Headlight wiring access panel in wheelwell, Repair of Headlight Wiring

[opeldean]

what is this panel?it is held on by 4 bolts?

[BQS4]

It allows you access to remove the pivot mechanism for the headlight, there's another inside the passenger fender well too.

[jimsky]

Access panel for headlight wiring. If you haven't rewired your headlights yet, make it your next project. There is plenty of info if you search the forums. This is something every GT should do for safety sake.

[kwilford]

I first noticed a problem with my GT headlight wiring about fifteen years ago, when I started repairing the rust around the headlights on my GT. The rubber insulation (versus the plastic insulation on the rest of the wiring) on the main headlight wires had started to crumble and it looked like there was a risk of a short in the wiring. I only replaced the last foot or so (from the headlights through the rotating mechanisms back to the inspection panels in the wheel wells as mentioned above), as that was what appeared to have deteriorated. Thinking I had solved the problem, I blithely continued on with the restoration.

But I became aware of the risk of relying on the remaining rubber insulated wiring after reading about it on the classicopels@yahoo! site and on this site. NOT wanting to be made an example of (see, that's the guy who spent TWENTY YEARS restoring his Opel GT and it burned to a crisp the first time he drove it at night!), I decided to remove the wiring and thoroughly inspect it before I continued.

And I am glad I did. Not that I was surprised. Here are a series of photos that depict how badly deteriorated the rubber insulation was. And it also shows how far back you HAVE to go to ensure you repair your headlight wiring properly.

This first photo shows how badly the rubber insulation crumbles when it is flexed. After I had removed the tape, the rubber insulation appeared intact, but a minor flex caused this to happen (note that it is ONLY the heavy rubber insulated wires that power the headlights; the wires to the indicator lights and headlight micro-switches are in perfect condition:

[kwilford]

Here is a good view of the headlight wiring, looking back down the harness. You can see the transition between the rubber insulated wires and the plastic insulated wires (at the green connectors) and also the two brown ground wires for the headlights (that are screwed to the inner fender just beside the master brake cylinder), that are rubber insulated and BADLY perished. You only need to replace the rubber insulated wires (a brown, a yellow and a white) from each headlight, back to these connectors.

[kwilford]

Here is the place that I originally repaired the wiring, with new wires (in blue at the top of the photo) connected to what was, fifteen years ago, sound rubber-insulated wires. Remember that I haven't driven this car in nearly 18 years, and it has been kept in a climate controlled garage the entire time. So merely the YEARS have caused the insulation to fail, not temperature extremes nor flexing caused by rotating the headlights. Which means that YOUR headlight wires look just as bad, unless you have done the required repair

I should also say that removing the wiring to this point has only taken me an hour or so. I happened to have removed the headlight buckets and mechanisms in preparation for painting, but that isn't required. I will also mention that I have repaired the headlight mechanisms by grinding off the retaining rivets and drilling out the broken swivel strap bolts, but that can wait for another thread.

HTH

[opeldean]

wouldnt this be extra insurance?

PS:keith..surely with the canadian winter you can finish all your
wifes projects and get the opel on the road by the time the snow melts...dont forget...we are here at opel gt.com to help you if you stuck.

[GTJIM]

It is not only the headlight wiring that deteriorates like this but ALL the wiring. I drove my GT for a month or two before starting restoration and the rear tail and blinker lights would flicker and both flash together at times. To be fair the PO did point this out at the time of sale.

NO fire occurred BUT when I removed the fuel tank the wiring to the rear lights had melted onto the back of the tank and the lights were shorting out VIA THE FUEL TANK !!!!

The plastic insulation back there had been patch repaired several times and the area coated in black soot. So it was just sheer luck that I have not been fried

The wiring from behind the dash doesn't look to bad but the horror of it all makes me urge you all to check ALL your wiring and replace any that even might be suspect. NONE of us want to be "crispy critter" examples, do we.

[namba209 (R.I.P.)]

Lots of years ago, I had the primary ignition wire to the coil short out in the fues panel. I had to replace the rats nest of wires in that area. I spent two days removing the complete GT harness from an auto salvage yard. I did an old USAF trick, shake and bend test. If the wire insulation is brittle and comes apart, replace it. I was lucky that most of the wiring I got was flexible end to end, and what was bad I could replace the bad wires between the burnt harness and the good one. That way I kept the color coding intact. I'll be doing that check again as I integrate the V-6 engine wiring into the GT body harness. Keeping heat and vibration away from the wiring is a great help here.

Ron

[pvcar]

like what i did with the gt headlights is i said screw the origanal wiring arrangment with the micro switches and all that junk i just started from the headlight its self ran new wires all the way inside the gt then figured out how the relay worked for high low beams and rigged that up for the high beam wire to the headlights and then i jus installed a nice little lighted switch under the dash to turn the ehadlights on and off, i also jus connected the possitive via a fuseable link to one of the always hot wires on the fuse box. that is the best way i think of doing it.

[opeldean]

problem:like namba..right now. my primary wire to my coil has a ...short..sometimes it works..sometimes it doesnt..

i bought an old fusebox to study..here is what the back side looks like

[nobody]

To be real honest with you about that fuse box. It looks like a keeper to me. Plastic for the box is all there and I don't see the typical 20 or 30 splice connectors. The one I removed from my car still has the bailing twine that held it up.

[Old Hippie]

If you think you have really rattywires all the way through and you plan on setting the car through winter, do this: unplug the harness, staple it to a piece of plywood and rebuild it. I plan on doing this myself and I KNOW it's work. BUT! you end up with a perfect harness for about 10-15 hrs. and $25 bucks in multicolered wire and crimpons. Use shrink wrap at the crimp to help cut down on corrosion. After 27yrs in electronics and 22.5 in a corrosion shop in the Air Guard, I'm a firm beleiver in the extra step.