I think these electricians deliberately do a crap job that looks like a 'birds nest' in the end.........maybe so that down the line if it needs troubleshooting, only himself or an equally bad electrician can 'fix' it. A proper wiring job is easy to troubleshoot too.

 Reminds me.....a local VW mech by the name of Sajid does wiring work on the VWs he is rebuilding himself......and he does a very good job. Neat though not according to diagrams.

 I have not seen Zeolite bushings up for sale on the www. Id Google now.

[Xulfiqar]

Golf's also use the same starter bushing that beetles use - look for that.

@murti - if your electrician does not have this tool to crimp on new spade connectors - you are paying for extremely shoddy workmanship, Do not trust their - hum plaass se kartay hain.. it can never be good enough

When you buy the new spade connectors (horn clips) make sure you buy the ones which have the locking pin and also get the single clip insulators (go around and get them from the CNG shops) they come in the original Landi Renzo kits, go around and collect about as much as you can, You can buy the local ones but they usually rely on compression to stay in place, BUT you wont need them for ground connections - just live and switched.

If you want to buy one for yourself - go to Elite kits in Saddar and take a horn clip with you - ask them for its crimp tool, it will cost about Rs 1500/- or Rs 2500/- for a proper ratcheting one that will make good crimps, dont buy cheap copies that do shoddy crimps and fail after 10 crimps.

[bravo122]

@zulfiqar
what are your views about the off the shelf NEW wiring available in various website?
are they any good?

[murtaza_murti]

What is so special about the Fuchs oil, may I ask??

Whichever gear oil you get, make sure it has the 'GL4' rating. An oil rated as 'GL5' is not suitable for VW gearboxes and wears some brass components inside prematurely.

Not special, it was recommended by a few people that is why I wanted it. But I have searched a lot and no one seems to have it in stock. I guess I'll have to buy some other one now.

Golf's also use the same starter bushing that beetles use - look for that.

@murti - if your electrician does not have this tool to crimp on new spade connectors - you are paying for extremely shoddy workmanship, Do not trust their - hum plaass se kartay hain.. it can never be good enough

When you buy the new spade connectors (horn clips) make sure you buy the ones which have the locking pin and also get the single clip insulators (go around and get them from the CNG shops) they come in the original Landi Renzo kits, go around and collect about as much as you can, You can buy the local ones but they usually rely on compression to stay in place, BUT you wont need them for ground connections - just live and switched.

If you want to buy one for yourself - go to Elite kits in Saddar and take a horn clip with you - ask them for its crimp tool, it will cost about Rs 1500/- or Rs 2500/- for a proper ratcheting one that will make good crimps, dont buy cheap copies that do shoddy crimps and fail after 10 crimps.

He does have the spade connector crimper tool. Got horn clips, o-ring spades, spade connectors, wiring, heat sleeve etc.

[murtaza_murti]

Update: 30/7/2012

Finally got the stuff required for the wiring. Couldn't get the heat sleeve @Xulfiqar was talking about. Got six meters of rubber heat sleeve instead. The stuff is all complete except the Bosch 50A relay for the starter circuit, headlight dimmer switch and the fuse box along with ceramic fuses.

Work is to initiate by Wednesday as scheduled.

[Xulfiqar]

post some pictures of the "horn clips" you got and their covers too. The round ones should be copper as they are earth lugs - you can buy them in plaza at the same places that sell nuts/bolts etc. they get them at surplus auctions from local manufacturers.

And pictures of the wires too. - btw what rubber heat sleeve are you talking about?? heat shrink??

[AsadIshaque]

Murtaza,

 Pics please! We may be able to tell whether the stuff is up to mark or not. 

Crimping tool must be of good quality as Xulfiqar recommended. Otherwise you'd have more headaches with it than you'd have had without it......

[murtaza_murti]

Okay, so I got the following.

• 4 bundles of 4mm wiring (one bundle has 10 meters of wiring)
• 4 bundles of 5mm wiring (same as above)
• 1 bundle of 6mm wiring (6 meters)
• 1 bundle of 8mm wiring (6 meters)
• 1 bundle of 12mm wiring (4 meters)
• Spade connectors with plastic covers (50+)
• O-clip connectors (15)
• Male/female connectors (5)
• Seal beam connectors (3, one is for the alternator)
• Tape (6 packs)
• Heat shrink (6 meters, I don't like the quality at all didn't have anything else available)

[murtaza_murti]

Spade connector with insulator

O-ring connector

[murtaza_murti]

Seal beam connector (got three of these, the electrician says he'll use the third one for the alternator)

Male/female connectors

[murtaza_murti]

4mm wiring, 4 bundles. Each bundle has 10 meters of wiring.

5mm wiring, same specifications as above.

[Xulfiqar]

sorry to burst your bubble but those horn clips will not fit into the "male female" connectors you bought, you need the their own style which have a raised locking tang to lock into these connector cavities.

The horn clips can be used everywhere else along with these covers (glue them on) so they dont slide off.

btw why didnt you get solid wire colors?

[murtaza_murti]

sorry to burst your bubble but those horn clips will not fit into the "male female" connectors you bought, you need the their own style which have a raised locking tang to lock into these connector cavities.

The horn clips can be used everywhere else along with these covers (glue them on) so they dont slide off.

btw why didnt you get solid wire colors?

You mean like these? All the solid colored wires were local ones and were heavily insulated.

[Xulfiqar]

For the horn clips - yes you need the locking tang ones for the connectors. and for wires, you can get these in solid colours too, The shop I told you has them but in complete rolls.