willysmjeeps.com

So I have been looking at replacing the wiring harness for my M38 by building my own since I cant afford the 800 for a per-built one. However as I have been taking more of the original harness out I have noticed that there is a good portion of it that is in decent shape (the wires seem sound but all of the insulation has rotted off). Is there anyway of repairing what is there? I thought of just re wrapping all the bare wires with electrical tape but Im not sure if that is the right way of doing it.

JaceM38 wrote:I thought of just re wrapping all the bare wires with electrical tape but Im not sure if that is the right way of doing it.

SNAKEBITE!!

RTV would be better than tape in my opinion, not to mention easier to apply. not sure how practical that is though as materials would get quite costly.

Rick what would your suggestion be? If I am going to do this I want to make sure I do it right

Early in your jeep project thread we discussed building harness from scratch. If as you say your old harness is complete but bare you have an advantage as you can use the old harness as a template. Each wire has a metal tag on each end with the wire #. You can begin building a loom that matches the old unit all the while carefully marking the wire# on each end of each new wire. Reuse the metal parts from your douglas connectors or change to more easily worked packards, the options are endless. Great wiring diagrams are here on this website for the taking. As wire harness goes the M-38 harness is purty straightforward. If you're not worried about authenticity you can get fresh run 14ga black (or any color if you decide to color code a harness) from any electrical supply house by the foot off the roll. Repairing failing harness will have you chasing shorts, running down batts and wondering where that smoke and sizzling bacon sound is coming from. An additional benefit is you will learn and know which wire went where and why. You can do it!!

A possible answer to your question:
Remove the terminal from the end of the wire.
Build up the bare wires with Heat Shrink Tube insulation multilayer to the external diameter of the original insulation and finally a Heat Shrink Tube that you slide a piece over the original insulation.
The end of the terminal drill it out and solder the wire back into the terminal.
Chris

Thanks Rick, I'm definitely intimidated by trying to build a harness my self but I want to make sure I do this project right. I will probably be asking many more stupid questions thanks for the help.

You may also find a few of the sub-harnesses that you'll need from some of the guys here on the forum. For example I have a spare 5-wire spider for the rear of the inst panel just lookin for a loving home..

If the insulation is gone there is a good possibility some of the strands of wire are broken. My opinion(2 cents worth) is spring for new wiring either a complete harness or a homemade one with new wires. The old adage" pay now or pay later" could very well apply. New wires of your choice vs watching your jeep burn. They are mostly steel, but there is still enough to make a pretty sad looking mess.