Do you make your own wiring harness and why?!? with poll!

I'm designing my own wiring harness right now, and after spending way too much time and money on it, I'm wondering what the heck was I thinking?!? LOL I guess I just want it done the way I want it done, I want to use a whole bunch of relays, I want to learn how to solder and wire, and I enjoy the challenge of it, although I wasn't anticipating having to lay it all out and build the wiring harness prior to install. I was thinking more like one wire at a time! Guess that's not such a hot idea! Finally I just prefer to do it myself for the principal of the thing. I'd probably be money ahead buying one but I'm stubborn. What's your excuse?!?

 

Done both ways actually, but wanted to understand what was going on. What really weirded me out when younger was the fact that electrons are negatively replused, so the current runs from the negative post of the battery to the posative post of the battery.

 

I do all my own wiring, being as I do wiring on Heavy Trucks And Fire Trucks including code lights on emergency vehicles almost everyday as part of my job(and I like to think I'm pretty good at it ), I just can't bring myself to buying a kit.

Drew

 

I wired cars from scratch for 20+ years but today the price of the components exceeds the cost of the kits. When you factor in the amount of time saved, the kits are a bargain.

 

Because it's easy, and FUN!!. Actually, I've built two from scratch, one in a 1940 Ford pickup, the other was a 53 Ford years ago. Pretty simple systems, so it's fairly straightforward. On the other hand, electrical & electronics is something I have done for years, starting when I was 15 years old working in a TV repair shop. After figuring out how to repair horizontal flyback, vertical deflection, color burst and AGC circuits, the auto wiring is kinda plain.....

 

I agree with hotrawd ,been there done that...............................

 

I wired the '50 Burb from scratch, because it has more electronics in it than the kits would handle. Very time consuming, but everything is organized by component, marked and color coded. Routed neatly with future expansion and service in mind.


Otherwise, I use kits.

Tip: If you're making your own kit, when you shrink wrap a splice, write on the splice with a Sharpie before installing it. It'll be readable when it shrinks and helps I.D. the circuit.

 

There are a ton of threads on here about wiring....I have always used and Love Centech wire kits.

I tried a painless for my A, I threw out the directions and their process, and used their nice labeled wire and some generic type fuse holders to make my own harness.

Painless does have a neat wiring diagram for their brake light/turn signal setup that uses less wires to the back of the car thru two relays.

the sharpie is a great idea.....my harness runs along my roll cage hoops under the dash so I marked the hoop with silver sharpie. The wires are labeled....but those accessories like MSD boxes and Tachometers are not labeled.

 

I have been wiring race cars, race bikes and hot rods for 25+ years and like to make my own. I made a simple harness for my last project as well I made a colored diagram. Its made to work with a cheap/simple turn signal switch and is set up for headlights, tail light, instrument lights, and brake/tail lights. If any one is interested in a copy and can try and copy it and send it by email.

 

Yup! Rebel Wire kit for me this time!

 

I always make my own wiring harnesses, no matter if I'm building a bike or a car. Costs less and it looks the way I want it to.

 

I'm designing my own wiring harness right now,
There is a bad word in here. Designing. Wiring is like eating. You just do it. There is nothing complcated about it. If you treat each item like it is the only item you will have it done in no time.
Lights? nothing hard here.
Ignition ? Pretty straight forward.
Radio? Nothing hard there?
What is left? Nothing. You'ré done!
Quit thinking, start working. The longest part of any journey is THE FIRST STEP.

 

its the only way to get all the stuff that YOU want for YOUR car. then all the shit you have left over helps with the rest of the projects you will ever do. oh and when something goes bust on the side of the orad, you know what the yellow wire next to the yellow wire does

 

Been doing wiring for over 30 years--both at my job and as a side business. I've used all kinds of fuse boxes--made all kinds of harnesses.But the last job I did for a customer was a Rebel kit--I gotta say it was a lot easier than starting from scratch--almost a no-brainer. I'm a fanatic about how I build and run harnesses--and the kit made it easier to concentrate on that.I also build fuse boxes from Packard/Delco oarts,so they look "stock G.M."

 

once you understand basic automtive wiring, you dont even really need to "design" it. i just run one circuit at a time, bundling, and re-bundling as i go, crimping one connector at a time. i waste alot of zip ties but its still cheaper, neater looking and easier for me to understand and troubleshoot if necessary, because the wires arent covered up by any loom. plus you can use whatever kind of wire you want.

 

I'm interested in anything home-brewed. I'd be proud to have a copy.

 

I don't make a 'harness'. Just run wires to where they need to go. Why? It Works.

 

Depends on what you're building... I build hot rods, so by the time I buy a kit and cut off all of the stuff I'm not gonna use it's cheaper and faster for me to just make my own harness.

 

My sentiments exactly and mine wasn't really that difficult.

It's all the trips to the hardware store, wrecking yard for the fuse panel, etc.

And the selection of wire colors available is limited. Having only 4 or 5 wire colors gets confusing. Also, prewiring for future accessories and knowing what gauge to use for different applications.

I probably spent 50% more than if I would have bought a Rebel Wire kit from our HAMB member. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211648

The only reason I didn't get a kit is because I thought I was only going to do the crossover harness for the headlights, then one thing led to another and before I knew it I was at a point of no return to start over with a kit.

 

1953 Jaguar XK120SE with SBC..all wiring ripped out when it was a racer...not much choice..but do it yourself.
I wired my race cars..all real simple stuff..can't say I'm any kind of pro..but they work..never had a problem. If it's simple..I'll do my own..

AND..mine was LUCAS..so how could I do worse than original ??

 

I've wired three cars from scratch, but on two of them I used aftermarket fuse panels. Making my own fuse panel was fun on one car, but it wound up twice as large as the aftermarket ones that get everything packed into a smaller package than I could have made myself.

It helps out to look at various factory schematics from older cars to help you figure out how you want to lay it out. I roughly follow the color code of late '60s early '70s GM cars to make it easier. For instance, the wire to the neutral safety switch is purple, 10 ga red is usually unswitched positive, 10 ga pink might be switched positive from the ignition switch, black is usually ground, and I think 16 ga brown goes to the tail-lights. Use better quality SXL wire in the engine compartment or anywhere things get hotter than ambient. Fuse everything and use lots of relays for high current things.

 

Some surplus places sell wire by the pound, so you can just grab about 50 feet each of a bunch of different colors for pretty cheap. There's also lots of online places that sell really nice quality SXL wire by the foot in a bunch of different colors. If you draw it up first and you know where the components are, you can guess pretty well how many feet you need and add a little extra.

 

I've built a headlight harnesses for my '64. I wanted it to mirror the original, but to incorporate relays, an additional ground, thicker gauge wire and be a "plug-n-play type of harness. Buying all the parts and correct crimper was definitely pricey, but there wasn't anything offered that came close to what I wanted. I thought it was a lot of fun putting it together. Not so sure I'd do something similar for the main harnesses though.

 

I work at Ron Francis so the choice for me is obvious...

Spike

 

I have built a bunch of cars over the years and scratch built most of the wiring,,,from the home built fuse panels to all the wiring.

The reason I did it that way was because early on the weren't any kits out there that I could afford.

The plus side is they were inexpensive to build and fun to make,,the negitive side if you were on the side of the road in the dark,,,some of the wires were the same color and were not marked as they are today with the modern kits.

Since that time I have used most of the well known produsts being produced today,,with mixed results.

The time factor is what won me over and American Autowire is my pick of the litter,,,EVERYTHING is there,I don't have to go looking for anything!

 

Johnny...
Let me know how things go...we may have a job for you at Rebel Wire.

 

I always buy one. Reroute a few wires, and put it in. Ive seen a bunch of homemade wiring harnesses and it never seems to be as easy to diagnose or as neat as a premade. Not to mention it seems that the whole harness is always protected by like 3 fuses.

 

Depends a lot on the car, simple hot rod make my own,I'm doing a 57 Chevy for a guy full up all electric stuff, use affordable street rod kit , best Ive found and have tried almost all of them.

 

The bought ones are always pretty generic and I always end up figureing it out anyway. At least when I've put one in someone else's car.

Anyway why pay someone to do something I can do myself.

 

i couldnt imagine having it done, i have alot of extras like central locking, power windows, fuel pump, fans, water injection, suspension compressor, extra interior lighting, i even have added canted quad headlights on 8 seperate relays with 4 seperate circuit breakers, i find if i laid all the wiring i know were everything is and what everything is but i probably should make a wiring diagram incase i ever forget what something is, ive gone nuts with fuses, circuit breakers and relays, i also have a few solenoids doing various things, i try to use good wire in the engine bay near heat and fuel and wire everything a little above what the load requires so wires dont go hot like the original stock harness did and i usully run a few earth's of everything.
ive looked at the kits, some have good wire and nice fuse boxes but ive never got one, to me they look like they would require to much modification to justify buying it over materials to do my own.