re-designing / building a 30+ yr old electrical system

[celica-fiend]

Soo.. Ive been around the net and cars for years n years.. I figured there -had- to be others out there who had redesigned / built their own wiring systems in classic cars.. yknow, something other than just installing some name brand aftermarket harness.. but I've had absolutely no luck tracking down any webpages or books with good, if any, info, tips, heck.. even parts..

Ive got a 75 Toyota Celica I'm presently restoring/modifying.. and am rebuilding the dash and engine bay harnesses.. or at least starting on it.. Ive done 2 1/2 years of schooling towards my electrical engineering degree, so Im not concerned about the theory.. but tips from those who've been there would be nice.. anyone know of any sources?

Thanks,

Brett

[curtis73]

Golly. Not too sure about 75 Toyotas, but most things are pretty straight forward. I have rewired a few classic American cars and they are dirt simple once you know a few little things.

Its carbed, right? You didn't convert to EFI or swapped engines? If so, you could buy a wiring harness from something like Painless Wiring. It comes with absolutely everything. Its geared toward classic American iron, but most things are either the same or can be modified. I used one to rewire an old Bentley and the only snag I had was discovering that Bentleys used a "security" wire that attached to the starter and prevented theft.

Either someone here or someone at the Toyota forums might be able to guide you through any toyota-specific wiring things that might trip you up.

[TheSilentChamber]

Other than what curtis suggested, the easyest thing would be to find a factory wiring diagram and go from there, or just pull the factory one and make a new one going off of it. Going to need a bunch of differnt color wire to keep it organized though.