New member, new V20

[fetoma]

Hi Guys,

My first boat for my Son and I. 1987 V20 w/ 1986 J140. Got the whole shebang plus extras for $1300. Motor runs. Rebuilding the tilt/trim unit right now. My question: Any pointers on the spaghetti wiring mess in the next post?

Thanks,
Frank

[fetoma]

More pics.

[fetoma]

A couple more.

[phatdaddy]

Welcome to the site. Lots of pics on your first 3 post. Good first impression. Does any of the existing wiring work, besides the engine harness? Looks like somebody tried to straighten up a little, like the Tupperware bus bar. If a lot of is not working, rip it all out and start over. I'd use tinned marine wire only.

I rewired mine, still ended up with a birds nest, but at least it's my bird nest.

Good luck

[SkunkBoat]

Welcome. is that a NJ boat?

lose the glass fuses and the old toggle switches

do a tag search on electrical or dash...lots of threads here already.

[Destroyer]

Hi. Welcome aboard. Pretty much what everyone else has said. Get rid of the old glass fuses. Yes, they work, but they are a pain in the neck to find, and are prone to corrosion. Get a new fuse box that uses the same type fuses that you see in cars now. Much easier to find and replace., and are not as prone to corrosion at the contacts.
Also, if it were me (And it has been on several occasions) when I get a new boat I tear out all old wiring and replace it. Lead one main cable from your battery to your fused buss bar, then from there to your switches and various gauges, pumps, finders, horns and lights. Neatness counts. And if, as I suspect, you're going to use your new girl in the ocean, make sure you use corrosion resistant measures at every connection or splice.
In all cases she's a good looking boat and you're going to be surprised at how well these hulls handle and how dry your ride is going to be. Best of luck with her in the future.

[Cam]

here is a diagram that may help

[jjuriga]

Welcome to the club man... I joined about two years ago when I first got my 1987 cuddy and glad I did - I have learned so much by this group of generous people. Good luck with the wiring, I just got done re-doing all of mine. Boat looks nice... hope you get it fixed up and have tons of fun with your son.

[fetoma]

Thank you all for the welcoming!!!

phatdaddy- seems to work. The bilge pump, GPS unit work. Haven't got sny further than that. Repurposed tupperware, doesn't get any better than that!

Skunkboat- yes it's a NJ boat as far as I know, and thanks for the wiring tips.

Destroyer- I've read lots of your posts, thanks for being so involved here. I'll lose the glass fuses for sure, and take you other wisdom to heart.

Cam- many thanks so much for the diagram!!! Been looking for something like that as a starting point. That needs to be a sticky somewhere for sure.

jjuriga- thanks for wishing me luck.

Frank

[jjuriga]

My wiring was a mess under the dash... nothing was labeled, nothing made sense. I ended up adding a bunch of wires, labeled everything and pout it all in the wire conduit. Oh, did I mention that I knew nothing about boat wiring / electronics? It was fun, I learned everything I needed to and even planned for the future and ran a couple extra lines.

Actually, funny story when I replaced the dash panel, I messed up the wiring while putting it back together. Took a while to figure it out, but I got it running again. I recommend taking pics before undoing the first wire on your gauges.