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Rewiring the Beetle in Style
Almost from the first day that a
Beetle drove the roads, VW restoration products were needed.
Now don't get us wrong. VW's weren't built to break down. They were a
car for the people...Folk's wagons. But for that very reason, they got
used...and used, and used. And as a result they needed repair. And as
they aged, they needed restoration. But as well designed and as
simplistically engineered as the mechanical parts of a Beetle were,
their electrical systems were not. Well, actually, that same
simplicity may actually be the problem with their electrical systems.
Early VW wiring was all battery fed...it was always ON. Those early
Germans didn't know of drive-ins or parking. So, the radio, turn
signals and wipers, for instance, ran off of direct battery feed and
had to be shut off independently from the ignition switch. And, once
those VW engineers determined that everything could be battery "hot"
fed, they also could route wiring wherever they wanted. (Read that to
mean - route wiring to the closest spot for subsequent distribution
without logical engineering rational.) One point of example.. why
does the primary battery feed go to the headlight switch first?
American wiring takes a different approach which we like to refer to
as the tree trunk approach. (A) Battery primary is fed directly into
the fuse panel for those circuits which require it. (B) Also feed
battery primary to the ignition switch and then feed, secondarily, the
accessories to be controlled by the ignition switch. And (C), route
all circuits through a fuse and then to the load (lights, coil,
starter, etc.). This tree trunk approach provides a common feed for
always-on (battery) circuits that branches off through fuses to the
individual circuits and also for the on-only-with-the-ignition
(accessory) circuits. Now, that's logical. It also makes for much
easier trouble shooting should an electrical problem pop up.
Two other considerations of original VW wiring are visual esthetics
and safety. Visually, the back side of the VW fuse panel tended to
resemble either a cross-legged centipede or a porcupine having a bad
quill day. Wires went everywhere without obvious sense. Not something
that you could make to look "show quality". And most connectors are
bare terminals just waiting to short circuit on your unsuspecting
screw driver or hand.
O.K., so we need a new wiring system in our Bug and we want something
modern - safe, good looking, easy to trouble shoot, uses ATO/ATC
fuses...the whole nine yards. Who ya' gonna' call? No not those ghost
guys. Call Watson's StreetWorks and check out their Modular Fuse Panel
Wiring System for VW Beetles.
Their state-of-the-art system gives you 18 circuits, a safe, modern
fuse panel, color coded and line-marked wires, terminals, detailed,
easy-to-follow instructions/schematics...almost everything you need to
rewire and upgrade your Beetle's electrical system. So, let's get
started with the project. Check out the photos, especially the before
and after shots. Wow, what a difference.
There are a few parts that are not included in the kit, so plan
accordingly. There are no switches in the kit which allows you to keep
your originals if you want or to selectively upgrade to new. We wanted
to get away from all of the old design stuff and into modern
components so that suited us perfectly. And switching to an ignition
switch that included accessory position seemed the smart thing to do.
We also wanted to get rid of the complicated and expensive turn
signal/emergency flasher relays which we did. And finally, we are
upgrading to a 12 volt system - the details of which we will leave for
another article. Lots of work, but best done all at once in this case.
There are lots of other modifications that this particular V-dub will
undergo, but we wanted to show you what installing this type of wiring
kit on a stocker was all about. The process is not difficult, nor are
there special tools required beyond basic wiring stuff, rather it just
takes some time. Planning before hand and as you go, combined with the
kit's good instructions, will take you step-by-step through the
process.
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