The Resurrection of Foam Car - 63 T6B

[bbspdstr]

"I'm hoping Bruce still has his wire "stash" as I could use a few of the bi-colored wires also."

Of course. Burning off the insulation is messy and the price of copper is down at the scrap yard.

At the moment, speaking of wiring, I'm trying to figure out how, who and why one of my guys caused this one guy to be able to come to me with a short length of new thinner gray wire and a bullet end on it to repair an original license light wire, burned by an exhaust... the cut-off of the new gray wire WITH A FRESH WHITE WRAP AND A NUMBER ON IT! That was from a NEW harness! Which 356 didn't need that part of a new harness unless it was to a newer illumination socket (for a dash instrument) that required a spade connection...and I wasn't made aware.

Anyway, Phil or anyone reading this....I likely have enough old wiring to supply decent lengths of whatever color......just let me know.

BTW, a "hard start relay" or an additional and closer "headlight relay" or a relay for almost any significant draw is a wise addition to a harness, especially older and especially 6v. It can be preventative for even a new harness or remediation for a harness 50 or more years old.

We were installing old Ford starter relays in our 356s 50 years ago. They were 6v and "hard to start" even back then. I rebuild a lot of ignition switches now that have burned contact plates. That and corrosion at every junction can really be a hassle.

Oh, yeah...and what Jack said, too.

-Bruce

Bruce

[Phil Planck]

Jack and Bruce

Thanks for the input. I do have a NOS correct fuse block which I may use. I have been the soldering route on the 55 coupe and 69 912. Definitely helped. Great suggestion to go to the ign. switch first. All hidden in the harness, so who would know?

Picked up 2 gauges of red wire for the 2 main melted off wires. Found my old email to Bruce listing wires I needed at that time. Will update it soon and resend, Bruce.

Good to be back in the shop.

Phil

[Phil Planck]

Per Greg Bryans wiring articles the main red wire to the h/l switch is metric 6mm squared and from h/l to iginition switch is 4mm. Nearest AGW sizes to those are 11 and 9 gauge. Of course the odd number gauge wires are not available that I can find so have to go with 8 and 10 ga. AGW. I ordered a pack of bullet connectors from Stoddard and got one soldered on the 10 ga. wire. Very hard to tin the short bare wire before inserting it in the bullet, as the insulation will melt. You need to remove a very short piece of insulation so that the remaining insulation will fit inside the connector. With the connector slid on the wire, solder is applied through the hole at the tip of the connector. Too much and it will run down on the outside of the connector and have to be removed, or the connector will not properly fit the socket. I installed this on the old h/l switch in various sockets. On one, the bullet is completely hidden, which is what I assume you are after so there is no exposed hot wire. For some reason, could only completely insert in one socket, even though the depth measures more than the bullet length. More investigation required there. Here is the bullet soldered on the 10 ga.




Uh, Bruce - whatcha got against black 356s other than shows every metal flaw? Joe Leoni's coupe is black ext. and green int. Interior is going to be green, so what are your favorite colors to go with that?

Phil

[bbspdstr]

Phil;
"Black is beautiful"....on a car, for about 10 minutes...then start cleaning again.
In the hot zones...OUCH!
Seriously, I have had black cars and trucks and it's a love/hate thing. Bodywork has to be 'correct'- (except ya can cheat on gaps a little)

My favorite red isn't....it's a burgundy called Polyantha (or Turkish) by Porsche in the '50s. Ruby is also very nice but too prevalent/common and is usually now called "Mature Red" vs "Arrest Me Red" or "Retail Red" 027 or India, now Guards, the successors to Signal. Again, nothing against those choices....but I'd pick Smyrna for a green or Stone for a gray before anything but Bali for a blue or Silver (with a micro-fine metallic)...which "goes with anything."

Dave;
As quoted many times paralleling "Art is in the eye of the beholder": "Color choice is like porn....it's in the groin of the beholder." There have been many studies about car colors and the ties with owners/drivers and personalities. What colors bore you or turn you off and which soothe or arouse you. Just don't "make do" because it was "original." Express yourself!

Back to red. I have seen little 'big' wire even in 6v harnesses. Red 10 is as big as I can remember as a hot #30. Soldering a bullet may even mean removing a couple of strands to fit and yes, you have to be fast and good to not show bare wire and/or not bubble/blacken the insulation of the typical replacement wire today. You can cheat by removing an extra few mm of insulation, soldering on the bullet and cutting short pieces (filler rings) of red shrink-tube and shrink/stack to the diameter of the insulation to fill that void...but that's really getting .....uh..."picky"?

Phil, let me know whatcha need....in the way of wire that is.

Bruce

[bbspdstr]

Cross-posting from the Swiss Miss to Foam Car, here is a great black car that belonged to Robert Boyle (who lay the ground work for early Registry web and Talk List presence) but was sold to a very happy new owner in the Bay area of CA. I did a search and this is what came up first:

http://forum.porsche356registry.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=39155

Please see the link in Robert's posting for the car's dedicated website. Great pictures!

Every car has a story. This car was driven and then taken off the road for a father and son restoration in a basement garage. Both father and son liked bicycling, their more active passion.....until the son was struck and killed by a car while on a bike club tour in another state....while his father watched from behind. Needless to say, the 356 project languished many years. I learned of the car after the wife and mother determined that enough time had gone by and they must move on. I suppose through a very active grapevine, Robert knew I had this 356 and called while I was driving on errands so I pulled over and within about 2 minutes we made a deal for a sale to him with a restoration to follow. As Robert's comments in his posting on the Registry site relay, it lurched forward as the rest of his life allowed until the results seen in the pictures he, I or his friend the photographer took for his web record.

Robert Boyle is a stand-up guy. I wish Robert could have kept the car, but I all-too-well understand how divorces sometimes get between a man and his 356, but the new owner in CA got a great car for a very fair price. It didn't just look good, it drove like a new 356 thanks to Eric Wills.

Bruce

[Jack Staggs]

I ordered a pack of bullet connectors from Stoddard and got one soldered on the 10 ga. wire. Very hard to tin the short bare wire before inserting it in the bullet, as the insulation will melt.

With the connector slid on the wire, solder is applied through the hole at the tip of the connector. Too much and it will run down on the outside of the connector and have to be removed, or the connector will not properly fit the socket. I installed this on the old h/l switch in various sockets. On one, the bullet is completely hidden, which is what I assume you are after so there is no exposed hot wire. For some reason, could only completely insert in one socket, even though the depth measures more than the bullet length. More investigation required there.
Phil

I feel your pain Phil. On those large gauge wires, I don't even attempt to tin the wire. A while back, I saw the guys at a semi truck repair shop making new battery cables for a diesel rig. They took new copper/brass battery terminal lugs that had a closed end bore for the huge cable and heated it up with a torch until they were able to fill it about half way with molten solder. They then took the heat away and immediately shoved the cold cable, with insulation stripped to proper length, in to the terminal. The hot solder instantly heated, tinned, and fused the wire to the connector, leaving the insulation intact, giving a beautiful and strong connection! I thought this would be good for large wires in bullit (sorry Steve) connectors.
Now, I heat the bullit connectors with propane or mapp just hot enough to partially fill the connectors while holding them at a slight angle to allow the solder to pool without running out. It helps to hold the connector with a tool that has very little actual contact, as the holder will act as a heat sink, cooling too quickly. I use a multiple size wire stripper,

and choose a location that allows just the tips of the cutting edge to contact the connector. A tight grip will be needed when you reheat the solder in the connector (dont be temped to use TOO much heat: solder will boil and release adhesion) and shove the wire in to the bore. Allow to cool, and try to yank the connector off of the wire. If you can, repeat. I've done this process hundreds of times, usually working under the dash of finished cars, with terrific success.
If the bullits don't go in all the way with a good short nudge with a small screwdriver, I leave them alone. I've had too much fun fishing connectors left behind out of switch receivers when the solder joint fails. Did I mention the dozens of connectors that failed when DIY guys yanked the receivers right out of the back of the temp/fuel gauge? I love those guys. I tell them "You saved enough money doing it yourself, that you can afford to hire a professional!!!"

[Phil Planck]

Jack
Thanks for the great tutorial on bullet connectors. After I grow a 3rd arm I will attempt that under the dash

After reading your write up I soldered the 8 ga. wire to a connector. I am using the 2 stage Weller gun so I lightly clamped the 8 ga. in my vise with plastic jaws, leaving about 4 inches sticking up so the hot plastic won't get torn up in the jaw. I heated on high until solder started flowing in the tip hole, then switched to low. Another article I read said you needed about 15 seconds of solder time to get the solder to properly adhere to the wire and connector. So with the lower heat that seemed to allow me to keep the solder soft for a longer period of time. The insulation was to large a diameter to fit inside the connector, so I stripped the wire farther back so it was fully seated in the connector with the insulation butted up to the connector.



The insulation is also to large to fit the hole in the switch. So got it in as close as I could. You can also see a chunk of practice piece I tried to tin using my plastic vise jaws. Had the bare wire to close to the jaws.



Now I have to decide if I want the 8 ga. going to the ignition switch instead of the h/l switch, as it affects which bundle it goes in. If I put a hot start relay in(I have the Leoni kit) I would think it might be better to have the heavier gauge going to the lights.

Anyway, next step is to carve out the other wires in the h/l bundle that have been bonded to the melted red insulation to see if they are salvageable.

Phil

[Jbrooks]

Wire color codes are a DIN specification. Like PIN numbers, 30 battery, 87 relay NC etc. if you want old wire go to a junk yard and get a old BMW or Mercedes and cut out the main harnes out of the door rockers. It's covered so it will be bright and new. The colors will be the same. The lengths may differ but for a repair it should be fine.

http://www.e38.org/understanding%20euro%20wiring%20diagrams.pdf

[Phil Planck]

Great article. Thanks JBrooks. Also, good tip to find used wire. Unfortunately, not many German cars in junkyards up here. Hopefully Bruce will find what I need in his stash if it's not to hot to find them. I have all of the red wires made up and one black. Pulling all the fused together wires and scraping off fused red insulation and black plastic sleeves that had melted into the other wires was a chore, sorta like an archeological dig. Emailing with Greg Bryant regarding the shiny, black, sheathing on the various wire bundles revealed that it was not shrink wrap, but plastic wire covers. I was curious as I could find not glossy, black shrink wrap. Found some black sleeves at a motorcycle shop online. Will see if they have the various sizes needed. Otherwise I may just resort to the dull shrink wrap, as it would make the task much easier. Found another article on the R site which I had read some time ago but could not find it. Shows another way to solder bullet connectors, so I tried it on the 3rd red wire and the black wire. https://porsche356registry.org/article/168
You have to have a longer section of bare wire so that a few strands will fit up through the hole in the tip of the bullet. Took some work on the 10 ga. wire, as getting the shorter, fatter strands the right length was a bit of a chore:



Using the method eliminates most of the solder on the outside of the bullet, which I have been having to file off to get back to the original diameter. The wire sticking up through the tip sort of helps suck the solder in the hole. I always test install about 5 or 6 times and yank out to make sure I have a good solder. Here is the bullet installed in the socket that allows complete capture of the bullet:



If this is boring some of you, it might be worth looking under your dash at your headlight switch. A recent post on the R shows this switch, which may be typical of what most look like after 60 years. I'm sure Jack has seen many and can verify if this is the case.



Phil

[Jbrooks]

I found when doing Bullet Connectors, if you "tin" the wire first. Then insert it into the connector it works better.

I am old so I have plenty of old 60/40 solder and flux paste. I put the wire in paste then stick the wire into the bullet socket and twist it, to get flux inside the socket, then take it off.

Then heat the wire at the tip with the solder touching back by the insulation. Shortly after the flux boils, the solder will flow onto the wire toward the tip. Let it cool then insert the bullet on the wire. Check on how much excess wire sticks out of the connector and insulation. Snip off that excess and slide on the bullet. Rotate it with the little hole up, put the solder on the hole and heat the tip of the socket, shortly after the flux boils the solder on the wire will melt, and it will draw solder into the little hole and fill the socket. An alagator clip or other light clamp will act as a heat sink and keep the insulation from melting.

I reciently bought a $10.00 butane pencile torch, that has a wire grid inside that turns the flame into hot air. That works great for these connectors. Tin your wire first for perfect solder joints. The little hole in the side is to draw solder into the inside.

[neilbardsley]

I'm going to ask a silly question (since the photo of the switch is from my car). Why have bullet type connectors on the light switch and not the normal screw type?

[Phil Planck]

Jbrooks
Thanks for the additional soldering tips. Looks like several ways to skin the cat here.
Neil - My 55 had screw connectors. See Bruce Baker post next page for what type used, when. I would assume the progression was to reduce time to install, as getting a screwdriver under the dash, even for service can be a pain. My issue with the screw and bullet connectors is that if they come out, you have a hot, unfused wire flopping around under the dash. I assume the slip on connectors had insulation on them, but not sure about that. Most or all modern(post 80s) cars use a positive lock connector that makes removal difficult or impossible without a tool of some type to disengage the connector. When I get this underdash harness repaired and re-installed I plan to at least use electrical tape around the bullets and switch to help hold them in place on the unfused wires.
Phil

[Jbrooks]

The standards keep changing, I agree spades are better, and you can get them insulated. But the these the wire crimp is critical.

On the screw terminals, if you also TIN the wire they won't come loose. The extra lead makes a better electrical contact and soft lead helps hold the screw. You have seen the photos of broken strands and loose. wire, the solder will prevent this.

The din bullets will click when completely installed and they will stay put.

My 912 has a bullet ignition switch, with a short harness going to spades, you never know what you will find.

[Phil Planck]

All of the wires in this harness I am repairing are tinned at the fuse box end and I think my 55 wires were tinned at the switches. I have not removed and installed a lot of bullet connectors, but have yet to hear or feel one snap in. Very interesting. I will have to open up a bullet receptacle to see what causes the snap, as they look pretty smooth down in there.
Phil

[Jbrooks]

Inside the cup, there is a ring grove pressed in the side wall that is a little smaller that the knob on the end, when installed all the way in the grove in the bullet sits in the ring. you can feel it click as it passes.The split in the socket acts like a spring as the end passes through the narrow portion of the socket.

As an old airplane guy, we were taught all bare wires were tinned after stripping off the insulation. All wire terminations are either crimped, or tinned, wire strands are never bare.