wiring harness question

[hooked on Grady]

I stripped the helm this weekend, all wires out. When I attempted to pull harness portion connected to ignition switch towards the helm, within a few feet of pulling, plug in ends came out. Does anyone know what these wires were connected to? at least 1 was orange. Did grady install harnesses during build process, could I have disconnected wires I may not be able to get at?
I thought I could pull ignition wires out and replace that as well but now I am hoping I didn't mess up here.
its an 87 24 offshore. thanks in advance for any help.

 

[seasick]

Most wiring is pre installed during construction before the deck is attached to the hull. . Usually if not always, there are no hidden connectors in the below deck areas that you can't get to but there will be ones that connect things like switch/breaker panels to the main harness etc. If you did disconnect a connector, there will be a way to get to it but it might still be a pain and require the removal of maybe a panel, storage assemble, access plate etc.
Most of those connectors also have locking tabs and you would have to pull very hard to undo them without releasing the tab ( more likely that wires would pull out than connectors unlocking. One helpful thing is that if the old wires are original they will follow the standard color codes. That goes for main hull wiring as well as motor harness wires but for the later you will need the motor rigging documents for that year or similar year motors and instrumentation.
Note also that the factory wiring will most likely be attached (zip tie or clamp) to the hull or deck in places that are really hard to get to.

 

[hooked on Grady]

thank you very much. The wire connectors were 1/4" paddle type so other than being a pain to get at I should be good.. the harness is coming through a plastic pipe from the bilge. there appears to be two of them one of them had pump hose running through it that I removed and relocated the wash down pump from forward storage space and put it and a bait well pump in bilge.
so it appears that aside from the gas tank wires the trim tab wires and the cables and control wires are alls that is left. Since I am putting a new engine on it is ok to just rip all those wire out and start fresh. there was already a complete mumble jumble of wires from over the years. New engine, new controls, motor integrated into MFD unit so what else do I really need to start over, just power from the batteries up to a fuse block. from there all the rest would come with rigging of new engine, correct? I have owned 5 boats with motors on them and never re powered so theres a definite lack of knowledge here. thanks again for your help.