Category: Electrical

I spent a couple hours last weekend looking at the spare C-series wiring harness I’ve got tacked to a board vs. the diagrams in the service manuals, with a goal of trying to identify what I’ve got and to possibly refurbish it for the truck. In the manual there are two model years provided, those for the C100 series and those for the D1000+ series. With a lot of studying and some magnification I was able to track down some of the cable runs from the fuse block to their endpoint at the bulkhead connectors.

The easiest ones to follow were for the headlights: two green wires marked 18A and 18B, which didn’t change between the two model years. I put a multimeter lead at either end and tested for continuity, and was please to see things worked. I found and tested a couple more but got stalled when I was trying to compare what I found at the end of some of the bulkhead connectors to what the diagrams said, and stepped back to have a beer and a think. This wiring harness is in decent shape and is about 90% complete, but there are several runs that end in clipped wires before they get to a connector, which means I don’t know where they lead or how they connect to the truck.

I decided to do some product research. My first call was to Super Scout Specialists, who sadly told me the guy they had building their wiring harnesses is no longer with the company. Next I (gulp) called Travelallparts.com, who have harnesses listed on their site for $2-300 more than SSS does. They confirmed the price and told me I should consider a blade fuse upgrade to the kit for an additional $300. Then, on a hunch, I called the Scout Connection, with whom I had excellent luck finding the brake part nobody else was able to identify. Dave took my information and when he called back gave me a great price for a bench-tested used harness, minus the fuse panel. I told him I’d send him the spare fuse panel I have on my workbench, and we set up the deal.

Having a mostly working electrical system will be a huge upgrade to the truck; right now it starts and runs without any fusible links at all, which is still a bit mystifying to me, as are the working fuel and amperage gauges and the single brake light that worked before I disconnected the leads to the aftermarket trailer brake.

In other news, the box of dilapidated seat covers I sent Jeff last week have gone completely missing via UPS. On my visit to mail off the fuse panel (which was insured), I asked them to help me track it down, but they still don’t have any information.

I’m slowly mapping out the process for rewiring the Travelall, and every time I look at the wiring diagram I become exhausted and feel like I need to go lie down. A lot of this is basically just understanding the scope of the project and gathering the tools needed to get it done, a lot of which I already have. This video goes into some of the basics and begins with a welcome reminder that this isn’t really that hard, as long as one takes their time and remains organized. He links to a super-handy spreadsheet with some parts links, which are appreciated. He also recommends a labelmaker printing on heat-shrink tubing, but the one he specifies is pricy, so I’ll have to figure something else out there.

So far I’ve got large poster-sized printouts of the early 1960 diagram and the 1968 D-series diagram, and I have to identify the spare harness I’ve got on the bench. If it’s 1963-compatible, I’m in good shape. If it’s not I have to figure out how different it is and rebuild it. From there, the next steps are:

• Compare and identify the major plug connectors—are the pinouts the same?
• Trace the main wires back to the fuse panel and label everything
• Pull the connectors apart and clean all the connections
• Test each of the wires from beginning to end and replace anything that’s gone bad.
• Replace any bulb fittings or other special elements

I know Super Scouts has a barrel full of old wiring looms, so I’d bet they have connectors available to buy; I’m going to contact them to see if they’ll sell me the ones I need to complete this.

Update: I looked over the two printouts I’ve got here to identify the spare wiring harness in the basement, and as I suspected it’s a later model assembly, which means it’s not plug-and-play with the one in the truck. From what the D-series diagram shows, the fuse block is completely different and the connectors are all barrel-style while the earlier C-series connectors are square. So, Plan B: I’m going to get a length of wire, solder on a male spade, and set up a continuity test with a multimeter. If I can figure out which wires go where, I’ll use some fancy solder connectors to hook the spare fuse block I’ve got with the wires in the dash. Some of the wires are pretty easy to sleuth out but it’s going to take time to sort out the others.