Watson streetworks wiring kit

[aircool]

Hi Guys

I'm just looking for a little input from any of you who have had experience rewiring a VW Beetle.

I live in the U.K but am considering getting a watson street works custom wiring kit sent over from the U.S. Either that or make a loom of my own copying the rats nest I dragged out of my car!

I will be using MSD 6AL ignition, electric fuel pump and a stereo that will be run by 3 amplifiers, don’t know if any of that will have any bearing on the decision?

Also I am truly rubbish at electrics so any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Cheers

[Dasdubber]

I have used it and can highly recommend it. Have a look under the "another beetle audio install thread" in this section - it will have some pics of my wiring. Everything was clearly labelled and the wiring all marked. I have no complaints about it.

[aircool]

Cheers Dasdubber

Wiring looks very tidy in your car; I take it by the size of your audio install that the Watson kit has extra connections for some custom extras e.g. electric windows...ect

Thanks for the reply. Your car is one of the nicest I've seen, if you don’t mind me asking where did you get that colour? Its not VW is it?? How long has it taken in total?

Cheers

Aircool

[Dasdubber]

Yeah there are a few extra "accessory" circuits available for things like electric windscreen washer, demister fan, electric windows etc. There is a dedicated stereo cirtuit as well. I am just running a main power line from the battery (1/0 gauge) to a distribution block then splitting it there for the amps.

The colour is a custom mix - I worked with the paint shop until I found something I liked.

Its about 2 1/2 years to get to this point!

[Bill K.]

Originally Posted by aircool

Also I am truly rubbish at electrics so any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

You'll need to learn basic electronics to wire your car. How to read a wiring diagram. How to measure resistance and voltage. How to check for continuity. How to check for ground connection. How to find out what each terminals on a switch does. How to make sure you don't fry your ignition box, etc.

The Watsons kit is great quality. The fuse box is nice, the wires are color coded and labelled, and the connectors a quality. It is however a kit and you need to be able to engineer in the gaps. Their wiring diagram makes more sense than the VW scheme, but requires understanding the VW scheme to connect stock parts (gauges, switches, etc). In addition to the kit you may want to get a crimper designed for the connectors that come with the kit, extra wiring, extra connectors, heat shrink, braided conduit, etc, etc.

A worthy project to accomplish. It just takes time, money, and patience to pull off.

Good luck
Bill

[65Cabby]

I wired my speedster a few years ago and used a beetle loom then followed a standard beetle wiring diagram plus adding in extra feeds for stuff like engine bay ignition starting. But because it was based on following the beetle diagram you needed to keep a lot of the layout in your head which isn't alway the best approach.

I'm currently putting in a new loom into the 65 cabby using a Watson kit. I'd echo the other comments that it is a good starting point but you still need to fill in the gaps. So this time I have used the Watson diagram as a starting point but have actually created my own wiring diagram using the Watson colour codes etc. I have been, and will probably still need to tweak it as the kit goes in but am willing to share it with anyone who may find it useful.

I've only attached smaller than 85k files just so you get the idea.

[Crimson_Axe]

The watsons street kit is very nice - I had mine installed for me (I build computers not cars )

wired up to all guages and radio (amp,volt,speedo, 2 headtemps, clock,oil psi,fuel,oil temp)

My next project is saving up for the door solenoid kit.

[GL-Aussielooker]

Originally Posted by Crimson_Axe

The watsons street kit is very nice - I had mine installed for me (I build computers not cars )

wired up to all guages and radio (amp,volt,speedo, 2 headtemps, clock,oil psi,fuel,oil temp)

My next project is saving up for the door solenoid kit.

I'm a copmuter geek as well. But I did a complete install of this kit in about 6 hours. It all works but have an issue with getting the hi/lo dimmer to work. But I would recommend the kit to anyone