What I learned (this was on a BJ8):
People on the list are a great source. This is a job that is way best done
with the engine and tranny out. If you ever have those chunks out and you have
the slightest inkling that you might want to get around to installing a new
harness, this is the time to do it.
If however, you do this job with everything in place, here is what I learned.
1.. This is going to take some time. I'm guessing that all together I spent
about 20-25 hours. I didn't feel bad about this because Inan at Healey
Surgeons said that they charge 13 hours for the job. Fully 2/3 of the time you
spend has nothing to do with the actual harness, it has to do with getting
stuff out of the way. wheels, rear seat pans, etc. Mostly one person can do
the job, but there are a couple of times when 2 are better.
2.. Tools that you will need: a variety of Phillips head screw drivers. I
even had to use that little funny offset Phillips that I bought at Sears long,
long ago. I found medium sized channel locking pliers handy for getting the
connectors fully tight and inside the insulation. Electricians pliers, and
that multipurpose wire cutting, stripping, crimping tool. Jack stands. A good
light.
3.. Most of this is really pretty easy. My biggest problems were bifocals
(what can you do with that?), having so many places where you cannot actually
see what you are doing because your hands are in your way and not being able
to read the little tags I put on so many of the wires, but that was really a
small problem because the harness that I had exactly the right colors
everywhere. (However, I did have one really almost really bad thing happen. I
was trying to clean up some wires that had gotten oily. I happened to have a
paper towel that was wet with parts cleaner and so I wiped the wires with
that. To my surprise the color stripe came off of the wire. I've never
encountered painted stripes. Fortunately I did not get quite all of the paint
off. Lesson learned: don't clean wires with parts cleaner.
4.. Where you need 2 people: Working across the top of the grill. One person
needs to be under the car and the other holding (or turning) the screws that
hold the brackets in place. Feedi9ng through the hole in the firewall: One
inside under the dash pulling and guiding and one feeding from under the hood.
I had a lot of success bundling the wires together with tape before trying to
feed the harness through the firewall. I separated the wires into 2 bundles
and it worked well.
5.. One place that I would change things: Where the harness from the rear
has turned and going up to the firewall, the harness clamp there has a screw
to hold it. I had to use pliers to get the screw out because there is only
about an inch between the screw and the tranny. Replace it with a hex head
bolt so that you can tighten it up.
6.. I do believe that, even though every wire was the right color, there is
just a bit of confidence you gain from having the wires tagged. Also, you
pretty much must have the colored harness download.
And when all is said and done, it seems that my car is just running better
with the new harness. Maybe its because now all of the wires are insulated and
still have all of the smoke inside.
Bob Johnson
BJ8
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