Wiring Harness/ Fuse Panel

[Patrick]

What have the rest of you guys/gals done to your Dune Buggy in the way of a wiring harness and fuse box? Did you guys go stock or put another set up in your buggies? If you have suggestions or kits that are out there for sale let us know. Links to pages or what you all used would help out. Thanks,

[Frontloader]

Wiring the buggy is my next step in the rebuild process. I am interested also in what works and doesn't work.

Some of the comments I have read on how to do a harness on some sites sound like a lot of overkill. I used the stock harness when I initially built my buggy. It wasn't the greatest but it never caused me any problems.

Because of its age, I am going with something new this time. I have studied a lot of wiring diagrams and don't think it will be a problem to do the job. It will just have to been done slowly and correctly the first time to save a lot of trouble shooting in the future.

[Frontloader]

Here is a site from Murzi. Bookmark it for future use.

http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b374/ ... g%20stuff/

[David O']

There aren't any kits out there for buggies......that have enough wire or enough fuses. Get a new stock front to rear harness for a bus, and you will more than enough wire......and the color codes will be right. I sell those.....oops shamless plug......
If you wire a buggy like a volkswagen instead of an airplane or a ford it will always work......use the stock VW switches and the job is real easy!
Toggle switches all over the place and american ignition switches in the dash........is just looking for trouble.

[Patrick]

I also asked the same question on the Manxter website. I got this reply back. Think I'll start saving up my pennies... This was used in the Manxter that came to our show and one other buggy owner used it. Pricey but made for the VW and comes in a kit. Course $350.00 for a harness and wires are a bit high price.

We used a Watson's Streetworks VW harnesss.

http://www.watsons-streetworks.com/vw.html

[carlos del carpio]

I'm going to use a hot-rod type of block and harness, should be easy.. that, or I found a wire manufac. that provides labeled wires... this means I can have black for ground/negative, and red for positive... while the circuits are being numberd on the jackets.. so, if I have a problem with the power to the rear lights, for instance, I would look at the number on the wire, then find it on the fuse block, etc..much easier for troubleshooting...

oh, I'm also going to make a run to the junkyard after the runs are made, but not terminated.. I'm going to get both ends of a harness connector or two, maybe 3.. from the engine compartment of a modern vehicle.. this will allow me for ONE disconnect to remove the hood, ONE for the body, etc.. very handy!

[Mike & Mel]

Following a VW wiring diagram isnt that hard. You can run all the wiring yourself and it can save you a bundle. You can go with various bulk wire and still maintain the proper wire colors, running as many curcuits as you need (be sure to run 2 or 3 spare wires when you pull them for any unforseen future use). So far as the fuse block, I did spend the money (about $95.00) for the Painless Wiring 12-Curcuit fuse block that uses ATO style blade fuses. It has pleanty of curcuits, an always hot side, and ignition-on hot side. I also like the idea of being able to walk into any 7-Eleven and buy spare fuses (Hard to find the German style out on the road). Had it off-road for the last two years and not one problem with it. When I had the old German style block, I had a contact cap break off of one fuse so you couldn't tell that the fuse was bad by just looking at it in the block. You had to pull it out and visually inspect it before you could tell it was bad.