Typing 2 Ink - by Jim Bryant
Chapter 10: Generally Wired

In the last chapter I foretold of writing about "general wiring" this time.  Just how general is general?  Just how technical is technical?  Those are questions this writer keeps asking himself.  I spend my workweek writing correspondence, reports, proposals and requests for approval.  The first question when I get an assignment is "who will read this" because a scientist who wants his 2-ton mass spectrometer on the 6th floor of a 50-year-old building does not want to read the same thing that the member of the Board wants to read about how much it will cost to get it there.  And the grunt who has to put it in place has an entirely different perspective than the engineer who has to do the calculations to make sure nothing falls through the floor.

This series started almost two years ago as a story of restoration to pass along some pointers to other bus owners.  Audience.  Therein lies the key.  Whoever my audience may be, keep reading.  Whoever my audience is not, next page please.

You know the saying about the best plans of mice and men.  Sometimes it just seems that the mouse plans are better than the man plans.  When I pulled out all of the wiring on my bus it was easy enough to recognize that putting it back may be problematic.  It would be a long time before the bodywork and paint would be done, so before I pulled the wiring harness out through the frame, I tied some jute to the end so pulling the new harness back in would be easy.  Several years later, new harness in hand, I found that the mice liked jute so much they had eaten enough of it to make it no use to me.  Learn from my mistake.

When I started my restoration, I had the general idea that the right taillight always went out because the battery mashed the wires and broke the connections.  I knew there was a HOT wire to the ignition switch because it had come loose when my wife had the bus and she described the flash it made when it grounded.  I also knew there was a maze of wires hidden by the kick panel.

Beyond that, I could follow a wiring diagram, but my problem was always finding the right diagram.  I have since found out that most of my problem was the year of my bus: 1967.  The Clymer book had a diagram for 1961-1967 and another for 1968-1969.  My 1967 was most like the earlier, but had the 9-wire flasher relay of the 1968-1969.  The Autobook manual has a diagram for the 30hp and 34hp engines, one from chassis 971,550 (1962) and a 12-volt diagram from chassis 217.000.001 (August 1966).  Even that one was not exactly right. When I set out to draw my own, little did I know that by the time I went to put it all back together, I would have one in color in the official shop manual or that the specialty shops would provide one with a new harness.  The solution is always the same though.  Get a good diagram.

Even if your funds do not allow for purchase of a new wiring harness or you are just trying to get your lights to work, the diagram is the bible.  If all else fails, tag the wire!  The VW people wanted your lights to work.  They went to the trouble of stamping or casting circuit numbers on almost everything.  Everything, sorry to say, except the wires.  If you pull your dimmer relay out (wires attached) and look closely, each post on the relay has a number or symbol on it.  Power from the lighting switch is 56, power to the low beam is 56a, and power to the high beam is 56b.  No dimmer relay?  Ah, you have the dimmer switch on the floor not the column.  The circuit number is still the same and if you understand that it begins to make sense.

As I was saying, pull the relay (or switch) out and read the numbers on it.   Before you start pulling wires off, tag them with the circuit number.  Use masking tape if this is a quick-and-dirty job, but remember masking tape has a short life.  It dries and falls off.  Whatever you use, keep it small and tough enough to fit through holes and grommets without ripping off.  I am not one of those who aligns and bundles and shows his wires to someone with a white glove and clipboard.  I just feel better knowing that the wire knocked loose under the dash is marked K3 and that is why the turn indicator warning light is not working.  This may seem very anal-retentive to some, but it can save you from a lot of grief down the line.  3M makes a handy letter/number tape dispenser that allows you to identify wires cleanly.  Tear off a small piece, wrap it around the wire and you’re done.  You should be able to find one with electrical supplies at the hardware store or lumberyard.  When I built my house, I marked all the wiring like this.  Professional electricians use it regularly.  After you spend ten bucks on it, you may find it works well for computer wires and speaker wires and . . . your imagination is the limit.

The two most important facets of wiring are easy:  "Fry Nothing" and "Put It Back Where It Came From."  There are times when it is too late for the former, but that is usually because someone ignored the latter.  The simplest way to fry nothing is to disconnect the battery.  That also makes it very difficult to test anything and diagnose the problem.  I found that the fastest way to fry something is to let one of those stock VW brass connectors slip and find a ground you didn’t know about.   My wife found out too when number 30 slipped off the ignition switch and grounded in a flash!  Ol’ number 30 to the ignition switch and the light switch has no fuse to blow so it just melts whatever is around.  Simple but effective (though non-stock) solution is to buy some of the shrink-type tubing, cut off an inch, cover the brass connector and shrink it with a blow dryer.  That connector may eventually slip off the stud, but it won’t short out on you.  I protected every connector on circuit 30 this way.  Cheap insurance.