New wiring for an old C-body

[greasemonkeyman]

Figured I'd start this thread since we don't hear much about wiring.It seems to be everyones least favorite thing on their "to do" list of car chores.Alot of us are still running the original wiring harness that seems to be in a high rate of decay being that they are around the fifty year old mark.I know there are a few people out there making a wiring harness for us C-body guys,so who's making the best harness out there? Has anyone here tried any of the aftermarket harnesses from Painless or some of these other companies.Most of us seem to hate doing a complete wiring job,so how difficult is it doing a complete wiring harness ( engine comp.,under dash,etc).And how well do any of these aftermarket kits fit in place of the original wiring?

 

[bulldogchesty]

I received a new engine harness from Evans Wiring. I haven't had a chance to install it yet, with all the rust repair I have been doing. If I hadn't gone to Evans, I would have had our member BJS Racing that is working with Painless to get me what I need. He seems to be the wiring guru of our site. I also hate to do wiring.

 

[greasemonkeyman]

Dave,did you get the complete harness for everything(eng. compartment,dash,etc) or just a particular one.Does the Evans harness come complete with the proper plug in connectors for things like the wiper motor or is it a cut to length and splice your end connections on? How much does he charge for his harness? I think last time I checked it was about $120 for the engine harness alone.

 

[67-Fury]

I wrote to the owner of evans wiring and for the engine harness it don't include the headlight harness and no splicing is involved you just hook it up and its 110

 

[kellycom]

I went with the Painless Mopar harness. I emailed BJS Racing with questions and he was great to work with. I bought the harness off amazon as it was the cheapest of anyone. It had free shipping, which the box is pretty heavy so that was a great savings there. Also I had to pay sales tax buying it from amazon. But it was still cheaper than anyone else.

I've heard good things about Evans. The reason I went with the Painless harness is because I plan on rewiring the whole car and I also like the idea of a modern fuse box. The Painless harness also doesnt use a firewall bulkhead connector. It replaces that with a panel where the full harness comes through with no connections.

it all depends on your plans for your car. But I dont think you can go wrong with either.

 

[BJS racing]

I figured I would chime in here a bit. I do tech support for Painless as has been stated and even when I wasn't working for Painless I always stood behind the product and would always help someone that had questions about them. The only company out there that can build a true replacement harness for the Mopars is Year One as they are the only one that has most of the connectors and terminals to make true correct harnesses for our cars. Granted the C body guys like us don't have much in the lines for options even through Year One. As Kellycom and others have mentioned our harness does not have many of the actual end connections on it and it is a Universal based harness you would have to cut to length and terminate to suit your application. Many of the terminals on our cars other than mainly the printed circuit board and turn signal switch connectors use either a Packard 54 or a Packard 56 series terminal. So with that being said you can go through Del City or Waytec or other companies like them and buy those terminals and use that to repin the factory plastic connector. In the other areas you would need to cut off a pig tail from the factory harness to use on our harness. Many people get freaked out and panic when they take the harness out of the box. What you really need to focus on is taking everything in steps and in sections. Our harnesses are pre sectioned from the factory. So the different areas of the car are already zip tied off so that after you mount the fuse block you can roughly lay the harness out where the different sections belong. From there find a starting point. I usually start at the left front fender and work clockwise around the car until I have to get under the dash and finish up the wiring. If you take it a section at a time and just focus on that section it is a lot less overwhelming! I have had customers that didn't even know how to use a wire crimp tool and wired an entire vehicle with our harnesses. Heck I even had a guy that would call and say "I hooked this wire up, which one and how to I do next?". I literally told him wire by wire how to do the entire vehicle and would do it for anyone if they were willing to listen. I hope this helps some of you guys and yes I believe that there is no better overall product out there than the harnesses we sell. Not just because of the quality of components we use but also because of the support you can get from our company. You call and we answer. As some of you have even seen I have asked what some of you guys think of a new product idea and will ask for your help out here in public. I do what I can to help our Mopar community and the rest of them in any way I can.

Jason Hamner
Tech. Support
Painless Performance Products

P.S. Sorry for the long post!

 

[mr. fix it]

Thanks very much Jason for long post. I find it very useful!

 

[rjstick]

Thanks Jason - I think you just convinced me to go your route. I'd like to re-wire my entire project but haven't really known where to start.

 

[Big_John]

I guess I'm the odd man out here again...... I don't mind doing the electrical work on cars, but I guess I'm in the minority.

I needed new a new wring harness for my '53 Chrysler. The old wiring was shot, between the age and mice munching on the cloth covered wire, it was amess.

Nobody makes an affordable wiring harness for my car so after looking at different options, I decided to make my own. I've seen many examples of how wiring harnesses are built and they all come down to some very simple methods. Having a harness that was in bad shape but pretty complete was a big help.

I used a scrap of plywood to lay the old harness out. I used finishing nails to outline the harness shape and drew the pattern on the plywood. Next I cut away the old wrap, using cable ties to secure the wires together.

I replaced the wires one by one, using the old wire for length. I then wrapped the completed harness with vinyl tape (no adhesive).

Here's a simple part of the harness:

A close up of the new harness installed in the dash:

This really isn't rocket surgery..... Just take it one wire, one section at a time.

 

[65sporty]

that harness looks great Big_John

 

[greasemonkeyman]

I don't mind the engine compartment wiring,but when it comes to under dash wiring,it can get a bit uncomfortable unless the dash is removed.It's like a giant bowl of spaghetti under there.Sometimes I wonder why they couldn't keep the wiring a bit more simpler and organized.

 

[tallhair]

that is a fantastic job Big John

 

[kellycom]

nice wiring job!!!

 

[rexus31]

I sent my original Engine and Forward Lamp harnesses to Bill Evans and he authentically reproduced them with the correct plugs and connectors. I was very pleased with the product and would not hesitate to use him again.

I know a tech at M&H Wiring and he was able to clean up my other harnesses. He untaped all of them and soaked them in some sort of solution that cleaned and softened the jackets, then retaped. They came back in great shape. I was fortunate enough to have unmolested wiring in my car.

 

[commando1]

I know this is really going to sound weird but I love sitting down with a wiring diagram and troubleshooting electrical problems.
But it has to be the pre-computer stuff.

Posted via Topify on Android

 

[rexus31]

I know this is really going to sound weird but I love sitting down with a wiring diagram and troubleshooting electrical problems.
But it has to be the pre-computer stuff.

Posted via Topify on Android

This proves it: there's something wrong with you. LOL!

 

[commando1]

Scott, to me it's better than reading a murder mystery.

The death of the circuit was caused by the frayed wire in the bulkhead connecter. Just like Clue.

Posted via Topify on Android

 

[tallhair]

hmmm clue

 

[commando1]

On my Newport, the wiring under the dash was so botched up, I had to literally go back to square one.
I printed out a 1/2 dozen copies of the wiring diagram.
I tackled out each individual problem on its own copy. I used my wife's 101 pc. colored drawing pencils to color code each wire. I bought all the correct gauge and color wiring at my local electrical store.
Item by item I completely unfugged the under dash wiring. I still have bruise marks on my ribs and back. Just about all the bulbs were burnt out, btw.
I am now very intimate with wth is going on under there. Every bulb replaced. Every switch fully functional.

I found out a strange quirk with this car. The ignition switch lamp only is on when the the headlight switch is in the "PARKING LIGHTS" position. Goes off when you move the switch to the HEADLIGHTS position. How odd. But the wiring diagram confirmed that.

 

[Ironwolf]