1968-69 Beetle Wiring Harness Installation - Part 3:

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Part 3 - A Comprehensive Guide to VW Beetle Wiring Harness Installation

Introduction:

Welcome to the heart of Beetle restoration – the intricate world of wiring. In this segment, we'll guide you through installing the left and right headlight harnesses, turn signal harnesses, and the brake light harness for your VW Beetle. Let's illuminate the path to a perfectly wired Bug!

Tools Needed:

-8mm Socket
-Lug Wrench
-¼” Drive Ratchet
-¼” Drive 6” Extension
-Needle Nose Pliers
-Phillips Screwdriver
-Long, Small Flat Blade Screwdriver
-Jack
-Jack Stands

Step 1: Brake Light Harness

1. Prepare the Ground: Jack up the front of your car and secure it on jack stands. Remove the front left wheel to access the master cylinder brake light switches.

2. Unplug and Replace: Disconnect old wires from brake light switches. Use a length of wire and feed it in from the trunk on the back side of the reservoir lines. The line should exit underneath the gas tank above the master cylinder. Tape the new brake light harness up tightly and then tape it to the length of wire. Then pull the old wire in the trunk side up to the body, to pull the brake light harness through.

3. Switch Setup: Depending on your Beetle model:

• For three 2-prong brake light switches, connect blue and red wires to the far front switch, and the other two harnesses each to the remaining switches.




• For two 3-prong brake light switches, connect black and black/red harnesses to parallel terminals on the switches. Connect blue wire from the third harness to one switch, and red wire to the other.

4. Fuse Box Connection: In the trunk, connect the black wire to the front terminal on the fuse box's far left. Connect black/red wire to the main harness with a shrouded terminal connector. The red wire will connect to the dash brake warning light later.

Step 2: Left Headlight and Horn Harness

1. Harness Routing:Tape brown and black/yellow wires together. Feed the horn harness through the body, ensuring proper exit underneath the gas tank.

2. Horn Installation: Pull the wires through, guide them to the outer fender well, and install new horn wire boots. Plug the wires onto the horn and slide the boots into place.

3. Fuse Box Connection:At the fuse box, connect wires as follows:

• Yellow wire to the front terminal fifth from the car's right side.


• White wire to the front terminal third from the car's left side.


• Additional blue/white wire to the high beam indicator bulb on the speedometer.


• Black wire to the front terminal second from the car's left side. The additional black wire connects to the voltage stabilizer for the fuel gauge on the speedometer.


• Brown wire connects to the turn signal switch wiring harness with a shrouded wiring connector.

4. Headlight Removal: Unscrew the headlight trim ring screw, pop off the headlight trim ring, and remove the headlight assembly from the bucket. Unplug the original wiring connector.

5. Wire Routing: Route yellow and white wires along with the separate ground wire through the headlight wire tube. Push wires and tubes through the trunk hole and pull them into place from the inner fender well.

6. Ground Connection: In the trunk, unscrew the old ground wire's ring terminal and screw in the new ground wire.

7. Headlight Connection: In the headlight bucket, slide wires into the headlight connector plug and press them forward until they snap into place. Plug the connector into the headlight and reinstall the headlight and trim ring.

Step 3: Right Headlight Harness

1. Fuse Box Connection: Connect wires as follows:

• Yellow wire to the front terminal fifth from the car's right side.
  
  
  
• White wire to the front terminal fourth from the car's left side.
  

2. Routing: Guide the harness under the fuel tank filler hose to the right headlight tube. Follow the same installation process as the left side.

Step 4: Turn Signal Harness

1. Assembly Removal: Remove turn signal assemblies by unscrewing the two 8mm nuts holding each assembly in place.

2. Wire Tube Replacement: If needed, replace the turn signal base seals and wire tubes. Push wires into the turn signal seal tubes.

3. Seal Tube Installation: Pull the wires through the tube, reaching through the top of the turn signal base seal. Do this for both left and right turn signal harnesses.

4. Connector Plugging: Plug wires into the turn signal bases – gray wire into the left tab and black/white or black/green wire into the right tab.

5. Routing: Guide the harnesses, tubes, and seals through the top of either fender, through the holes into the trunk, and pull the wires into place.

6. Assembly Reinstallation: Bolt the turn signal assemblies back in place on each fender.

7. Fuse Box Connection: Route wires up to the fuse box and connect as follows:

• For the left turn signal: Gray wire to the front terminal fourth from the car's right side. Black and white wire to a shrouded quad connector.




• For the right turn signal: Gray wire to the front terminal third from the car's right side. Black and green wire to a shrouded quad connector.

8. Final Steps: Jack up the front of the car, remove jack stands, and lower it down.

You've now conquered the complexities of wiring harness installation for the front of your Beetle. Stay tuned for our upcoming videos, where we'll delve into the dome light harness and dash wiring to complete the electrical masterpiece in your Bug. For top-quality vintage Volkswagen parts and accessories, visit JBugs.com – your trusted ally in VW restoration. Let the Bug's brilliance shine!

Click here for the next video in our re-wiring series.

Video Transcript:

Intro This portion of rewiring our 1969 beetle we'll be installing the left and right headlight harnesses, the left and right turn signal harnesses, and the brake light harness. There's a separate ground wire for each headlight as well as the headlight connectors that the wires will plug into. We will also be using 3 shrouded terminal connectors, and 2 H or quad connectors. To install the brake light harness jack up the front of the car and set the front end up on jack stands. Then remove the front left wheel so you can access the master cylinder brake light switches. Unplug the old wires from the brake light switches and pull the harness out of the body. Headlight Harness Removal Use an old length of wire, roughly 3 feet should do, and feed it in from the trunk on the back side of the reservoir lines. The line should exit underneath the gas tank above the master cylinder. Tape the new brake light harness up tightly and then tape it to the length of wire. Headlight Harness Installation Then pull the old wire in the trunk side up to the body, to pull the brake light harness through. With the wires pulled up, hook [up] the wires to the brake light extensions. Brake Light Switch Wiring 1968 and 1969 models originally had 3 2 prong brake light switches. If your car still has that set up, install the blue and red wires at the switch at the far front end of the master cylinder. The other 2 harnesses each have a black and a black and red wire and those will plug into the other 2 brake light switches. It doesn't matter which side of the switch any of the wires plus into. As long as the wires from each harness are plugged into the same brake light switch. Our car as well as most on the road today has a master cylinder with 2 3 prong brake light switches. The 2 black and black and red harnesses plug into the 2 parallel terminals on either switch. Then the blue wire from the third harness will plug into the top terminal on one switch. The red wire will plug into the top terminal on the other switch. Brake Harness Wiring In the trunk the black wire from the brake harness will plug into the front terminal on the fuse box, at the cars far left side. The black and red wire connects to the black and red wire from the main harness with a shrouded terminal connector. The red wire connects to a shrouded terminal connector and will connect to the dash brake warning light later. Route the left headlight and horn harness along the left side of the car. Headlight Harness Installation Tape the 2 wires to the horn, the brown wire and the black and yellow wire, together and feed the horn harness through the body in front of the brake reservoir lines. The wires should exit underneath the gas tank above the master cylinder. The headlight portion with just the white and yellow wire will continue forward. From the wheel well pull the horn harness forward, still inside the fender well and tuck it through the original wiring tab on the body. Then guide the wires through the body to the outside fender well and install new horn wire boots. Plug the wires onto the horn, then slide the boots down into place. At the fuse box the left headlight harness has 4 wires with 2 of the wires having a small length of wire and another terminal. The yellow wire plugs into the front terminal fifth from the cars right side. The white wire plugs into the front terminal third from the cars left side. The white wire has an additional length, of blue and white wire that plugs into the high beam indicator bulb on the speedometer. The black wire plugs into the front terminal second from the cars left side. The additional length of black wire from there plugs into the voltage stabilizer, for the fuel gauge on the speedometer. The brown wire connects to the brown wire from the turn signal switch wiring harness with a shrouded wiring connector. At the front of the car remove the headlights by unscrewing the headlight trim ring screw, Headlight Removal and pop off the head light trim ring. Then unscrew the 3 screws that hold the headlight assembly to the fender. Remove the headlight assembly from the bucket, and unplug the original wiring connector and pull it and the wires from the car. Remove any remanence of the old headlight tubes unless they are in good shape, in which case remove them from the car to make running a new wiring harness through easier. Route the yellow and white wires from the headlight harness along with the separate ground wire Headlight Bucket Harness Installation through the headlight wire tube. Then push the wires and the tubes through the hole in the trunk. Then from the inner fender well, pull the wires and tube into place. In the fender well push the grommet into place, in the wire hole in the back of the headlight bucket and pull the wires through. In the trunk unscrew the old ground wires ring terminal from the front of the gas tank, and screw in the new ground wire. In the headlight bucket, slide the wires into place into the headlight connector plug as shown, and press them forward until they snap into place. Plug the connector into the headlight and reinstall the headlight and trim ring. The right headlight harness will route from the fuse box. The yellow wire will plug into the front terminal fifth from the cars right side. The white wire plugs into the front terminal fourth from the cars left side. The harness will go under the fuel tank filler hose, and to the right headlight tube. The installation of the wire, including the ground wire, the ground screw, and headlight rubber tube, are the same as we have just shown on the left side. Remove the left and right turn signal assemblies Turn Signal Installation from the fenders by removing the 2 8mm nuts on the bottom of the fender holding each assembly in place. If your turn signal base seals and wire tubes are in good shape, remove the wire tube from the trunk then pull them off the fender carefully. Replace the seals if needed. With the seals and harnesses in place, Turn Signal Harness Installation push the wires into the turn signal seal tube which are a part of the turn signal seal. This step can seem quite difficult for most, but with some patience and a long skinny screwdriver both wires can be pushed through the wire tube 1 at a time. With both wires pushed through, then reach through the top of the turn signal base seal with a pair of needle nose pliers, grab the rubber tube and pull it up into the base seal. This needs to be done for both the left and the right turn signal harnesses and seals. Then plug the wires to the turn signals into the turn signal bases. The gray wire plugs into the left side tab. The black and white, or black and green wire will plug into the [right] tab. Guide the harnesses, tubes and seals in place through the top of either fender, through the holes into the trunk, and pull the wires into place into the trunk. Then bolt the turn signal assemblies back in place on each fender. Route the front left harness up to the fuse box following the left headlight harness path. The gray wire plugs into the front terminal fourth from the cars right side. The black and white wire plugs into a shrouded quad connector. Then the black and white wire from the turn signal switch, along with the black and white wire from the rear main harness, will also plug into this quad connector. Route the front right turns signal harness up to the fuse box. The gray wire plugs into the front terminal third from the cars right. The black and green wire plugs into a shrouded quad connector. The black and green wire from the turn signal switch and the black and green wire from the rear main harness, will also plug into this quad connector. The front of the car can now be jacked up, the jack stands can be removed, and the car can be lowered down. We will move to the dome light harness and to the dash, to complete the wiring installation there, in later videos.