meathead66
Mod Top
This is the thread I followed by youngun as my Painless kit is exactly what he used.
Painless wire harness install (MORE PROGRESS)
Painless wire harness install (MORE PROGRESS)
Installing a painless wiring system
- Thread starter cuda guy
- Start date
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Ronald C.
Well-Known Member
Yep, I do not intend to get rid it of it either as I am sure 1) I will be to deep into it for getting my money back, and2) I have no reason to really get rid of it. I rewired my 51 Dodge PU last summer with no issue. The dart is stripped down so I expect it to be the same, or even easier. As far as the harness, I'm not sure where he got it,or what he paid, but he is at $400 with no negotiating. So I dont know, again for a few hundred bucks, it may be good ol cheap insurance. My single biggest concern in the whole deal is the little things like courtesy lights on the rear of the AC controller, or any specific "mopar" connection. But it may not be as big of a deal as I think. And it may afford me the chance to even corneal all the wiring in the engine bay. I probably should just get it and do it as precautionary if nothing else.....
i paid about 350.00 for my RF harness on sale about 100.00 or 150.00 marked off from Yogis's. I did a ton of research before i bought mine and i seem to recall that painless is more expensive. I bought mine about 2 years ago....prices might have gone up since then too. No experience here with painless specifically so definately check out the thread someone posted above. My kit had connections on the fuse box for various things to be powered which most i haven't used but the key is testing each of those connections on the box with a test light in different key positions to see when you are getting power to that circuit and if it matches what you need for that accessory. RF had great instructions but called tech once and they helped me. I did get mopar connectors for distributor and ecu with the kit..didn't use them since i'm using msd 6al. i had plenty of extra wire from the kit to make my wiper harness which was easy. You might need to do the same on some things like the courtesy light you mentioned....i'm betting so on that one for most any kit. This is just my opinion...i've seen guys rewire an entire car leaving many old components in place especially the fuse box. I don't understand it....if you are doing all the work why not go all new? Eliminate the weak links. Sure you could probably go out and source seperate components from different sources and save some...but if you buy the painless from this guy and it comes with it's own wiring diagram to keep in your records to help troubleshoot later....that's money well spent imo. Otherwise you would need to draw your own as you go. It could be done, but for me the diagram was an important selling point too. i've even heard of guys buying a giant spool of single color wire and rewiring the entire car...can you imagine troubleshooting that one...could be done with testing but i'd rather pay just a little more for a kit with a brand new and updated fuse box and good diagram. As you probably already know with these old mopars; if you get the electrical updated and correct that's a huge chunk of potential problems you've eliminated. my advice is do your research on the painless and pricing...check out ron francis too if you have time to compare. but overall i think you are thinking right...."cheap insurance". IMO.
i used the painless, the steering column wiring schematic was the hardest part of getting it right. I wound up getting and I didit column during the wiring process and that made it a lot easier... the only reason why I did the I didit column was mine was one of the model cars they used to design the columns to.
pauly v.100
Well-Known Member
EZ Wiring 21 circuit on mine. Using genuine mopar connectors wasn't important to me as there's not much left on the car thats original except the body shape.
IMO any upgrade on virtually any electrical component besides bulbs, especially the charging system, should necessitate a complete re-wire and omission of the bulkhead connector.
IMO any upgrade on virtually any electrical component besides bulbs, especially the charging system, should necessitate a complete re-wire and omission of the bulkhead connector.
Ronald C.
Well-Known Member
So, still on this topic....
But got to thinking, is there significance in sharing I have removed the OEM cluster and went with Speedhut full setup?
So, IMO, the only real threat that remains is the bulkhead connector, correct? So is it far more feasible to rebuild (or bypass) the bulkhead since this is the only remaining real threat? Or does the cluster and BH just scratch the surface on potential electrical problems with most A Bodies?
But got to thinking, is there significance in sharing I have removed the OEM cluster and went with Speedhut full setup?
So, IMO, the only real threat that remains is the bulkhead connector, correct? So is it far more feasible to rebuild (or bypass) the bulkhead since this is the only remaining real threat? Or does the cluster and BH just scratch the surface on potential electrical problems with most A Bodies?
new gauges will not make much difference. i happen to have speedhut too-good stuff. bulkhead is a major component to wiring issues, but remember all the connections and wires are old. once you multiply all the minute components of ageing connections and wires with increased resistance etc. The thought briefly crossed my mind to disconnect the bulkhead connector and restore with a small file/brush/chemicals but with all things considered i decided to go all new and hopefully not need to experience problems in the near future. there are other things you can do for a healthier wiring/charging system such as using relays, etc. but the ammeter bypass and BH wiring are a major source of problems. me, i had the time and bought my kit on sale at the time so went that route. depends on the shape of you existing wire and connections. side note:i know when i pulled my wire tape off, the wires were like crispy ramen noodles. some people look at it real quick and say..."my wiring looks good"...but i recommend going deeper like unplugging things and peeling back the loom. some do many don't.
famous bob
mopar misfit
I just reread these posts , my bulkhead conn. was totally fried back when I started my rebuild, I decided then I didn`t want any 50 yr old wiring in the car---period !
pauly v.100
Well-Known Member
Just scratches the surface. Most guys are adding electrical components that weren't considered when the car was built (stereo, elec. fans, fuel pump etc.).
The added elec. parts requires more power, so adding a higher amp. alternator is necessary. The added amperage over taxes stock electrical stuff so when going to more amp output, you're pushing the limits of the elec. systems ability to deliver power without frying wires.
My 140 amp. powermaster would have left me burnt down on the side of the road long ago if I had used the stock wiring.
Ronald C.
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I have decided I’m just going all new. The car is stripped down to the bones right now. I may not be able to explain my way out of “promise, I was trying to just save some money honey”, especially given its current state. If it was running/driving and came that way, that would be one thing. But there’s just no way it’s would ever make sense if something happened. And I would NEVER live it down....
You will never regret going with new harnesses. No way I would put a used harness in a new build. I tried to cheap out and wound up buying it all anyway, only a lot of swear words later. Classic and year one have regular sales and you can get the M&H stuff fairly reasonable. It is good quality. The big harnesses are reasonable priced, but they seem to gouge you on the smaller harnesses. Seems like the transmission harness with three wires was almost as much as the underhood harness which is a lot larger.
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