Manx Club

Hi Guys, Well, manxter #92 is almost fully assembled and I am itching to fire her up. I haven't even begun wiring and I am looking for a high-quality solution that's easy to understand/install. I have heard great things about Painless Performance wiring harnesses, but it doesn't appear that they make a harness for VW. I have found various other no-name kits on eBay as well as the ubiquitous Empi buggy harness. My manxter is currently set up with VW power, but I need to plan for whatever extra circuitry is needed for Subi power in the future. I am curious about what all of you have used for your buggy wiring. What works, what doesn't, what should I look for?

We have the 12 curcuit Painless fuse block (including horn relay and turn signal/ emergency flashers) installed and love it. Several of the curcuits like AC have been re-tasked for other things. I do like the idea of having the blade style fuses instead of the glass tube ones as you can get replacements at most any convenience store out in the middle of no-where. I did run out of curcuits for all I have going though. We used an existing VW harness, but if I were to do it again, I would just run my own harness. It's not that hard to do. Just be sure to run 3 or 4 extra wires from front to back so if you decide to run some other piece of equipment, all you have to do is tap into it and go. Shrink tube it together, and run it from the front to the back either through the tunnel, or down the underside of the tub if you have tubes glassed in.

These guys hosted Bruce Meyers 80th birthday party. Check the Manx page of their installations gallery. http://www.enjwireworks.com/

Watson Street Works: http://www.watsons-streetworks.com/custom_cars.html I used a nice little 9 circuit block with relays for wiring my Manxter. I don't see the same one on their site any more but they do have a 18 circuit VW specific kit and also a buggy wiring kit listed under the VW Stuff. Also check with E and J as CarioManx stated. They do very good work and may be able to help you out.

I have wired or helped wire numerous vehicles and know well some of the pitfalls that await the builder of a kit car. When I was building my Manxter, I began to think about the electrics when I ordered the kit from Winnie. I went to Club events, street rod events, etc. and took pictures and made notes of what looked nice. I have seen a lot of car projects where the wiring was the last thing considered while building. Usually this looks like some spagetti thrown on the wall. When I was ready for the wiring, I had a very clear idea of what I needed and how to get it done. Keep in mind that about 20 months passed before I got to this stage. The conduit for the electric was fastened to the pan before it was Line-Xed. I ordered a Watson Streetworks wiring Kit for a VW in order to get labeled wiring with a color code, and instructions. I had planned to hand lace the wiring looms, but decided to use black Ty-Raps. The Ty-Raps are quicker, less expensive, easy to replace as the loom grows in size and look very neat. I allowed for a half dozen extra circuits in the main loom. The conduit from the front to the back was a piece of .75" thinwall. This allowed me to use standard connectors on the conduit. My instrument panel has Weather-Pak connectors. This allowed for me to wire all the instruments at the work bench. It also allows me to remove for future modification. Do not depend on the chassis to provide a good ground for a long time. Run a large(#10 wire) to the front for a ground. Another ground MUST be run from the engine/tramsaxle to the pan ground connection. You will find that a VW harness will not fit without a lot of modification. Take your time, draw out what you need today and what you think you might need 5 years from now. Ask questions from others on the Forum. If you have taken the time to do a quality job so far, don't screw it up with a wiring job that will look bad, and perform poorly. It really sucks to have to go back into the wiring after a problem that could have been avoided. I have some pics that I would share with you. Check your e-mail in a couple of days. E&J wiring would also be a good place to ask some questions. They also do fantastic work.

The Painless VW wiring set-up can be purchased thru JC Whitney or at least it was available last year.I found it hard to belive but this info came from Painless.JC even included Painless as the manufacturer in their catalog.

Thanks for all the great info guys. Apparently, Painless isn't making a VW specific kit anymore because I can't find it anywhere. Too bad, I really liked the labeled wires and all. E&J's work looks amazing, but I'm kind of a DIY-er. I am definitely going to add a ground terminal block in the dash because there are going to be a TON of ground wires. Joe, I like your tunnel conduit, but my pan is already Rhinoed so I'm trying to figure out another way. I could just bundle everything up and send it down the passenger side of the tunnel but I would really prefer a conduit because it makes it easier to add/remove circuits in the future (one day I hope to go to SUBI POWER) Has anyone used the side intrusion bars as a front-back electrical conduit in the manxter? The run right along the bottom edge of the dash tub and I could easily drill an access hole directly from the dash tub into one or both of the bars. They have an open exit right above the taillights which would be ideal for all the engine & rear end wiring.

I thought about using the side bars too but if they get damaged and you have to replace them you'll be undoing wiring as well. On my buggy there is a channel glassed in just under the left side of the body. I have my wiring going through there. It's a bit tight but it works. I suppose if your body doesn't allow for this you might be able to glass in some smurf tubing, the blue flexible plastic conduit used for adding circuits to household electrical panels, and slide the wire harness through that. However it's inside diameter may not be large enough for a harness to fit. Something similar perhaps? Running it down the right side of the tunnel could work too.

We used the Waston's Street Works VW kit. It works well, but they give you no information on how to hook up to the VW switches. They suggest using other parts. We got it to work, but you better have a color coded Bently manual wiring diagram handy. We ran the wires from front to rear using the side intrusion bars for support after drilling holes in the body near the gas tank for access. Need large rubber grommets to run the wires through the fiberglass holes. Tom

Tom, did you run the wires under the bar or inside the bar? Looking at how my sidepods fit, there is no way I could get the wires in there without notching the sidepod at the front. That's one reason I was thinking of running the wires inside using the bar like a conduit. I could send them into the sidepod just behind where the pod attaches at the front and below the SI bar, but then the wire bundle would be very visible inside the passenger compartment, something I would like to avoid if possible.

Seven years ago, I used an Empi Buggy Harness when I put my buggy together. I added extra wires front to rear for any future additions. I also ran wire for grounds. Connectors were placed between the dash and the body. I was a novice at the time but it all came together without any major problems and it has worked well since. If you're budget is tight, I would recommend it. For a little extra money, a blade style fuse box can be used in place of the VW style fuse box that comes with the kit.

We ran the wires outside the bar. Yes, we had to notch the sidepod. If I remember correctly, the bars are not DOM but welded tubing which has a sharp weld seam inside which, unless you run a plastic liner, could be a problem. There is access at the back end of the side intrusion bar to the inside, but not at the front. We ran most of the wires down the drivers side and the fuel lines and a couple of the passenger side only wires down that side. Will you be at Lone Pine? We could trade notes there in person. Tom

I've got a wedding to go to so I will unfortunately not be there. Since my last post, I went ahead and purchased a Painless Performance 14-circuit universal harness. It was pricey, but came with more circuits than I will need and all the wires are labeled so it's easy for a doofus like me to hook everything up. It's set up for remote (trunk) location of the fuse box, so it comes with extra long leads for almost everything. I drilled a strategically placed hole into the passenger SI bar from the lower front of the dash pan. Double grommeted of course (one in fiberglass, one in steel). Then I attached the fuse box behind the glove box and started pulling wires. The inside of the bar is clean and smooth inside. I wired up the engine, tail lights and ignition switch. Turned it over a few minutes to bleed the air out of the fuel line and then she started up on the first try!! I actually drove my manxter for the first time this week! I was surprised at how much the rear end settled after my test drive. One of the rear tires was rubbing on the fiberglass at the rear of the sidepod even though I had already trimmed it. I had to raise it up a little so as not to cut the tire in half. Thank goodness for adjustable spring plates! My car sits very low, maybe not as low as Kathleens, but it's riding on the snubbers, so it feels like there's no suspension at all. Tom, did you cut off your snubbers to get a little more suspension travel?

No, we did not cut the snubbers, but are practicly riding on them. We have trouble with the passenger side pod with the rear tire hitting on the bottom & inside edge. We are discussing shortening the pods so they don't extend over the top of the rear tires, but trying to figure out how to not get water & road debree inside the pod. We will figure something out. This only applies to the pods with the radiator cut outs. Tom

I have the pods with radiator cutouts too. I trimmed off most of the vertical portion of the pod inside the wheel well. Then I had one side (passenger) that was droopy. You could see it hanging down below the fiberglass wheel well cutout of the main body tub. To alleviate this problem and also immobilize that part of the pod, I fabricated a standoff and bolted the rear edge of both side pods to the rear bracket on the SI bar/cage. It worked like a charm to prevent any rattling and hold it up out of the way.