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Replace wiring harness?

steveh326

steveh326

Active Member
I think I already know the answer to this question, just need some reinforcement.

I think I need to bite the bullet and replace the wiring harness on my 66 before the car goes back together. Its the easiest time to do it, 98% of the wiring is original to the car. I think it will be much more difficult to replace it if I tried to do it a year or 2 down the road once the car was back on the road.

Looking at Painless and American Autowire. There are + and - to each of them, but I am leaning toward AAW cause I think it has more +'s for my application, plus it's a little cheaper.

Am I correct in in thinking now is the time to do this? I kinda view this like building a house... need to invest in a good foundation and structure, then I can add the crown molding and other farkles at some point in the future when the house is built.
 
What's wrong with your current wiring? Too butchered up? Are you considering Painless or AAW because you are going to be running more modern items in the car?

Yes, if you are determined to replace all the wiring, do it now during assembly.
 
If you are not adding power windows.....locks....and the such, contact Midlife to get yours refurbished or to get a refurbished factory harness. Best deal for the $$ on stock harnesses.....plus a warranty.
 
I went with the American Autowire recently in the 65 that I am building. As it will have more modern parts, the new harness made more sense. I have installed a Painless system in the past and I think the American is much better. If you wanted to save money and go back with a stock design, then Midlife's is the way to go no doubt. If you plan on adding any modern pieces, the American Autowire would be my choice.
 
Or you could stick with the factory harness (refurbished as needed) and simply add/replace the stock fuse block with a new modern piece to accommodate any new electrical needs. The under dash harness is typically in decent shape and reusable unless a PO hacked it to bits.

I chose to reuse my dash harness and replaced the other sections (back to the tail lights and under the hood, etc.) and am using a 18 circuit fuse block in place of the original unit. I'm also hacking up new engine and headlight harnesses to work with my new, modern equipment needs. This way I maintain the original style electrical connections at the firewall to the stock dash harness.

Lots of options.
 
"cmayna" said:
What's wrong with your current wiring? Too butchered up? Are you considering Painless or AAW because you are going to be running more modern items in the car?

Yes, if you are determined to replace all the wiring, do it now during assembly.
Click to expand...

nothing really wrong with the current wiring that I know of... except that it's 45 years old. I was just thinking that I would have to get a year down the road and have it start failing... but it it's OK to use what I have, I can definately use that $ elsewhere for other higher priority stuff I will need to get. I do plan on upgrading to a 1 wire alternator pretty soon after I get it back together and running, but there are options for that using the stock harness. Having never replaced an entire wiring harness, I wasn't sure how big a PITA it was to do down the road if I ever needed to.
 
Unless you are adding things like amp or power windows, etc if it were me I'd get Midlife to go through your stock harness and refurb it.

Pulled mine out a year or so ago due to missing connections that previous owner(s) had chopped off and had Randy go through it, short check everything and replace the missing pieces.

A lot cheaper then buying a new set up and mine is working great.
 
Thanks to all who said good things about me (the $50 bill is in the mail!)

Steve: yeah, it sounds like the cheapest, most effective solution for you is to remove your harnesses and let me check your shorts.

There's a StangFixer discount somewhere...
http://midlife66.com/harnesses

Randy
 
Another plus is he wraps them in sheep's wool.......soft cushioning for rough roads.
 
well I was up working on the mustang over the weekend (it's in W. VA. and I live in MD). While there I gave the electricals a good inspection that I had not done before. It's roached and pretty much beyond salvage. I have started saving my pennies for a new AAW harness. Thanks for all the input.

note: the reason the original harness is so trashed is due to a fire in the shop where my car is being worked on. The fire was at the other end of the shop but the heat pretty much ruined all the wiring and lots of other bits. Strangely enough, the foam the fire company used to douse the fire ate up the chrome where it contacted it. The insurance company paid for all new chrome for the car but the wiring wasn't considered at that time, which was about a year ago.
 
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