Projects Installing a wiring harness

I’d help you if I was closer. I’m one of those odd guys who actually loves doing wiring jobs. I’ve done two complete re-wires with a universal custom harness kit. I’m super meticulous about routing wires neat and clean, and labeling things and making things easily accessible and upgradeable for the future, so it might take me a little longer than most, but the last one I did took me maybe 2 and a half weekends

 

Find a schematic, blow it up to a poster, hang said poster on the wall. Remove seats put a thick pad on the floor, enlist a helper too hand you stuff. Easy peezy.

 

A few years ago I wired a car. I know almost nothing about electricity but I started reading up on the subject and after numerous articles I tackled the project over the winter. I’d spend an hour or two working at it in the evenings after I got home from my job. It took a while but I found it to be actually enjoyable. It pays to have a plan before you get started, sketch up a diagram of the harness and basic wire routing before you start. If you’re going to add some aftermarket items make sure you read up on their electrical requirements and know how/where you plan to mount the items and how they will tie into the new harness. It can be intimidating but its worth it when you get done. I will add that its not for everyone, if you’re not neat and methodical its best to leave it to others.
There was a younger guy featured in Hot Rod magazine about ten years ago who lived in Nebraska and he would travel to the west coast over the winter to wire up several vehicles during the off season. I couldn’t find the link to the article so I can’t give you his information. If you have someone else do it then ask for a couple references and go look at the cars they’ve wired up. You want someone who does reputable work, and anyone who does that kind of work won’t be afraid for others to look at it.
One last thing, if you do it yourself have a couple friends handy who can help you keep an eye on things when you first apply power, if anything is amiss you’ll want to spot it right away.

 

I also use a battery charger set on 2 amps to test my circuits

 

Why is that better than the 6 or 12 volt battery the system will use when finished?

 

I used a Painless kit on my Model A and was quite happy with it. I did a job on a 66 442 that the guy already bought an American Auto Wire harness (universal). The way that one was laid out made the job much longer. The Painless kit has all wiring attached to the power distribution box (fuse panel). You figure out where to mount it and run the wires to each accessory. The American kit has the wires loose and you run them and then attach to the power distribution box with small set screws. I found that much harder to accomplish.

Having the front seat out and any floor covering helps out tremendously.

 

Good point nochop. I did the same thing but had forgotten about it. Good way to test things out.

 

Can either one of you explain to the clueless why and how you did this?

 

I use a 9volt dry cell out of my camping lantern. They have enough power to test everything but not enough to let any Smoke out. I also add a Circuit Braker so that should there be a problem it's not a full on short, you just hear the braker click and no sparks.

 

Because using a charger on a low charge rate or a smaller battery like a 9V or lantern is current-limited. Most car batteries can deliver 500 short-circuit amps or more which will quickly start a fire...

 

Black to ground, red to the circuit you want to verify. It helps greatly on confirming grounds with out involving the other circuits.

 

The car battery can cause a lot of damage when fiddling around with open or unfinished circuits

 

I've been wiring my friend's cars for years for free. I had no idea shops were charging this much. I wish I were closer, i'd help you out. Hopefully you can find someone in your area to help.

 

Sorry, was busy all day and just got back here. If memory serves me correctly I connected the battery charger to the cables and set it on the 2 amp setting. Battery was removed from the vehicle at the time. Don’t claim to be an expert on this but it worked for me. I plan to do the sane in a week or so after installing a new electric fuel pump and stereo system.

 

I forgot to mention it earlier but a great website to check out is MAD Electrical. Mark, the owner of the company is a great guy, always willing to help you understand something. I called him several times. The literature that he offers on his website and in tablet form is also very easy to read and understand.

 

If you stay resolved that you don't want to do it and are willing to travel I'd do it cheap. I'm about two hours away

 

I knew I shouldn't have asked, I remain in the dark.

 

Recognizing skill level is highly important and it is better to pay someone with the skill than make a mess of things.
More important in this case is that the OP recognizes his physical limitations in what he can and cannot do. I've been sitting here with my right arm in a sling after rotary cuff surgery four weeks ago (got the long scar, not the three holes) and right now can do damned little with my right arm and hand even though I am left handed. 77 years old and not able to get around like I did 30 years ago plus the bunged up arm that is of little help right now doesn't get much done. The screwballs who piped off that he shold just do it himself need to be hit alongside the head with a tire Iron and have some sense knocked into them. Same clowns every time who post that you have to do it yourself or else but you never see a post on what they did on their car if they even own anything except a roached out early 60's sedan.

 

I agree, wiring a big box car is a lot tougher than wiring a 30’s car that is going under a complete ground up build with minimal circuits and no interior

 

Thank you Mr48! Every time I read an electrical post on the HAMB I understand less. At 73 I won't be around to see any wires in any of my projects, and I'm OK with that.

 

I hope any revaluation of the true worth of your friendships doesn't leave you feeling short changed. As a general rule people don't value what they get for free. Hope you live on a two way street.

Chris

 

I just finished wiring my Coupe. I used a new American Autowire builders kit. It had nice wire,good terminal ends but the instructions were a little limited. The major drawback was that it was really built around a G.M. Focused build. What I mean is it had a connector for a GM column and wanted a GM wired starter so you had to be aware that the Fords are different. What I found really helpful in planning was the check list that Speedway has downloadable for their universal harness kit which helped me to account for and pre-bundle things on the floor to gather areas that the wires would go to and loom them together. The other thing was the car had no interior which made the contortions I had to go through easier. Being retired also allowed me to work at my pace….took about 3 weeks. So far everything works and no smoke yet. It was important to just attack it 1 wire at a time and test,test test. MIKE

 

I got a factory schematic for my car online... kind of crappy and blowing it up was not much help. Believe it or not, one of the trickiest things was doping out the dome light.

I used a HF packing blanket on the floor with some beach towels rolled up for a pillow. A night-day difference in comfort.

Mostly I worked alone and had some helpers show up in the evening. It was a hot summer of 2015 and I worked a few hours here and there. It took a few weeks to get it all done. Off time I was researching sockets and gathering up quality terminals, splices, etc.

 

I want to thank everyone for their input on this subject. I am tossing around the idea that I might try to install the harness myself. I am planning to buy the Rebel Universal 6 volt 8 circuit wiring harness. I have a couple of questions before I commit. 1- I can take the front seat out but the interior has already been redone. Will I have to remove any more of the interior to get the wires to the back of the car for the taillights? 2- My car has a starter button on the dash and it doesn't look like the harness has wires for that component. How would I handle that wiring? 3- I will be doing this rewiring job by myself so I don't really want to remove the dash. Is this going to be much harder to rewire the instrument panel without taking the dash out? Thanks again for all the help and advice.

 

#-1 You should run the wires to the rear of the car under the carpet. It also needs to be protected. In stock form it went under the door sills and through the quarter panel behind the upholstery and over the rear wheel house.

#-2 You will se a relay to convert to power or change the Button to s double contact one. That is if you have a latter model drivetrain. If stock starter system you're still going to ground to close the solenoid.

#-3 Being it's a 49 just drop the spedo cluster forward and support it. Move on.

One thing I will add. Don't make it difficult. The main fuse block DOES NOT need in the impossible spot up behind the Speedo. Move it to center, mount it in the Passenger side kick panel, build a drop down mount off the edge of the dash. Do anything you can to get accessible from the passenger side of the car. There are no rules when it comes to where to mount any of it. Think for yourself!

 

I think you can get a flat wire loom to go underneath the carpet https://www.trailerandtruckparts.com/5-Flat-Vehicle-End-72-inch-Wiring-Harness-002309_p_1189.html

 

My suggestion would be to purchase a dashboard from a similar car off Facebook and mount it on a cart so you can get front to rear easily. Then if all the instruments are the same, route your wiring and make sure the wires are the correct length and have the correct connectors.. Allow for any steering column interference when cutting the wires. When you get all the stuff worked out, it should be fairly easy to climb in your car and plug it in. Routing the wires in the engine compartment won't require much contortion as if its OEM wiring there isn't a whole lot of it. I would upgrade to new battery cables as well. This should be fairly easy to do and you don't have to rush. Then resell the dash when done and get your money back.

One more thing.......I'd buy a label maker and label the wires as needed so when you climb under, its easy to read.

 

Unless there's a ton of stuff to get removed first, if the dash will come out you'll be miles ahead wiring the dash comfortably on the bench, not to mention doing firewall work with the dash conveniently out of the way. I always have the dash wired as a plug in.

Chris

 

I've always used the car battery and never had a problem. The new harness has a fuse block with fuses to protect the branch wiring, and they all had main fuses from the battery to avoid full battery current from damaging the main feed wire. If there was any real concern about whether you wired it correctly all you need is to put a smaller main feed wire fuse in and it will blow before things melted down. I never felt that unsure to need to use a smaller fuse than the kit came with.

 

Unless it's a roadster, I always run the wires over the top of the driver's door. It's a easy route, unless there's a headliner in place. If that's not available I run wires along the driveline tunnel where it meets the floor. It's easy to lay them side by side there, and just duct tape them down and then lay the carpet back, or install the new carpet. Out of harm's way and no lump showing.