Hi, im new here. I have a 56 customline that im trying to get road ready, and i want to redo the wiring. The best price ive found is from Ron Francis, about 375$ for the whole thing? Has anyonehere used his before? any other pointers?
try Rebel Wiring (alliance member) around $180. I bought one for my 37 pickup and it looks very good. Gonna get one for my 54 soon.
X2 for Rebel, although I actually went for a kit from EZ Wiring for around the same price because it was all black. I think Rebel's customer service/support is a lot better though. $375 is crazy for a harness kit, Ron Francis and Painless seem to use solid gold wire or something. One thing to remember, I would budget another $100-150 for other supplies like terminals, heat shrink, clips, loom, bulbs, and other things you may want to add as you go along. It adds up pretty quickly.
Beamy,click on this link: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/member.php?u=7269 Rebel is also 100% USA made,if you have a problem just pick up your phone A++ customer service.The 9+3 kit has been used by several members.
I use E-Z Wiring kits 21 circut in all my cars and the ones I build for others. By far the best and easiest kit to use. And if you need help with install they have a friendly and helpfull tech support. There kits come all black or colored coded. 165.-185.
X3 for Rebel. My car and my brothers truck both have Rebel Wire. Good quality and even better customer service!
lat us know what you think. Gotta order me one here in a couple of weeks. Are you gonna pull your dash out or try and rewire it dash in?
heres the ones i buy ez wire. the only thing i dont like about a rebel is he dont use a one peice fuse block. not a big deal just my preference. getting ready to order another one for my buddy were building his 55 coe http://www.ebay.com/itm/260943881889?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
clips, this will be my first time re wiring a car, so to be honest that never crossed my mind,haha,....but i was going to pull the dash out anyway to paint it. im going to kinda ***ume that the harness isnt really going to come with instructions. What else do i need to know? what else do i need to do the job, and what esle should i be doing since im re wiring anyway? i plan on possibly replacing tail light housing/headlight/lamp sockets, etc....what else should i go ahead and do? echo of ghecko pointed out ill need terminals and loom...but im a total noob as far as electrical. Whats loom? and what kind of terminals, etc?
A lot will depend on what your car currently has. Here is a list of what I can think of that I picked up when I did my car... -Terminals (spade and ring for connecting to existing components). -Heat shrink tubing (seal all of your splices and terminals). I bought a veriety kit from HF and ended up using most of one size (the size just bigger than wire diameter), so you might pick up one of those, and then one larger roll of wire size from ebay or something, because you'll use a lot. -Solder (for splicing when needed, although **** connectors work if needed) -Loom (this covers your wire and makes it look nicer, and also prevents chafing on sharp edges), but its optional. -Lots of zip-ties to keep everything bundled and properly routed -Turn signal switch (I didn't have one that worked) -Door switches (for the dome light) Tools -Multimeter -crimpers -lighter/torch for the heat shrink -contact cleaner for cleaning up all the old components you're re-using I also had to try and find the little br*** ****on contacts to re-wire the bulb sockets on the whole car, and they were a pain to find. The fabric wire on mine was bad all the way to the sockets and that's a pretty easy spot to get a short, so you don't want to leave them alone and just splice to the existing wire; replace it all. You can buy replacement sockets at the parts store, but crimping new contacts right on your new wire looks nicer and is cheaper. I searched high and low and eventually got a bunch from riwire.com, they were great to deal with. I also had to replace a bunch of bulbs and stuff too since many were still 6v and didn't work. I think 1956 was the first year of 12v so that should make life easier (and cheaper) as you won't really have to replace all the bulbs or worry about extra voltage drops and stuff.
Also, the harness should come with pretty decent instructions, although they are kindof generic for Ford/GM/Dodge. Most of the Ford stuff in the instructions should be accurate even for cars as old as ours, but some will require some logical thinking.
You will have a minor problem with the headlight switch send Rocky aka dragonknucks a pm for the solution,your Ford has one hot lead and most wiring harness have a GM style two wire.
Beamy, I just sent the money in for my Rebel wiring harness also. If anyone has tricks of the trade for rewiring please post em up for us.
im a profesional auto tech and there is no guidline for this. just take your time and work through it. it is time consuming but can be done.
Also, one other tip I would give is to pay extra attention to your grounds as you go. I had more weird and hard to troubleshoot issues due to bad grounds than anything else. On mine, I ran a decent gauge wire from the ground stud on the block to the dash and connected it to a bolt that was centrally located on the dash, that way if I needed a ground location for any of the gauges or anything in the future I could just connect it there. Did a similar wire to the trunk area so I didn't have to worry about cleaning metal to get a good ground. Also, make sure your taillight buckets are securely fastened to the body and the bolts are touching clean metal, that one caused me some head-scratching.
Rewiring a car can take as long as you make it last. An experienced auto electrician should have it done in two days - remembering that they are all set up for it. For the hobby sparky I would use the three times rule. Depending on your skill it could take up to a week from start to finish. Just make sure you don't rush it and read the instructions from front to back before you start. The kits are all made to connect to Chev switches so you will need to convert the harness to match the Ford, so it is a good idea to buy a terminal kit and a good quality crimping tool. Have fun. You will be proud of your achievement when you finish. Regards
well, i got it, it came in the mail yesturday. still gonna be a couple weeks at least before i try and tackle it.
My son and I put an EZ in his 55 chebbie a few years ago. No problems with their product. Don't recall if it was made in USA but we are now looking for USA on anything we use and I will check that when doing my 56 Vicky. IF EZ is made in US, I will use them again. TC
Tom,check out Rebel Wire all USA made and a fellow HAMB member, great service after the sale if you need help and a 10% discount to HAMB members.The 9+3 kit works well for our Fords.
all good info, and to add a word about making sure you fasten those ground wires to a good "ground", use dielectric grease a little bit on those metal to metal contacts. really does a good job in taking care of corrosion and keeps those contacts fresh.
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