I am building a 55 chevy 210 and it is completely bare and I am about to start wiring it. I have never done any wiring before so I was planning on a painless wiring kit but I dont know what to go with and I dont necessarily understand some of their kits. Basically I just need headlights, tailights, turn signals, and be able to hook up guages. The car will be ran by a 1970 454 so I shouldnt think I need anything there really. What is the cheapest easiest one I should get. I see some for like $450 but that has all kinds of useless hookups for me like powerwindows and all that. If anyone could help me on just picking a basic kit for the lights and gauges that would be great. thanks
Cool 55. hey man, I wired up all my stuff. The painless systems are cool but alot of them have too many outlets. Painless makes a 12 and 18 circuit fuse block, they work good and cost a little over 100.00 but you would have to pick up some wire, you can also go to the parts house and pick up enough fuse blocks and wiring parts to do your own. Good luck man, JOKER JASON.
I have wired tri-five chevys using "American Auto Wire" harnesses and they are very good, relatively easy to understand instructions, and made specifically for those cars. They are also very pricey. I have also used EZ wiring harnesses - more generic, but pretty straight forward. Much cheaper, but more difficult to install. Cheaper, but some knowledge is required. I am presently installing a super cheap harness in a T-bucket. More knowledge required, must buy lots of different wire and connections to complete the system. I suspect there is considerable difference in quality of wire - heat resistance, flexibility, durability, etc. It kind of depends on your abilities vs pocketbook - same as always. Good luck
Another vote here for american autowire. I've done many of these harnesses, and even tho they cost more than a basic cheapy kit, they come with everything you need to have a complete new electrical system. Call them up, tell them you have a 55 with the engine you have, and they will send you a kit you need. It is very very simple to follow instructions and is in my opinion the best out there. It will come with all of the light sockets, etc. that were on your car originally, and will have accesories included that you can add if you have them or not. You get new switches and everything with the complete kit....really makes it simple. The basic kits usually do not have the sockets for the lights, switches, etc. They may be cheaper, but you get what you pay for. In the long run, I think you are better off with a decent kit than a cheap universal one....
I agree american autowire is nice to work with and what you said in your second sentence. I would bite the bullet and spend the extra money for the complete system. Sometimes what seems basic gets aggravating in a hurry. Ron
If you to do the job quick and easy go for the American Auto wire harness. Be sure to get the mofified set up. request the one for and alternater and HEI. I've installed several and if I can do one anybody can.........
Be careful about limiting yourself too much on the number of circuits. You may not want all the extras now but having the circuits there in the future if you change your mind or want to use them for something else could be handy
Here's another vote for American Autowire. I did my 55 with their update kit that takes push in fuses and includes all sorts of stuff. The kit includes all the stuff to wire into the stock gauges, interior lights... with stock type color codes, stock type plugs, new light sockets, new grommets for the tail lights, head lights, etc. A new headlight switch that can take the current draw of modern headlights. A new ignition switch for modern ignitions and a new/add on interior light kit. The AAW kit includes a fuse box and hardware that bolt into the stock location so you don't have create all that from scratch. The firewall-forward wiring is excessively long so you can run the wires in a custom route for a cleaner look too. If you pinch pennies and get a $150 generic harness then you won't be getting all of that. Those "extra" circuits get used really fast too. You'll need them for a fuel pump, electric choke, MSD ignition, maybe some radio goodies or an electric fan to cool off your big block? The american autowire kit uses Packard style terminals that are OE type gear in quality and durability. If you rent/buy the special crimpers then you will end up with something far superior to a racecar / Checker autoparts quality crimp project. As always, I wish I would have taken more pictures when I was doing my project. Check out the pictures if you are interested: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v632/thehazmatguy/Electrical/?start=40 I did some very minor tech posts on trifive.com too. Search for my username and you should come up with it. I don't mind mechanical issues- but electrical gremelins piss me off like nothing else. Do yourself a favor and spend the cash on a good set up so you can do it once and be done with it. I bought my AAW kit from someone on eBay for $400ish.
Call Glen at rebel wire. He advertises in the cl***ifieds and gives hambers a 10% discount. Just tell him what you are running for accessories etc and he will send you what you need. Good quality stuff at a reasonable price.
Rebel Wire... good price, GREAT service and tech ***istance (a real person that knows something answers the phone).
American Autowire for sure, that is what you get when you buy your wiring through Danchuck. I just recently put new wiring in my 56 and it was a breeze! Get yourself a 55 Chevrolet shop manual also.
I checked ... I used an American Auto Wire harness that I bought from Don's East Coast ... it was too easy to install ... I recommend it ... Joe
Hello, I am still over seas but have been buying **** for my project as money comes available. I got a rebel kit a few months before I left okiehoma and I was wondering if anyone knows of a bulkhead jack that you can install on your firewall so if you ever need to take your front clip off you can just unjack it. like oem ****. I have done lots of wiring before. I used to work on video games back in the day so I can do the work just dont have a weather tight jack to use. So any ideas???
About a year ago Fat Hack did a very comprehensive post on exactly this topic. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=343321&highlight=wire
I just did the wifes 57 nomad with American Auto Wire. Easy money. Just dont forget to hook up the purple "Nuet safety switch" wire with the purple solenoid wire if your not installing the nuetral safety switch. And running manual ******. It was the 1st one i did and everything was smooth except i couldnt get it to start. But that was my stupidness. But thats the way it goes! If you got the cash....you wont regret
Another vote for Glenn and RebelWire here on the HAMB. I bought the 9+3 harness from him and am impressed. Nice quality American made product.Good price and turn-around time too. Plus,if you have a problem Glenn will walk you thru it.
0 experience, go with AAW's kit. It's plug & play. While the Rebel is an OK kit, it won't include any of the connectors you might need under dash so you will be forced to re-use some of the stock stuff. The AAW will include everything & comes with clear instructions. Never say never on too many circuits. I always buy big & go from there. I have a AAW Highway 22 in my roadster!
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