New EB owner, old wiring woes ('75 Sport)

[Blue75Sport]

Hi all! First time EB owner here and already over my head. I'm grateful for this community and the dozens of threads on wiring, but hoped for some additional goodwill with a few newbie questions.

The former owner of my '75 Sport told me there were wiring issues, and I wound up with non-functioning headlights, factory gauges, and aftermarket radio (and if it once had a dome light, it sure doesn't now). They wired up after-market gauges, so the only thing I'm flying blind on is the fuel levels, but I think I've convinced myself to start over with a Painless harness for my own peace of mind.

Some questions I have are: Should I pick up a new OEM cluster to install with the harness, or is there a chance the wiring was the problem with the original?
If I know I want to replace the aftermarket steering wheel, should I also replace that with the harness?
Any words of advice for someone who has absolutely no experience with wiring, beyond reading and re-reading the instruction manual and watching install videos on YouTube?

 

[scoutingranch]

Ahhhh fellow Californian. (I'm just South of Camp Pendelton) I demand pictures of stated Bronco. Since I leave wiring up to folks that do it for a living and they leave certified welding on large pipelines to me, I can' t help you. But there are some real smart fellers on here that can advise you and provide direction.

 

[gnpenning]

Welcome. Pictures are always helpful.
Being new you probably don't know about the tech section, it would be a better section for the help you will need. Jon the site owner would move this over for you if you asked him.

Do you have a DVOM and/or test light? Very helpful for what you will be doing. You don't need high dollar items. $25-30 bucks should get you there for both if you don't already have them.

The fuse box for broncos can get rusty and corroded. Make sure all connections are clean and tight with good fuses with power at the appropriate times. Instrument clusters a voltage regulator that controls all the gauges. For some taking out the fresh air box is easier to get behind the cluster to check items. We do have a vendor here that rebuilds and updates gauge clusters and well regarded if you choose/need to go that way. Recent thread on here or in the tech section about it.

Headlights you need to check for power going into the switch and coming out after being turned on. Power will go down to the high beam switch then to the headlights. The connection with the double wires is the high beam outlet, one wire going to the indicator light on the dash and the other to the high beam side of the headlights. One will be power in from the switch and the other low beam power going out. Note, grounds are very important, make sure they are clean. Many believe they did come from the factory with enough or adequate cable size. Hopefully Dirtdonk or others will fill you in on this along with the blanks I left.

As always report back with what you are finding.

 

[AFLtCol]

If you see a lot of electrical tape, pigtails, and loose wires it might be best to go with the Painless wiring kit.

 

[904Bronco]

Welcome,
I would send your cluster out to be rebuilt, Classy Gauges here on the Site. Kevin does a great job. He will test each gauge and adjust if needed.

Wiring is easy, one leg at a time...
gnpenning recommendation is good, you need a VOM, Test light, continuity tester, good crimpers, wire stripers, soldering gun, marine grade shrink tubing, etc.

 

[brncofinatic]

I used a Centect harness with all the ends attached. It was very simple and straight forward, easy to do. I used a painless on my sons 1981 Jeep rebuild and it was anything but painless. I would definitely buy the centect again.