RHD People -- I need some wiring help

[Greg Skinner]

I've been trying to figure out the differences in wiring between the left hand and right hand drive cars because I've been asked if the wiring kits I'm currently selling fit the right hand drive cars.

I still have questions about the front wiring loom. I know it passes through the front bulkhead on the right side of the car and the larger bundle of wiring also goes along the right side of the front trunk, but where do the horn and fog light relays mount? Can someone describe this and/or provide pictures?

I'm hoping that VW simply flipped the harness and moved the relay mount plate to the right side of the front trunk, essentially leaving the front harness unchanged.

Thanks!

[Lee Hedges]

Here's a pic from my 1965 during disassembly showing the front wiring loom being split in two directions.


And here's the inside-right nose panel that shows the relay mounting plate.

[Greg Skinner]

You know what's awesome about that? The front wiring harness in these new wiring kits can be used pretty much 'as is' in a RHD car. A minor quibble might be that the wiring color is wrong in that there is a black stripe on the two high/low beam wires on the right side--which would now be on the left.

So, the main difference is in the rear harness, where it was lengthened on the RHD cars about 4 feet. Also, the overhead light sub-harness has one or two wires lengthened. Other than that...it's all the same.

Great info, and thanks!

[Remco de Bruijn]

This may be a silly question...why would the wiring be different between LHD and RHD? I would imagine you just put the wiring in the other way around (mirror image)?


Remco

[Greg Skinner]

Ah, if only...

The main rear wiring runs down a metal tube in the left hand side rocker on both left and right hand drive cars, so the wiring for the battery, regulator and sunroof motor (if equipped), as well as all wiring at the rear of of the car is pretty much the same for a given time period.

The harness at the front seems to be the same--or at least very similar, so that leaves most of the differences in all of the wiring under the dash. The foglight switch, fuse box, steering column, brake master cylinder, pushbutton switch/headlight & wiper controls are all on the right hand side of the car. This means that the main harness and all its wires need to be about 4 feet longer to make the distance across the bottom lip of the left side of the dash to terminate properly on the right hand side. Another anomaly is the overhead light in the passenger compartment...which remains on the left side of the car even on the RHD models, so this little sub-harness is definitely different, too.

[Mark Poulton]

Greg's conclusions are spot on for the front harness - the RHD installation is a flip from LHD with the colour change for the headlamps. When I swapped my 345 from LHD to RHD I rerouted the front harness to the opposite side of the car, and made up an extension loom in the same colours/cross section for 11 wires from memory, using 3 multiplugs to avoid cutting any wires/terminals. This includes 2 power wires for the roof motor in my case. The RHD front lock panel has the relay plate on the opposite side so my car now has one on each side!

[Deleted]

I reckon you can count on my purchasing a RHD loom if your guy ever manages a production run Greg...