FHC resto nr. 150; Finishing touches for the wiring

Slowly but surely the moment is approaching where I can start fitting the interior trim to this car. And about time I dare say! But first I had to finish the final wiring harness. The door harness (TKC3831) for the passenger door. On a ’76 car there shouldn’t be one, only the two wires for the door speakers. Though I thought it a good idea to use both, because it would simplify any wiring adaptations. It would also enable me to use the harness to power the mandatory map reading light that will be fitted to the co-driver’s door. And I had to splice in two extra wires to power the early type roof mounted courtesy light. The finished item:

Today we braved the sweltering heat, with temperatures well over 30°C, to work on some unfinished business. Last time I found some spare time to work on this car, I had to admit defeat while trying to fit the rubber bellows (BRC901; bottom left in the picture below) between the A-post and the doors front panel.

This was mainly caused by the fact that they shouldn’t be there. The areas where the bellows are fitted, are double skinned. Though with later cars the inner skin has a larger hole. Being an early car I had to drill through both skins as there were no holes in both A-posts or the door fronts. As a result the thickness of the edges is twice that, for which the bellows are designed, making it pretty difficult to get them into their designed position. Time for plan B and call in the help of a long-time friend, and car mechanic, to provide some extra hands to assist. He kindly asked me to get out of the way, and about an hour later both bellows and door harnesses were in position! Actually feeding the wires from the cabin into the doors turned out to be the most difficult part of the job.

Mainly because the bellows were compressed slightly where they passed through the double skins. Making for a very tight fit for the harnesses’ connectors. But with some guidance and tape we got both wires through: and in position.

And while tidying up the shed afterwards, I stumbled upon a pair of door speakers. These were put away to be used on this car, but I stored them to well! As a result of which they were lost for a few years! They look in pretty good condition and should clean up well.