Needing to Rewire OLD old boat (1968 Sooner)

[obientx]

Hey guys, I'm in need of some help here.

I bought an old boat, fiberglass hull, all is sound, but here's the issue. The wiring in this boat is original. Copper wire, and its been hacked and spliced so many times, its a real nightmare. Its running a 1985 Chrysler 90HP Outboard motor. Motor runs ok, has some issues when putting in gear, but I belive thats because the throttel, foreward/reverse and Trim up/down is also orginal.

This weekend i need to rip out ALL the old electrical and install all new wires, maybe gages too. But after looking over the net for the last 12 hours i've gotten more confused than ever.

Now, Please keep in mind that this boat is older than I am! I'm thinking its not going to need all the wiring that a newer boat would use, but i know this needs a complete rewire. Now I would rather tackle this myself than ship it off to "Richard" the local boat guy. Because i believe that when i'm out on the lake, and something goes out, I wanna know where/why and how to fix or bi-pass it.

Any help its greatly apperciated.

I've read things from... oh for smaller older boats, just use all 6 AWG or Oh use all 14 AWG. ... Run wires directly from the battery to the ignition key switch, and run from and from. Now that doesn't sound right, ... Shouldn't there be a battery to 1 terminal bridge or something? I'm understanding that on a boat, there is no "ground" so all "grounding/negative" leads need to run back to the neg side of the battery. But if i do this w/out some kind of bridge or buss system, i'm gonna have atleast 6 different wires going to and or from the battery.

Again... Confused and looking for help.

ObieNTx

[hsbob]

i use a #10 stranded set[red and black] of wires to get the power to the dash. they go into a fuse pannel. all power for the ing, lites .... goes thru the panel. some times i add another fuse panel that is switched but it gets power form the first panel. most wiring for lites, horn..... can be done with 16 or 18 guage wire. power to trim/tilt needs to be 12 guage and fused to 30 amps. most other wire can be fused for 5 or 10 amps. always use stranded wire. solid wire cracks under vibration.

[gw1250]

I wired a boat i built by using a fuse block from west marine. It had a terminal for the positive side of the battery and one for the neg, obviously. Then it had six or so fuses that you could run your accessories off of. You can buy them with more or less depending on the number of accessories you plan on running. The block does the same function as running each wire individually back to the battery without the mess. Also do NOT use copper wire for marine applications, it will oxidize very fast when exposed to the elements. Here is a link to a pretty nice fuse block from West, they also carry some cheaper more basic blocks as well. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/59187/377%20710%201629/0/Breakers%20And%20Circuit%20Prot/Primary%20Search/mode%20matchallpartial/0/0?N=377%20710%201629&Ne=0&Ntt=Breakers%20And%20Circuit%20Prot&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&page=CategoryDisplayLevel1&isLTokenURL=true&storeNum=5002&subdeptNum=9&classNum=295
scream and fly recommendations for marine wiring. It should mention every thing you need. http://www.screamandfly.com/home/hull_tech/wiring_6.6.2004/wiring_1.htm

[Hottrucks]

it a long process to write out but start by figuring out how many leads you need from front to make and make a harness...Zip ties are your friend here keep them neat and tight also rubber coated loops ( like you use on a hose) that allow you to hang the harness when it's done...

I like to use two heavy wires to bring pos ( with fuses) and neg to the dash and Mark each one clearly. Like was stated use another Pos panel and make it switched from your main panel.....

Make alist of what's in the boat and when it should run

Bilge
lights
radio
fish finder
guages
whatever....and how many swtichs you need ( lights,horn,radio and bildge)

your going to need to find which wire in your ignition is key operated for a volt reading and to turn on a tach

a list of whats in your dash for guages will help out from here keep in mind this takes time if you want a nice job and plan on cutting as many zip ties as your going to use as you re route things.....AND KEEP IT SIMPLE

[Hottrucks]

the link JW posted will help alot to keep you in the correct color wires
http://www.screamandfly.com/home/hull_tech/wiring_6.6.2004/wiring_1.htm
these will make it easy to idenify if something pops when your out
http://images.westmarine.com/full/1930700.jpg

these are simple and cheap I thnk there called Buss bars
http://www.screamandfly.com/home/hull_tech/wiring_6.6.2004/images/013.jpg

[Taylormade]

Good advice all round, remember basically not to cut corners and take your time. Never work on this if you are feeling tired or run down. Electrical re wiring of a boat is a big job but it needn't be scary, you will need a clear head and a good mood before starting work on one of the MANY sessions it will you take to complete this job well. Keep it simple and use decent quality stuff, you are right to be thinking about if something goes wrong out on the water that you would like to be able to fix it yourself but also try looking at it the other way, if you do it yourself and make a really class A job, nothing ever will go wrong with it whilst you're out on the water in the first place! Another quick thing, will you be using one or two batteries? If two, get a battery selector switch (marine grade) and get that in first, that would be my preference. Start at the battery and run the main wires to the front and power up the control board that everything will be run from and then slowly just work out from there.Another advantage to such a control board is that all the switches and fuses are all usually right there to hand in the one spot.Anyway, If you get stuck, just post clear pictures back here and you will get lots of guys help you out.

[obientx]

I apperciate everyone's input, I'm going to go to the local Marine Store this weekend and get the parts that I'll need. I may also order a few off the net. I'm out of work on medical leave, so I can start this project soon, but I am sure that it will be many many sessions. If I get stuck, I'll post pic's and Q's here.

Again, thanks to everyone! It took me a while to find a forum where I thought I'd get responces, looks like I picked a good one :)

Obie

[Striker]

I'm in the process of rewiring my vector and didn't didn't want to have to mount a separate fuse box, so i got one of these from boaters world, it has all the fuses in line and easily accessible. These panels are also made with more or less switches depending on the need, and i think one even has a 12volt outlet for small appliances like a pump or small speakers. Also, for extra protection, i cover all my wire-wire connections with marine grade connectors, then liquid electrical tape for an extra seal.

http://www.boatersworld.com/product/198260028.htm?bct=t13046503%3Bcielectrical-boat%3Bcipanels-wiring%3Bcipanels

http://a1672.g.akamai.net/7/1672/116/20080301/www.ritzcamera.com/graphics/products/1-28/198260028.jpg

[wideglide55]

Make sure you take a pillow up under the front,it will help you last longer during your stay under the bow,also nice to have a buddy come over to hand you stuff while you are down under the front.I did mine alone and think I climbed in and out of the boat like 500 times.

[Taylormade]

Nice boat and that is soooo my style. Looks really sweet man.:cool:

[Checkmate2.5]

Good advice so far.
being an electrition for a company that builds boats for the millitary, Adventure tours, police/fire dept etc, I can tell you from experiance that what Taylormade said about being in the right mind frame is so important, especially when you have tight deadlines. Wiring is actually alot of fun, but it can be daunting if you don't have much experiance w/ the 12 volt system or the right equipment. A older smaller boat should be a great learning platform and is alot easier than it seems.
Make sure you have the right tools, equipment and everything basically mapped out in your head.

I start by visualising my "wire path" and installing cusion clamps to support the wires where needed. You will also want to put your common bus bar (neg) in a good place where you have easy access and have enough room to keep everything clean and servicable. So here is the basic rundown:


-Run your power from the engine to your battery.
-Run 2awg pos from the battey to your battery switch.
-From the battery switch, run 8awg red to your switch pannel on your dash (nav, anchor lights acc, etc...) (I recomend Blue Sea Systems for all your electrical components)
-Run a 12awg neg from your switch pannel to your bus bar.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v694/checkmate414/th_21508003.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v694/checkmate414/21508003.jpg)


Now all your navigation lights, anchor light, bilge pump or whatever you have going on in your boat have a home.:)