1968-69 Beetle Wiring Harness Installation - Part 1:

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Step-by-Step Guide: Installing the Wiring Works 1968 to 1969 VW Beetle Complete Wiring Harness

Introduction:

At JBugs.com, we understand the importance of maintaining and upgrading your vintage Volkswagen Beetle. In this article, we will walk you through the initial steps of installing the Wiring Works 1968-1969 VW Beetle complete wiring harness. This comprehensive guide covers the removal of existing wiring and the installation of the new harness, ensuring a smooth process for both beginners and seasoned enthusiasts. Let's dive into the details.

Tools Needed:

-8mm Wrench
-10mm Wrench
-13mm Wrench
-Large Phillips Screwdriver
-Linemans Pliers
-Wire Snips
-Electrical Tape

Step 1: Prepare for the Installation

Before starting the installation, ensure you have the necessary tools and disconnect the battery. Remove the rear seat bottom to access the trunk area where most of the wiring connections are located.

Step 2: Disconnect & Prep in the Trunk

In the trunk, disconnect turn signal and ignition switch wiring harnesses from their connections at the fuse box, relays, and main harness. Be cautious not to cut wires coming from the bottom side of the dash, near the speedometer, as they will be reused.

Step 3: Disconnection at the Front Left "A" Pillar

Moving down the front left "A" pillar, disconnect the dome light harness from door jamb switches, ground tang, and fuse box. Do not pull the dome light harness out, as it will be used to pull the new harness through the roof.

Step 4: Switches and Components Removal

Remove wiper, headlight, and emergency switches from the dash. It's recommended to pull out the glove box insert for easier access. Disconnect and remove every wire from the fuse box, headlight switch, relay, emergency flasher switch, flasher relay, wiper motor and switch, speedometer, and brake warning indicator light.

Step 5: Engine Compartment Disconnection

At the engine, disconnect wires at the generator, carburetor, coil, tail lights, and license light. Leave the distributor-to-coil wires in place. Cut down the main harness, leaving a foot or two of the thick red wire, to be used for pulling the new harness through the body.

Step 6: Free the Main Wiring Harness

Remove the left rear quarter panel to access the wiring harness which is run behind it. Disconnect various wires for the main harness to the voltage regulator and free the main harness from the body. Cut the harness at the quarter panel, leaving enough to hold onto as you pull the new harness through. Remove the front portion of the main harness from inside the car.

Step 7: Preparing the Main Harness

Prepare the main harness by tucking wires under the rear seat and wrapping the split with electrical tape. Leave the thick red wire loose at the front as it will be attached to the old wiring harness. Attach the new harness to the old harness by looping and taping the two thick red wires together. Pull the new harness through the body with an assistant guiding from the rear.

Step 8: Attaching the New Harness

Underneath the rear seat, the connection of the voltage regulator involves several wires. Reconnect the following wires.

B+ Terminal - Red wire with 3/8“ spade terminal
#61 Terminal - Blue wire
D+ Terminal - Red wire with ring terminal
DF Terminal - Green wire
Ground - Brown wire



The thick red wire with a 1/4 inch spade from the front of the harness serves as the power to the starter solenoid and will be connected later.

The black wire with a 1/4 inch spade from the front of the harness connects to the #86 terminal on the rear window defroster relay. If the rear window defroster wire, usually a white wire with a 1/4 inch spade terminal in a black sheath, was disconnected earlier, it is meant to connect to the #87 terminal on the relay.






Step 9: Wiring in the Engine Compartment




In the engine compartment, the wiring harness branches into three segments: a short harness with three wires for the left tail light, and a longer harness with three wires for the right side, which is routed behind the engine along the firewall, secured by metal tabs. The engine section of the harness is directed to the fan shroud, where a factory fan shroud with tabs ensures proper placement as it runs past the coil toward the generator.

This engine harness includes two loose wires, a black wire for the positive side of the coil, and a blue wire with a green stripe for the oil switch. The generator features three wires: a brown wire with a ring terminal attached to the back, a thick red wire connecting to the D+ post, and a green wire connecting to the DF post.





Step 10: Finalizing the Installation




In the trunk, unwrap the wiring harness and rout it up towards the back of the dash using the metal tabs that will hold the harness in place. Connect new wires to the fuse box and switches.






Conclusion




With these steps, you've completed the initial installation of the Wiring Works 1968-1969 VW Beetle complete wiring harness. For the final steps and additional installation details, stay tuned for our upcoming videos. For all your vintage Volkswagen needs, visit JBugs.com – your trusted source for quality parts and expert guidance. Happy driving!




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

Video Transcript:

Intro Hi I'm Sam with California Pacific JBugs. In this video we're going to begin the installation of the Wiring Works 1968 to 1969 VW Beetle complete wiring harness. This portion of the video will cover removing most of all the wiring, and then running and hooking up the majority of the main wiring harness. First remove the rear seat bottom and disconnect the the battery. Then in the trunk, disconnect the turn signal and ignition switch wiring harnesses from their connections a the fuse box, relays, and main harness connections. The wires for these switches come from the bottom side of the dash on the cars left side of the trunk near the speedometer. Do not cut these wires as they are part of their switches, and these wires will be reused. Coming down the front left "A" pillar the dome light harness can be disconnected from the door jamb switches, the ground tang near the speedometer and the fuse box. Do not pull the dome light harness out as it will be used to pull the new harness through the roof. Remove the wiper, headlight and emergency switches from the dash. Main Harness Removal Pulling the glove box insert, out makes it considerably easier to access the switches when removing them. Then disconnect and remove every wire from the fuse box, headlight switch and relay, emergency flasher switch and flasher relay, wiper motor and switch, speedometer and brake warning indicator light. The various wires and harness to the master cylinder and horn, turn signals and headlights, can all be cut away at the body. The remainder of those harnesses and wires can be removed when the new wires are being installed. Next at the engine, we disconnect the wires at the generator, carburetor, coil, tail lights and license light. The wire or wires from the distributor to the coil can be left in place. With the engine compartment wires disconnected, we can cut down the main harness so it can be used to pull the new harness through the body. Cut the splits in the harness down to just the main portion keeping about a foot or two of the thick red wire. Inside the car, we remove the left rear quarter panel so we can access the wiring harness that runs behind it. Disconnect the various wires from the main harness to the voltage regulator, the starter wire, and if the relay is still in place, the black wire to the rear window defroster relay. Leave the other defroster wires in place as they are not included with the harness. Remove the drivers seat and pull back the carpet that runs allong the drivers side heater channel and the front inner left quarter panel. Also remove the left kick panel under the rear seat cross bar. The main harness is held to the heater channel with the metal spring clips that can be rotated out of place, or gently pried out. With the main harness free from the body, we cut the harness at the quarter panel, leaving enough left so we can to hold onto it as we pull the new harness through. We can remove the front portion of the main harness from the inside of the car, pulling out from underneath the dash, and through the front heater channel. At this point most all of the wires should be removed from the car, the important exceptions being: the ignition switch and turn signal switch harnesses, the dome light harness, the starter wire, battery cables, which are in place but not connected, and the rear window defroster wiring. Main Harness Preparation Now prep the main harness to it can be run through the body. The middle of the harness had a split where the wires under the rear seat are. These wires can be tucked into the splits and bundled up tightly, then wrap the split with electrical tape, just enough to keep the wires protected. The loose wires at the front of the harness need to be taped up as well so they can be pulled through the body. Main Harness Installation On the front portion on of the main harness leave the thick red wire loose as it will be attached to the old wiring harness. Back at the rear of the car, we are going to attach the new harness to the old harness, by looping the two thick red wires from each harness together, and then taping the connection with electrical tape. The new harness can now be pulled through the body. An assistant is helpfull here to guide the harness in from the rear, and to make sure that the wiring split at the rear is aligned properly. While pulling the harness in from the rear quarter panel, keep pulling until you see the taped portion in the middle of the harness. Now untape the old harness from the new harness, so you can run the new harness through the body. The harness is going to be pulled through the hole at the lower edge of the quarter panel, and once its pulled through the original grommet can be slid back in place. If your rear window defroster wires are still in place, make sure it is pulled throught the grommet as well. Then unwrap the electrical tape around the middle portion that we taped up earlier, and pull out all the loose wires. There will be 7 loose wires from the harness its self, and of course the rear window defroster if thats in place as well. Run the harness underneath the rear heater duct and then into the groove in the side of the heater channel towards the front of the car. At the front of the heater channel, run the wiring through the hole in the heater channel, and into the trunk, at the grommet in place at the bottom side of the trunk. Install the spring metal clips to hold the harness in place to the heater channel. Back underneath the rear seat, we can hook up the voltage regulator, Voltage Regulator Installation with the thick red wire with the 3/8 spade which is going to connect to the B+ terminal, the thin blue wire with the 1/4 inch spade connects ti the #61 terminal, the thick red wire with the ring terminal connects to the D+ terminal, the green wire with the 1/4 inch spade connects to the DF terminal. There is also the brown wire which is going to ground it out at the mounting screw at the rear of the voltage regulator. The thick red wire with the 1/4 inch spade from the front of the harness is the power to the starter solenoid, it will connect to it later. The black wire with the 1/4 inch spade from the front of the harness connects to the #86 terminal on the rear window defroster relay. The rear window defroster wire is a white wire with a 1/4 inch spade terminal usually in a black sheath. If you disconnected it earlier, it is going to connect to the #87 terminal on the relay. Engine Compartment Wiring In the engine compartment the wiring harness splits into 3 portions. There is a short harness with 3 wires that will go to the left tail light harness. A longer harness that will go to the right side, that also has 3 wires. The longer harness is routed behind the engine along the firewall, and there a couple metal tabs that hold the harness in place to the firewall. The engine portion of the harness is routed to the fan shroud. A factory fan shroud will have tabs to hold the wiring in place, as it runs past the coil towards the generator. The engine harness had two loose wires, a black wire which will plug into the positive side of the coil, and a blue wire with a green stripe which plugs into the oil switch. The generator has 3 wires: a brown wire with a ring terminal, that is attached to a small screw at the back of the generator, a thick red wire that connects to the threaded D+ post on the generator, the green wire connects to the threaded DF post on the generator. Main Harness Fuse Box Wiring At the front of the car, in the trunk, unwrap the wiring harness and rout it up towards the back of the dash using the metal tabs that will hold the harness in place. The black wire with a red stripe, the black wire with a white stripe, and the black wire with the green stripe, will be set to the side for now. The thick black wire from the main harness connects to the fuse box on the back rear terminal on the cars left side. The white wire, one with a black stripe and one with a green stripe, connects to the fuse box on the middle terminal on the 3rd and 4th terminal from the cars right side. There are 2 thick red wires, the longer red wire with a black sheath will plug into 1 of the 3, #30 terminals on the headlight switch The other thick red wire plugs into a shrouded terminal connector which then plugs into the thick red wire with a black stripe going to the ignition switch harness. The blue wire connects to the cars lower right side speedometer indicator warning light bulb. The blue wire with a green stripe, connects to the cars lower left side speedometer indicator warning bulb. The thin black wire is for the rear window defroster relay. If your car still has the defroster switch, it is typically located to the cars right side of the speedometer, you plug it into the switch there. With that we finish the bulk of the main wiring harness installation. We will finish the installation of the rest of the harness in later videos.