I started creating a schematic for my pickup, while it's still fresh in my mind. I'm cheating a bit because my starting point is the 18 circuit GM Painless Wiring harness, but I have quite a few changes, including airhorns, OEM turn signal switch, master kill switch, ignition kill switch, Mallory Unilite, driving lights with relay, seperate backup lights, 800w amp, etc... I'm also creating a visual map that will show an outline of the truck and the location of the wires. I figure this would be the best way to address future potential problems, as well as preventing me from racking my brain after I've forgotten how I wired it in the first place. Just curious if this is a common practice. Anyone else?
Ive wired a few cars from scratch (no kit) and always sketch out the basic schematic to get me started. Documenting the circuits that I add on down the road is another story.
I make the schematic before I wire the car. I did my first 34 P/U almost 30 years ago and I can picture it in my mind as we speak. No electric fans or computers to worry about. It did have a horn relay in the starting wire so that I could run a Ford starter button on my Chevrolet solenoid.
Seems like it's the old school guys and builders that do it, but it kills me the guys that have no idea where to begin when a specific circuit takes a dump. As far as schematics go, I've always preferred a visual diagram as opposed to an electrical schematic with no visual reference for location on the vehicle.
I performed a 9-day wiring job on a certain '29 Roadster Pickup in 1975. The owner was righteously elated, inthat the roadster now sported a hinged dash that folded down, exposing the individually colored (and relayed circuits, 5 in all) at the rear of the dash. I was promised exposure to potential new clients. (I knew the owner for years, found him his first roadster, etc.) When the car was shown (local annual car show) the owner took all credit for the work done... He asked for the schematic I had drawn, (all in color and scale, with components drawn in detail and stapled in protective plastic) to display in future showings! I reminded him of our former 'agreement', and he was satisfied (relieved) to agree that I keep the schematic, and my temper. Prick. That 24" X 36" schematic got framed and hung in my shop office for years. I later sold it at a Bay Area swap meet. (as an 'art object'; to a wealthy 'yup' type; More than a reasonable sum!) Thought about doing some more...just the schematics...as Studio Offerings!
For early Fords of all flavors, my preference is for '40-48 Ford types of generator, circuit breaker, HL switches, etc. I have some head start on this, as I have been flogging early Ford wiring for like 50 years, but it gives me a shortcut...my schematic and visuals are straight '48 Ford. The '46 maintenance book is an excellent traveling library to go into any flathead based car, and it covers all the wiring visually twice...pictorial coverage showing components and basic wire bundle routes, and a schematic for detail tracing. All drawings completed and done for me by professionals supervised by Henry! Colors could be exactly duplicated by buying the wire used in repro wiring harnesses, but I've never really done that...I do use basic color keys from Ford like green and black so I know which wire is tail and which brake, high beam/low beam, etc. If I used different style stuff I would take a similar approach and carry a donor car diagram, like mustang or Camaro, matching the general flavor of my components.
Only the smart guys. The others wire the whole car off one spool (one color) of wire and keep NO records or diagrams. If anything goes wrong they can't even fix it themselves.
I have a giant book of wiring diagrams for all 1960 cars. I used a 1960 Ford as a starting point for my project, and eliminated all unneeded circuits. A bit of whiteout and some copy machine magic and I was in business.
First one I did, I drew the schematic, each circuit coded with numbers/letters, then wired the truck in all one color with each wire labeled on both ends with numbers and letters similar to industrial equipment. (put clear shrink tube over the numbers/letters so they couldn't fall off) I was used to working with this type of coding so it was easy for me to understand. The guy I sold it to jerked me around some so I neglected to give him the schematic, hope the tail lights quit working. LOL
The two vehicles I've wired, I kept the diagrams/chart with a separate chart for any revisions I made.This gets carried in the car and goes with it when I sell it for future problem tracing. I wish the ones I bought came with this type of guide!!
I make a notebook of every car I build. Saves time knowing wiring codes, part numbers from brand names , etc.
Yes, and it's free. There are others of course. But this one is easy to use. http://www.circuit-diagram.org/
^^^damn, responded at the same time.^^^ Glad there's something out there... I use Adobe Illustrator, neither cheap nor easy (unless you know the software). Not sure, but that would be a cool piece of software if it were priced reasonably enough.
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