Re: IML: '60 wiring harness rubber at doors '61 '62 '63 '64 '65?

[richard burgess <lecrown60@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,  Thank you for your thoughts.  I added power locks to my '60 and at the same time entirely recreated the harness where it goes from firewall to door.  I had spare harness from parts cars so was able to retain factory color codes.  These new splices were about 24" long and I staggered the splices to avoid creating a giant mass of connectors.  I covered each individual splice with heat shrink tubing and then wrapped everything in tape as original.  Power windows and locks create about a 3/4' dia. bundle.  I had bought Gary Goers reproduction but not only is the hose diameter a little small, but they fold in half even worse than the originals.  Creating a sharp kink everytime the door is operated.  I may just go to a local salvage yard and do some "research".  After all the time I took recreating the harness I just don't want to see it get all cut up again.  Some of the suggestions I may look into.  Have to retain the stock harness as I have that much restored already.

 

Thanks,

 

Richard Burgess, '60 Crown

Joe Strickland <jwstrick426@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Richard;
>
> I have seen the methods that Mike mentions too. It seems that the auto 
> makers have never found a really reliable method of protecting wiring 
> to/from the doors of cars and trucks. I had a 1985 Dodge Maxi-van which 
> had electric windows and door locks. The electric door lock for the 
> right rear side door and the back doors used the "button" contact method 
> he describes. I owned the van from new and kept it for 10 years. On it 
> the contact buttons were embedded in rather thick firm rubber wafers 
> which would make contact when the doors were closed. I don't remember 
> having any trouble with
>  them. The one thing about this approach is that 
> there is considerable pressure that needs to be applied to prevent 
> arcing at the contact points. The more contacts to make/break a greater 
> pressure is required. At some point there could be problems with 
> stressing the sheet metal on the front face of the door and/or the body 
> contact point.
>
> I owned a '73 New Yorker for years and it had all power windows 
> including power vent windows. It had the "snake skin" sleeve that Mike 
> mentioned. This car I bought used and it already had problems with the 
> electric windows. I finally traced individual wires and replaced 
> sections to/from the driver's door. I used 3-M electrical tape and some 
> heat shrink tubing to make the repairs. The '70s series of Imperials 
> and Chryslers all used the same window lift switches. There were many 
> more wires required for these models than the older ones in the '60s and 
> previous. The '70s models
>  accomplished changing the direction of the 
> motors in the doors by reversing the polarity of the applied voltage. 
> The older cars window lift motors had two windings, one for up and one 
> for down. That reduced the number of wires needed to only 3 per motor, 
> up lead, down lead and common ground. I think the older models were 
> more reliable in that respect.
>
> As long as wire bundles are not rubbing against a surface, it is better 
> to spread any flexing over as wide a length of the bundle as possible. 
> It is similar to taking a solid wire a foot long and flexing it along 
> the entire length many times. Metal fatigue takes a long time to make 
> it break. Conversely if you concentrate the bending at a small area, 
> say 1 inch, it will develop metal fatigue much quicker. It would 
> require experimentation to determine how much wire bundle could be in 
> the area where the door closes and still not rub against something.
>
> Another
>  make/break contact approach might be to use beryllium copper 
> springs mounted on some hard plastic which would touch when the doors 
> close. Beryllium copper makes a long lasting spring and has the right 
> electrical conductivity. It can be bought in flat sheets and formed to 
> shape and then heated to develop the spring properties that it is 
> capable of. I don't know just how hot the metal has to be or for how 
> long, so a metallurgist would have to be consulted. Beryllium is a 
> hazardous material (poisonous) so working with it requires precautions 
> to avoid dust etc. and any waste material would need to be disposed of 
> by recycling or other appropriate method.
>
> I suspect that most of us will go the route of just replacing damaged 
> wires as needed. It is quicker, cheaper and easier. It might be 
> possible to get wires of the right AWG and color codes from some of the 
> companies who make replacement wiring harnesses. You might want to
>  
> consider some of the plastic sleeving that is available in Radio Shack 
> and electrician supply stores to cover the wire bundles. It makes a 
> neat way to cover them and flexes with the wires. Many colors are 
> available including black. It wouldn't be OEM, though. Neither are 
> some of these other ideas either.
>
> Good luck.
>
> Joe S.
>
>
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