Front wiring harness swap blues

I started about a year ago removing the broken wiring harness from my M35A2 whistler. I had everything under the dash and at the lights disconnected. Then the hurricane hit, I had family members evacuate to me and I hot wired the truck started to move it out of the way. Life happened and I just this week got back to it.

What an ordeal. Every single 1/4 inch wire clamp bolt was put on too tight by soldier B and is now stripped on. They turn, but don’t come off. What fun.

I actually got the front to rear harness plug off without too much trouble yesterday. I had dreaded that one. But all those inside the front frame rail next to the engine on both sides clamps are driving me nuts. I am 6’2” tall and fit under the truck easily. However, I am too tall to sit up under the truck. My arms are too short to reach those fasteners though. That means I get to do crunchies. I don’t like those.

I think I am down to just two or three more on the passenger frame rail. Then I get to do them all again. Maybe I can find a middle school kid that has strong hands and likes getting dirty to help....

Barrman said:

I started about a year ago removing the broken wiring harness from my M35A2 whistler. I had everything under the dash and at the lights disconnected. Then the hurricane hit, I had family members evacuate to me and I hot wired the truck started to move it out of the way. Life happened and I just this week got back to it.

What an ordeal. Every single 1/4 inch wire clamp bolt was put on too tight by soldier B and is now stripped on. They turn, but don’t come off. What fun.

I actually got the front to rear harness plug off without too much trouble yesterday. I had dreaded that one. But all those inside the front frame rail next to the engine on both sides clamps are driving me nuts. I am 6’2” tall and fit under the truck easily. However, I am too tall to sit up under the truck. My arms are too short to reach those fasteners though. That means I get to do crunchies. I don’t like those.

I think I am down to just two or three more on the passenger frame rail. Then I get to do them all again. Maybe I can find a middle school kid that has strong hands and likes getting dirty to help....

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Feel for you. Been there, done that. Had to drill off at least half of the clamp bolts due to nuts just spinning, not coming off.

Man that sounds like fun. Nothing I hate more than fighting w/buggered up fasteners. I have the same job ahead of me. My harness is trashed. Other than the fasterers giving you a fit how hard a job is the swap? I have a new harness waiting patiently in the shop. Are all of the components on the truck side numbered like the connectors?

Antique stuff is it's own challenge. Any time you hear somebody griping about modern stuff being hard to work on, you can rest assured they don't actually turn any wrenches.

When I do maintenance on modern stuff, it just blows me away. Everything unscrews & unclips like it should!

When I did the Gasser M35 10 years ago. I thought the wiring was easy. All the old stuff was just cut out and every fastener was broken. I put it back together with all new. Also, no body work. I could do it all sitting on a stool or standing.

That is is what makes this difficult. Being part gymnast and part contortionist.

Wring wise, the job is super simple and easy. Just print out the wiring number chart and plug it up.

I just did a gasser a few years ago, and except for 2 or three fasteners on the firewall, where they require a soldier "B", I had no issues. Some of the fasteners were rusted, but PB Blaster or a cutoff wheel solved all that.

I would much rather fight a few fasteners, then to remove a cab for spark plugs, or an entire front clip and coolant drain for an alternator, or chase electrical gremlins. I mean the list is pretty long why I won't deal with or get a new car...

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Kaiser67M715 said:

I would much rather fight a few fasteners, then to remove a cab for spark plugs, or an entire front clip and coolant drain for an alternator, or chase electrical gremlins. I mean the list is pretty long why I won't deal with or get a new car...

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Totally agree! Boggles my mind the $$$ people spend on the garbage they build now.

No doubt about it. M trucks are so easy to work on compared to the new civilian anything.

Barrman said:

No doubt about it. M trucks are so easy to work on compared to the new civilian anything.

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Respectfully, a Model T is also "easier" to work on than any modern car. There are, however, trade-offs. My bad modern teutonic diesel SUV did 160k km on nothing but oil changes and new brakes. Try that with a Model T. By the time you get to 160k km you will be able to disassemble and re-assemble the thing blindfolded.
Not automatically dying in any collision, being able to travel at decent speed and with some creature comfort also make the list.

Pretty much the same with the M-series, don't you think? Drive an 8h day in an M35 in the rain and re-assess!


Allright...I can't resist to post this video here. Snub-nosed Mercedes 4x4 in Madagascar. The trip length is 34km and they estimate it takes them 14h. Look at the assortment of special tools used to service the truck...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvudpQDuZCE

Ha! On goat trails like that it's going to take you 14hr in anything. Thats IF your modern pos don't break something before you get there. There's alot more to it than speed & comfort.

Special tools, well of course. Its a Mercedes, what do you expect.

sgms18 said:

Totally agree! Boggles my mind the $$$ people spend on the garbage they build now.

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Yes there is some really crappy vehicles out there, but the modern car or truck can do things that the good old vehicles could only dream of doing. Like go 100,000 miles on a set of spark plugs ! Or even go a 100,000 miles without a major rebuild !
I learned to change and set points and condensers and recurve distributors when I first starting wrenching. Now every modern vehicle has electronic ignition. No longer do you need to carry a spare set of points in your vehicle and a points file !
I'll bet you "sgms18" you never even heard of a "points file" did you ? In my day every mechanic had a set in his tool box.
I still have several sets laying around.
No longer do you need to rebuild your carburetor every two years. Vehicles no longer even have carbs ! Fuel injection, YES !!!!
Transmissions have also come a long way in reliability and durability. Both manual and automatic. As have differentials.
Brakes are also far superior to the old ones even just going back to the 1980's .
Diesel engines are also far better then the good old ones. Newer metals and technology has drastically changed the world of vehicles for the better. So your rant against modern vehicles has no real basis in reality.
Of course I love the old iron and will never give up my deuce. It is fun and I enjoy modifying it. Does that mean I would rather drive it on a long tip then say a modern military vehicle with independent suspension and a automatic transmission ? No !
I drove these old deuces in the Marines and they would kick your butt then ! I was still young and strong with a good back then too !
Face it, modern "anything" beats the older stuff. TV's where originally black and white, now their in "HD" color ! Radios where these large boxes, now there on your iPhone ! Cameras used to take film that was expensive to process. Now on my trip to Europe I took 5,000 pictures that cost me nothing !
Face it, modern always beats the old. Except in furniture. Just my .

Your right, the whole points thing was definitely before my time. Most every truck I've had has been from the 80s & I wouldn't have it any other way. Im one of these guys that thinks the TBI chevy is the still the best thing going. The reliability of fuel injection & the simplicity of an old carb motor & it doesn't have vacuum line spaghetti to deal with. My 88 4runner has 350,000 on it & I beat the crap outa that truck non stop. If these 2018 trucks are still getn it done in 2048 then I'll eat my words but i just dont see it. Too much fancy, unnecessary electronics to tear up & too much plastic & such for the sake of light weight. I duno, to each their own but I've never spent more than $2000 on a truck that wasn't a play toy (hotrod/mud tuck) & just shake my head in disbelief at ppl spending $50,000+ on a new 4x4.

Rustystud i hope you realize that I mean no disrespect & value your knowledge & opinions, just voicing mine

clinto said:

When I do maintenance on modern stuff, it just blows me away. Everything unscrews & unclips like it should!

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Oh I beg to differ.

Sure, the bolts might come out but it's a huge pain to undo those clip/locking electrical connectors on modern stuff. Reaching into some tight space, trying not to break it but you can't see what you're doing, trying to get a screw driver under the tab or to push one tab down while you pull, finger tips burning and hurting...and every one of them clips/unlocks differently. Argh! I tend to break them without meaning to. :S

sgms18 said:

Rustystud i hope you realize that I mean no disrespect & value your knowledge & opinions, just voicing mine

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Oh I understand your opinion very well as it was mine too. For the last 50 years I never bought a "new" vehicle. Always good used. The fact that you loose 30% of the vehicles value just driving it off the car lot makes me extremely angry ! Actually I did buy a Loaner truck (Scout) from IHC back in 1979 when I was a mechanic there. Got a good price on it. Now that I'm old and tired of working on keeping my vehicles running I just buy new ones. We just bought a new "Honda CRV Touring" and my 2018/2019 Silverado 1 ton dualie . Hopefully nothing major will go wrong with them in the last years of my life that I am forced to deal with !
Of course I still have my CUCV and M35A2 , but those are really my "toys" not working vehicles.
My first truck was a 1954 Chevy 1/2 ton with a factory Hydromatic transmission and Radio ! That was something special in the day. Later on I had several Chevy trucks and some Fords along the way. Each one was better then the last. Just like my computers. My first was an "Atari" 64" !!!! WOW !!!
Now I have a 4 terabyte hard-drive with 8 megs of RAM memory.
You just can't beat modern technology. Of course that is just my opinion.

Valence said:

Oh I beg to differ.

Sure, the bolts might come out but it's a huge pain to undo those clip/locking electrical connectors on modern stuff. Reaching into some tight space, trying not to break it but you can't see what you're doing, trying to get a screw driver under the tab or to push one tab down while you pull, finger tips burning and hurting...and every one of them clips/unlocks differently. Argh! I tend to break them without meaning to. :S

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That is soo true !!!!
There is always a learning curve in understanding how a new clip works. I have broken so many in my life it is funny ! After breaking the first three or four you start figuring out the "tricks" in how to undo them. Of course it seems the manufactures come out with a newer design every three to four years so the learning starts all over again !