Hi Everyone! New to working on classic cars, after looking at a few manuals, forums, videos, concluded that I need to replace the electrical system & get someone to do this & then maybe, maybe I can gradually get up to speed. Can someone give me a ballpark idea in terms of time, money, potential problems, etc. involved with such a huge task, if you had to get a shop to do this? I just want to collect advice or tips that might help as I look to start this process. Thanks!
If you get a shop to do it I doubt that you’d get change from $10k.
Chris 13;
First, what kind of car do you have, OTS, FHC or 2+2? What year? What experience do you have in regards to cars in the past? Why do you think the whole electrical system needs replacing? Is your car drivable and what has been done to it in the past? What work have you done on it? What has anyone told you about it?
Answers to these questions and other information you think may be helpful will go a long ways in getting good answers to your original question.
Regards, Joel.
I’d look at just replacing the engine bay electrical harness. They’re available for around four hundred bucks and it’s a straight forward manner of plugging similar coloured wires into where the old ones went. I helped Joe (RV4Flyer) do his and it fixed a myriad of electrical glitches. I’m now installing one in my car. Wiring inside the car isn’t exposed to weather-oil-heat and should be fine.
Generally this is done as part of a bigger project involving removing
interior etc. Cost depends on what you mean by “electrical system” and
what car you have. The harnesses for my S2 Coupe were around $800. If
you’re talking lights, switches and relays etc then, you shuld spend a some
time digging through the catalogues… I don’t have a guess on labor, but
it took me a couple days to run harnesses with the body already entirely
stripped out. There’s a lot of fiddling with connections and so forth,
depending on the quality of the harness and the condition of the switches
etc.
Are you having some specific electrical problems? We can help there…
John North
S2 Coupe
S1 Roadster (in baggies)
Thanks for responding Joel. It’s a 67 Series I FHC. No experience. I inherited the car and it was in the process of being restored, but was also in the process of being neglected…The engine will run, but I’ve been told the electrical system was butchered & I don’t have the expertise to know how badly. I’ve also been told the gas tank leaks, the brake calipers need work. The interior is stripped out, as is the glass, chrome, etc. I’m trying to figure out what I can do, what I can learn to do, what must be left to a ‘pro’ for now, and how best to get started, projects costs, and the like. My budget is limited, and I’d love to learn – the only work I’ve ever done was years ago – replacing brake pads, head lamps, oil, etc. just standard maintenance tasks on an mustang. (I tried to post photos, but didn’t seem to upload, will try again)
Chris13;
Thanks for the info. First of all I am no expert in regards the E-Type but I will offer some thoughts and you have to decide how you want to proceed.
Is the car in your possession or in a repair shop somewhere? The car, as it sits, has significant value and you need to make sure it is in a secure place. You mention someone has started to strip the car and some of those parts may disappear and or get lost if not in secure storage. Do not store it outside as it needs to be kept dry and critters need to be kept out of it.
There is very little mechanical repair/restoration that you can’t do given the desire to do it and learn what needs to be done. Depending on where you live there may be some active car people around that could be of some help.
Now for the big part. You mention that your budget is limited. That means different things to different people and I am not digging for your financial statement but will share some ball park figures in regards to these cars. These are not meant to scare you but to give you an idea of what to expect and my thoughts pertain to the US.
A complete interior will be about $6,000, not installed. Paint job anywhere from $5 to 10,000 depending on the prep work. Wire harness $9 to 1,100 not installed. Depending on the condition of the body, most rust is hidden and not discovered till you start looking for it, but it is all fixable. The body panels are available.
Many of us find as we get older (more mature) our financial condition improves and some because of family or other situations we are always living pay check to pay check. Only you can decide what is best for you. If you decide you can’t do this then what you have told us about has a significant value and you could sell it. If you want to store it in the hope you will be able to accomplish repair/restoration great, store in a secure dry place.
If you are going to work on it take pictures before you start and as you take it apart and then take more pictures. No one ever post here saying they have too many pictures they all complain they didn’t take enough, including me (I have 1800).
The pictures you posted are a start and I think it is a very doable car from what I see (remember I am not an expert) and there is very little you can’t learn to do.
This is long and may have missed the point or told you more then you wanted to know but in case it helps, GOOD LUCK.
Regards, Joel.
Thanks again for the reply, as I get further into this, I’ll be sure to post back with more specific questions.
Thanks John, I’ll be sure to post back with more specific questions about what’s needed, better photos, etc. Chris
Hi Chris, I would suggest what I did on the first carI restored. I had little experience with restoring cars. I had driven my 62 Chrysler 300H across country and had had some electrical problems.
I once lost the headlights, had a big short and destroyed a lot of the wiring harness (1985).
I Bought a used wiring harness from another 62 Chrysler sedan. I put it in the dishwasher and it looked like new. I then carefully removed the old harness, installed the new one but left the terminations disconnected. Next, I got a wiring diagram for the car and had it blown up in parts which I scotch taped together so I could carefully follow all the lines from point to point. Next, I bought a 12 volt lantern battery and a doorbell buzzer. I also bough 20 feet of twisted bell wire and a set of alligator clips. When the clips touch, the bell buzzes. I then had a blue marks-a-lot and yellow one.
With my wife’s help, I would select a circuit, say from the headlight relay to the headlight switch. I would mark that circuit in blue. The wife would connect one of the alligator clip to the correct wire (we also confirmed color code) and I would touch the other end of the wire. The buzzer should buzz, meaning conductivity was there. Then I would touch the other end to ground and confirmed it did not buzz, meaning it was not shorted. I then connected both ends and yellowed out that circuit. I continued until I had the entire circuit yellowed out. At that point, with all switches off,I installed and connected the battery. Everything worked, although I did discover a bad bulkhead connector in the process which I replaced. It is a simple way to have confidence in what you have. I had to do something similar with my retype because I did not have good grounds. I checked every single ground on the etype until I had 1 or 2 ohms. I had to sand many painted areas, apply silicone grease, internal spikes star washers etc. A methodical approach such as this is not especially high tech, but is something anyone can do. You would not want to pay the garage bill to do this. On my e-type I did this also, but each component was also either checked (switches are easy) or replaced, all bulbs were replaced with new, all sockets were throughly cleaned and greased with silicon grease. Leave battery disconnected if you do this. Good Luck! Mike Moore 63 OTS
I agree with Michael, don’t worry about a completer replacement of the wiring system at this time for this car. XKs Unlimited has a great wiring book for about $20+ that takes each circuit and draws it out in a manner that is easy to follow since it shows not only the wiring color but the physical connection, one circuit at a time. Then start with the circuits that don’t work (obviously). Go to HF and get one or a few of their electrical testators. I really like the one that attaches to the plus and minus of the battery and then tells you if the test point is connected to 12 volts or a good ground by showing a red or green LED. Also get a nice continuity testers and do with Michael was suggesting. Generally speaking, the wires don’t break in the middle. I believe that poor connections, poor grounds are create many problems. When I chase down a problem, i always start at the battery and go connection to connection. E.g., one side of fuse, other side of fuse, switch input, switch output, device input, ground of device. Also remember that their is likely to be corrosion between the wire the device, so touching the end of the wire might not mean that the device actually is seeing the input. Sometimes the connectors need a little squeeze to get them to make a good contact, sometimes a little sandpaper or scraping.
A last, when you can’t figure it out, post your question here, you’ve got lots of people wiling to help. If you add your address, you might even get someone to show up and help.
Rather than guessing at prices, have a look here https://www.terrysjag.com/category/E-TYPE-SER2-ELECTRICAL-WIRING.html to give you an idea of what you may have to pay out.
Jim.
Thanks for all the great info! I’ll post back after I’ve made some progress getting this sorted. I’m in the DC area, I’ve tried to reach out to the Cap Area Jag Club, but emails now go unanswered, site seems outdated, is there another resource to find recommended owners and/or shops based on location? Cheers, Chris
[quote=“chris13, post:17, topic:350999, full:true”]
Thanks for all the great info! I’ll post back after I’ve made some progress getting this sorted. I’m in the DC area, I’ve tried to reach out to the Cap Area Jag Club, but emails now go unanswered, site seems outdated, is there another resource to find recommended owners and/or shops based on location? Cheers, Chris
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Chris do you mean they do not return phone calls or e mails? I doubt it but if true you can call me and I will sort it out. 803-760-9460
I emailed a few of the club officers a few weeks ago (& that I’d emailed w/ a year or so ago) and got bounce-backs, tried to register for membership online and got an error via website, I’ll try again…Chris
Too bad you are not closer to me. I’d be all up in this for you. I like electrical work.