But it's not an Opel unless there are 10,000 ground wires in there !!! Looks like a fun project. I want that radio sitting on the window. What Opel did you take that out of......LMAO.This is a "side thread" related to my "Gordo's Banana" build thread. This one is specifically for the wiring and electrical related aspects of the car. A separate thread helps me find this info and wiring diagrams easier, so that they don't get lost in my lengthy main build thread and keeps my build thread from getting too large.
Today I started sorting out and installing the fuse box and wire bundles. I'm using the Painless Performance, 28-circuit, extra long wire, "Classic Customizable Trunk Mount Chassis Harness" version. This version costs almost $100 more and has enough wire to do a bus. I didn't want to get screwed again, like I did on my GTX car, where I ordered the behind the seat medium length wire version and didn't realize until I was halfway through that they must have sent me the under the dash short wire version. Or maybe they didn't, I threw out the box early on. All 20+ dash wires ended up 18" too short and I had to extend them all with generic unlabeled wire with paper tags on them. Aarrgghh!
View attachment 451357
View attachment 451358
Today I just chose the position and mounted the fuse box. I ended up making the tilt up luggage shelf door a little smaller this time around and that left a smaller area to mount, see, and access the fuse box, so a mounted it as far to the right and forward as possible.
View attachment 451359
View attachment 451360
View attachment 451361
My GTX car's fuse box area looked like this when I was done:
View attachment 451362
I cut the same, but better, trough through luggage shelf support.:
View attachment 451363
The yellow bundle is all for door stuff, like electric windows and door locks. The other two bundles have wires grouped for the front and rear lighting, the engine compartment, and dash stuff, plus there are bags of additional wires.
View attachment 451364
Gordo Electrifies His Banana
This is a "side thread" related to my "Gordo's Banana" build thread. This one is specifically for the wiring and electrical related aspects of the car. A separate thread helps me find this info and wiring diagrams easier, so that they don't get lost in my lengthy main build thread and keeps my build thread from getting too large.
Today I started sorting out and installing the fuse box and wire bundles. I'm using the Painless Performance, 28-circuit, extra long wire, "Classic Customizable Trunk Mount Chassis Harness" version. This version costs almost $100 more and has enough wire to do a bus. I didn't want to get screwed again, like I did on my GTX car, where I ordered the behind the seat medium length wire version and didn't realize until I was halfway through that they must have sent me the under the dash short wire version. Or maybe they didn't, I threw out the box early on. All 20+ dash wires ended up 18" too short and I had to extend them all with generic unlabeled wire with paper tags on them. Aarrgghh!
![Automotive tire Packaging and labeling Font Rectangle Carton]()
![Table Automotive tire Motor vehicle Automotive design Electrical wiring]()
Today I just chose the position and mounted the fuse box. I ended up making the tilt up luggage shelf door a little smaller this time around and that left a smaller area to mount, see, and access the fuse box, so a mounted it as far to the right and forward as possible.
![Yellow Wood Metal Art Office supplies]()
![Wood Yellow Line Aircraft Tints and shades]()
![Yellow Wood Motor vehicle Automotive exterior Gas]()
My GTX car's fuse box area looked like this when I was done:
![Motor vehicle Automotive design Gas Tints and shades Electronic device]()
I cut the same, but better, trough through luggage shelf support.:
![Yellow Electrical wiring Gas Cable Electrical supply]()
The yellow bundle is all for door stuff, like electric windows and door locks. The other two bundles have wires grouped for the front and rear lighting, the engine compartment, and dash stuff, plus there are bags of additional wires.
![Circuit component Electrical wiring Hardware programmer Audio equipment Electronic component]()
Today I started sorting out and installing the fuse box and wire bundles. I'm using the Painless Performance, 28-circuit, extra long wire, "Classic Customizable Trunk Mount Chassis Harness" version. This version costs almost $100 more and has enough wire to do a bus. I didn't want to get screwed again, like I did on my GTX car, where I ordered the behind the seat medium length wire version and didn't realize until I was halfway through that they must have sent me the under the dash short wire version. Or maybe they didn't, I threw out the box early on. All 20+ dash wires ended up 18" too short and I had to extend them all with generic unlabeled wire with paper tags on them. Aarrgghh!
Today I just chose the position and mounted the fuse box. I ended up making the tilt up luggage shelf door a little smaller this time around and that left a smaller area to mount, see, and access the fuse box, so a mounted it as far to the right and forward as possible.
My GTX car's fuse box area looked like this when I was done:
I cut the same, but better, trough through luggage shelf support.:
The yellow bundle is all for door stuff, like electric windows and door locks. The other two bundles have wires grouped for the front and rear lighting, the engine compartment, and dash stuff, plus there are bags of additional wires.
1 - 20 of 60 Posts
Just an old junker cassette/radio that was laying around work that I snitched so that can listen to NPR or sports radio.
Interesting tidbit: Both my local Philadelphia NPR(WHYY) and sports radio(WIP) stations were amongst the first stations in the country to specialize in those formats. I just learned last week that WIP was only the 2nd station to go with 24 hour sports coverage, behind a Boston station which was the 1st. Apparently, it was syndicated all over the country, even though it's coverage was mostly about Philly sports teams. I think it began doing that in the early '70's. I had always wondered why so many people from around the country would call into a radio station that mostly talked about Philadelphia teams. It appears that WIP is very highly regarded around the country and Philly area sports fans are known for being the most knowledgeable sports junkies in the country........even though we throw snowballs at Santa at football games!
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Interesting tidbit: Both my local Philadelphia NPR(WHYY) and sports radio(WIP) stations were amongst the first stations in the country to specialize in those formats. I just learned last week that WIP was only the 2nd station to go with 24 hour sports coverage, behind a Boston station which was the 1st. Apparently, it was syndicated all over the country, even though it's coverage was mostly about Philly sports teams. I think it began doing that in the early '70's. I had always wondered why so many people from around the country would call into a radio station that mostly talked about Philadelphia teams. It appears that WIP is very highly regarded around the country and Philly area sports fans are known for being the most knowledgeable sports junkies in the country........even though we throw snowballs at Santa at football games!
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I use to have one like that that had am,fm,weather, police, and actually aviation frequencies on it. It was my dad's and can remember listing to planes in the sky at his desk. Why, who the hell knows, that was just my dad. Sadly it was lost to a house fire over 32 years ago. I also had until a few years ago (wife decided it was junk in the closet and tossed them) the original Atari "pong" game, the first Texas Instrument Computer (which was a large keyboard that you added modules to) and the first Computer that used Lotus and I had the original Windows giant floppy disk. It had a GIANT 1KB of total memory. The Texas Instrument used a cassette player for the hard drive. I was so pissed when she told she chucked them. Everything still worked, I had Windows, Windows Word and actually every windows platform up to Windows 7 in that closet. The closet is now pilled full of craft sheit that has not seen the light of day since it was put in there. Guess that was a fair trade. 35 years of marriage and still chugging along. (but with a busted cylinder after that) Just got thru unloading and putting away 100 bales of hay, STUPID HORSES, I'm gettin too old for that sheit. After sitting around for the last month or so, I can barely lift my arms now....LOL. Best yet is in just 4 more days I get to drive for over 1600 miles to go get the kid and bring some stuff back from her dorm. Don't understand why they can't just leave it there for winter break, then 3.5 weeks later have to haul it all back in again. 4 years down next June, 3 years to go UGGH.Just an old junker cassette/radio that was laying around work that I snitched so that can listen to NPR or sports radio.
Interesting tidbit: Both my local Philadelphia NPR(WHYY) and sports radio(WIP) stations were amongst the first stations in the country to specialize in those formats. I just learned last week that WIP was only the 2nd station to go with 24 hour sports coverage, behind a Boston station which was the 1st. Apparently, it was syndicated all over the country, even though it's coverage was mostly about Philly sports teams. I think it began doing that in the early '70's. I had always wondered why so many people from around the country would call into a radio station that mostly talked about Philadelphia teams. It appears that WIP is very highly regarded around the country and Philly area sports fans are known for being the most knowledgeable sports junkies in the country........even though we throw snowballs at Santa at football games!I
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You used to date Gordon?🤣I've SEEN him.
Gordo and I date back before this forum
Harold
Ha! Ha! Yuk! Yuk! Or should I say: "Yuck! Yuck!"
The first time I met Harold was during a drive coming back to Jersey from job training in Oklahoma. It was my very first cell phone call while driving. Harold is SOOOOOO much fun to talk to, he had me in stitches for like 45 minutes! We had arranged the purchase of a 3:18 rear axle he had and he had me meet him at an anonymous exit off Rt. 40. Boom, we met in the parking lot, exchanged the cash and axle, and he kept me laughing the whole time. Then off I went. I later learned that Harold was the "Gordo of the Website" before I came along. He used to get all the ball busts and jokes thrown at him that I now receive. His balls have now returned to their full size and shape and mine are now deflated and squashed flat. He's never thanked me....... 🤪
More progress today:
I sorted out and untwisted all the individual wires to the fuse box and roughly laid them out in the areas of the car where they will go to first. There's still a ton of individual wires that don't come from the fuse box and that go between devices and switches, these wires are just power wires to the various devices. Because I dispensed with the oem dash and it's configuration, I have no need for harness disconnects. Harness couplings are the main source of trouble on most machines. Note how many electrical problems on GT's are at the colored connectors at the fuse box.
I learned from my last wiring install and I'm doing things a little differently this time. My GTX's dash wires were all 18" too short and I ran all the wires along the tunnel as a result. They sent me the wrong, short wire, fuse box. This caused a clusterfluff of problems. Running the wires along the tunnel sucks if you need to get at them. I had also installed the controller for my all-in-one instrument cluster behind my switch array. About 20 wires go to the thing, but only one phone cord wire comes out of it to plug into the controller. So, the GTX has a rat's nest of wires behind the switches and nothing behind the gauge cluster where the oem fuse box used to be. This time, I will install the controller behind the seats and all the wires to the front of the car will run under the vertical carpet at the driver's side rocker. My front lighting will have individual ground wires labeled and run back to ONE common SS bolt on the brake booster support, instead of little sheet metal screws near each light. No grounding troubles as a result. The rear lighting will have all their grounds to one common SS bolt near the fuse box.
I wasn't planning on it, but I think I'll have to finish up the engine and install it, so that I can attach the various sensor and power wires to it, before I do much more. I'll have to buy an alternator and a few other things to get that ready to go in. Pics:
![Circuit component Electricity Electrical wiring Electronic engineering Gas]()
Yes, that's right, I chopped off the clutch cable extrusion and I use that as the primary place for the wires to come out. It's just too convenient a location not to use. It would just be a useless hole and extrusion that I would have to block off if I didn't repurpose it. I'll let the next guy who gets my car after I'm dead, and insists on having a Flintstones tranny, be the one to deal with it.
![Motor vehicle Hood Vehicle Yellow Steering wheel]()
The first time I met Harold was during a drive coming back to Jersey from job training in Oklahoma. It was my very first cell phone call while driving. Harold is SOOOOOO much fun to talk to, he had me in stitches for like 45 minutes! We had arranged the purchase of a 3:18 rear axle he had and he had me meet him at an anonymous exit off Rt. 40. Boom, we met in the parking lot, exchanged the cash and axle, and he kept me laughing the whole time. Then off I went. I later learned that Harold was the "Gordo of the Website" before I came along. He used to get all the ball busts and jokes thrown at him that I now receive. His balls have now returned to their full size and shape and mine are now deflated and squashed flat. He's never thanked me....... 🤪
More progress today:
I sorted out and untwisted all the individual wires to the fuse box and roughly laid them out in the areas of the car where they will go to first. There's still a ton of individual wires that don't come from the fuse box and that go between devices and switches, these wires are just power wires to the various devices. Because I dispensed with the oem dash and it's configuration, I have no need for harness disconnects. Harness couplings are the main source of trouble on most machines. Note how many electrical problems on GT's are at the colored connectors at the fuse box.
I learned from my last wiring install and I'm doing things a little differently this time. My GTX's dash wires were all 18" too short and I ran all the wires along the tunnel as a result. They sent me the wrong, short wire, fuse box. This caused a clusterfluff of problems. Running the wires along the tunnel sucks if you need to get at them. I had also installed the controller for my all-in-one instrument cluster behind my switch array. About 20 wires go to the thing, but only one phone cord wire comes out of it to plug into the controller. So, the GTX has a rat's nest of wires behind the switches and nothing behind the gauge cluster where the oem fuse box used to be. This time, I will install the controller behind the seats and all the wires to the front of the car will run under the vertical carpet at the driver's side rocker. My front lighting will have individual ground wires labeled and run back to ONE common SS bolt on the brake booster support, instead of little sheet metal screws near each light. No grounding troubles as a result. The rear lighting will have all their grounds to one common SS bolt near the fuse box.
I wasn't planning on it, but I think I'll have to finish up the engine and install it, so that I can attach the various sensor and power wires to it, before I do much more. I'll have to buy an alternator and a few other things to get that ready to go in. Pics:
Yes, that's right, I chopped off the clutch cable extrusion and I use that as the primary place for the wires to come out. It's just too convenient a location not to use. It would just be a useless hole and extrusion that I would have to block off if I didn't repurpose it. I'll let the next guy who gets my car after I'm dead, and insists on having a Flintstones tranny, be the one to deal with it.
This is my thread about wiring up my GTX car:
Gordo Wires the GTX - Aaaggghhh!
This is my thread about wiring my GTX car. I can't think of too many topics more boring to start a thread about than this. Also, there will be very little info of benefit to owners of typical Opels because this car has almost none of the original parts, systems, and wiring. These changes to the...
www.opelgt.com
It was the first time I had rewired a car and a car that had a custom dash and switches and an electronic instrument cluster with a controller, plus all sorts of special gadgets like power steering and stuff. Most of the stuff I did was a good idea and some were good, but could have been a lot better. I'm trying to do the "better" part this time around. I worked with Post Office letter and package processing machines for 30 years and they had miles of wiring and 100's/1000's of parts and devices, motors, circuit boards, controllers, interfaces, etc. I don't consider myself to be a "car guy", I'm a "machine guy" who happens to like to fix up Opel GT's. Cars, by their nature, wire things up with a lot of "shared circuits" and local grounds to the body. Multiple devices share one fuse and many devices ground through themselves to the body or a short wire. I don't like that, that's not what I'm used to. Dozens of local grounds can cause dozens of poorly grounded devices. Circuit or fuse sharing can cause trouble. Harness connectors, as previously stated, can cause problems. In my "Gordo Wires..." thread I drew up individual circuit diagrams for subfunctions that needed to be documented because I did them in a unique way or because they were complicated. My turn signal and flasher wiring is unique, I didn't know how to stop feedback from making ALL the lights flash when I activated the turn signal, so I used diodes to isolate the circuits to prevent this, as shown here:
The oem turn signal/flasher/headlight relay is almost incomprehensible, to most people, including me. Morphing that into my aftermarket fuse box that had separate flasher and turn signal relays hurt my brain. The oem relay also has that German car function that let's you leave a turn signal light on all night long. No way did I want or want to figure out how to blend that into the system, so I kept it simple.
To answer Wilderbry's sort of question: It was simply better for me to use an aftermarket fuse box with all new wiring and electrical contacts and lots of individual circuits, plus no harness coonctors throwing a wrench and complexity into the mix. I know exactly how each circuit is wired. Each wire is already labeled to tell you what function it serves and the color coding is standard GM style. I could theoretically give my car to a repair shop and they could understand the wiring based on the color coding alone.
I bought the 28 circuit "Classic Customizable Trunk Mount Chassis Harness" from Painless performance because it was guaranteed to have wires that were long enough to reach every conceivable device and location I had. I paid the big bucks for the "10220" version because I didn't want to get screwed like I did the first time around with a whole bunch of wires that were too short. There's no point in having nice color coded and labeled wires if you have to extend with butt connectors a whole bunch of important ones with generic red and black wire from the auto store in all the wrong gages. Having lots of labeled fuses means I can put virtually everything on one dedicated circuit that's easy to find the fuse for. And there's extra unused wires for devices that I could add at a later date. :
It also totally sucks to entertain the thought of rewiring a car with a fuse box under and behind the dash where every maneuver is a royal PIA. Most of us are old guys with poor vision, bad backs and knees, and bloated bellies, why make rewiring a PIA when you can just put it behind the seats and everything is easily visible and accessible? But I had to pay extra for that convenience with the extra long wires. A similar Painless system for under the dash is almost half the price, but, trust me, you'll be cursing your face off for not dropping the extra couple of hundred dollars for the trunk mount version with the long wires. What is your time, convenience, and enjoyment of the job worth? To me, spending a few hundred extra dollars for extra long wires and have the extra convenience and sanity will be worth every penny. And, on the plus side, I'll have PLENTY of extra color coded and labeled wire for future situations. That said, if you're cost challenged and really enjoy pains in your azz, you could buy this kit or a similar one. This is the under the dash version:
Thanks !This is my thread about wiring up my GTX car:
Gordo Wires the GTX - Aaaggghhh!
This is my thread about wiring my GTX car. I can't think of too many topics more boring to start a thread about than this. Also, there will be very little info of benefit to owners of typical Opels because this car has almost none of the original parts, systems, and wiring. These changes to the...
It was the first time I had rewired a car and a car that had a custom dash and switches and an electronic instrument cluster with a controller, plus all sorts of special gadgets like power steering and stuff. Most of the stuff I did was a good idea and some were good, but could have been a lot better. I'm trying to do the "better" part this time around. I worked with Post Office letter and package processing machines for 30 years and they had miles of wiring and 100's/1000's of parts and devices, motors, circuit boards, controllers, interfaces, etc. I don't consider myself to be a "car guy", I'm a "machine guy" who happens to like to fix up Opel GT's. Cars, by their nature, wire things up with a lot of "shared circuits" and local grounds to the body. Multiple devices share one fuse and many devices ground through themselves to the body or a short wire. I don't like that, that's not what I'm used to. Dozens of local grounds can cause dozens of poorly grounded devices. Circuit or fuse sharing can cause trouble. Harness connectors, as previously stated, can cause problems. In my "Gordo Wires..." thread I drew up individual circuit diagrams for subfunctions that needed to be documented because I did them in a unique way or because they were complicated. My turn signal and flasher wiring is unique, I didn't know how to stop feedback from making ALL the lights flash when I activated the turn signal, so I used diodes to isolate the circuits to prevent this, as shown here:
View attachment 451424
The oem turn signal/flasher/headlight relay is almost incomprehensible, to most people, including me. Morphing that into my aftermarket fuse box that had separate flasher and turn signal relays hurt my brain. The oem relay also has that German car function that let's you leave a turn signal light on all night long. No way did I want or want to figure out how to blend that into the system, so I kept it simple.
To answer Wilderbry's sort of question: It was simply better for me to use an aftermarket fuse box with all new wiring and electrical contacts and lots of individual circuits, plus no harness coonctors throwing a wrench and complexity into the mix. I know exactly how each circuit is wired. Each wire is already labeled to tell you what function it serves and the color coding is standard GM style. I could theoretically give my car to a repair shop and they could understand the wiring based on the color coding alone.
I bought the 28 circuit "Classic Customizable Trunk Mount Chassis Harness" from Painless performance because it was guaranteed to have wires that were long enough to reach every conceivable device and location I had. I paid the big bucks for the "10220" version because I didn't want to get screwed like I did the first time around with a whole bunch of wires that were too short. There's no point in having nice color coded and labeled wires if you have to extend with butt connectors a whole bunch of important ones with generic red and black wire from the auto store in all the wrong gages. Having lots of labeled fuses means I can put virtually everything on one dedicated circuit that's easy to find the fuse for. And there's extra unused wires for devices that I could add at a later date. :
It also totally sucks to entertain the thought of rewiring a car with a fuse box under and behind the dash where every maneuver is a royal PIA. Most of us are old guys with poor vision, bad backs and knees, and bloated bellies, why make rewiring a PIA when you can just put it behind the seats and everything is easily visible and accessible? But I had to pay extra for that convenience with the extra long wires. A similar Painless system for under the dash is almost half the price, but, trust me, you'll be cursing your face off for not dropping the extra couple of hundred dollars for the trunk mount version with the long wires. What is your time, convenience, and enjoyment of the job worth? To me, spending a few hundred extra dollars for extra long wires and have the extra convenience and sanity will be worth every penny. And, on the plus side, I'll have PLENTY of extra color coded and labeled wire for future situations. That said, if you're cost challenged and really enjoy pains in your azz, you could buy this kit or a similar one. This is the under the dash version:
1 - 20 of 60 Posts
