Painless vs. American Autowire Chassis Wiring Harnesses

[pyroman]

I'm looking to rewire my 67 Mustang and the two big vendors for complete harnesses seems to be Painless and American Autowire. Painless is the established name but what about Autowire? Which do you think is better?

Perhaps it depends on application. For my car, I'm using a 3G alternator, MSD electronic ignition, electric fan and some other electric upgrades like an electronic tachometer, CD player etc. Both add a larger fuse box so you can add additional circuits for the stuff above, but I did notice that American Autowire includes a heavy gauge wire for 1 wire alternators, which is nice. I don't see much other difference.

Are there any other differences? Also, are they completely complete? Meaning is there anything they don't include?

EDIT: Also, is there anything else I should buy electrical wise if/when I get one of these kits? (connectors, etc)

Thanks!

 

[2+2GT]

Personally, I think you'd be better off with a new OEM style harness. No clipping, no adapting, it just snaps right in and works perfectly.

 

[starchiefus]

A OEM harness is not going to accommodate a 3G Alt, MSD ignition, electric fan etc. the American Auto-wire harness will, I'm installing one now, very impressed with the quality and instructions.

 

[pyroman]

Cool thanks for the perspective. When you were shopping for your harness were you considering the Painless? Why did you end up going with the Autowire?

 

[rbohm]

both harnesses are good to use. pick the one you like and go with it.

 

[starchiefus]

I picked the American Autowire because it was cheaper and offered more, you get a new headlight, ignition and dimmer switch, harness includes relays for the headlights, fog lamps and horn pre-wired, also has the electric fan, choke and fuel pump wire's included. The fuse panel is also better in my opinion its larger so the hazard and turn flashers are installed on the panel and the fuse locations are labeled.

The one thing i didn't like was that it uses a GM style steering column connector, but they do give you the contacts and connectors to convert your column to match.

i found Rock Auto had the best price.

RockAuto Parts Catalog

Hope this helps.

 

[tx65coupe]

I will also suggest going with a reproduction wiring harness that already has the terminals etc. Thats what I did. Then for the parts like my alternator that needed different wiring, we used something else. We didn't buy the kit, just the ones we needed.

 

[331efiblue66]

I'll second the comment from starchiefus, also got mine from the same place.

 

[pyroman]

For those of you who are suggesting the OEM harness are you doing so because you think it is better quality or because the other harnesses will affect the value of the car? Or is it something else?

 

[golf4283]

They're suggesting it cause it's plug and play whereas with painless or this other brand you will have to install it and cut/solder/crimp it all together. I installed the Painless in mt '66 and would recommend them to anyone. Directions and tech support were all extremely helpful.

 

[pyroman]

They're suggesting it cause it's plug and play whereas with painless or this other brand you will have to install it and cut/solder/crimp it all together. I installed the Painless in mt '66 and would recommend them to anyone. Directions and tech support were all extremely helpful.

Ah ok thanks. That kind of electrical work doesn't bother me, I actually sort of enjoy it oddly enough. I saw that CJ pony parts is having a sale until the 20th, they have the painless for 67/68 for about $610 and the american autowire for about $575 so there isn't much price difference. I guess at this point it's just splitting hairs, they both seem to be quality products.

 

[pyroman]

Does the american autowire harness have labels printed on all the wiring like the painless harness does?

 

[mysavioreigns]

I don't believe so...at least, it's not listed on their specifications for the "Modified Restoration" package.

 

[starchiefus]

Yes, the Autorwire kit is labeled on all wires about every 6 inches.

 

[afreejack]

I ended up going with the american autowire kit last fall when I rewired my 66 vert. at the time it was about $150 less than the painless kit. (bought mine on Ebay) I had also heard that you needed to cut holes in the firewall for the painless kit (dont know if it's true or not). the AA kit used the existing holes and included rubber grommets for them so you dont tear up the wiring. It also had the extra circuits for electric fan, foglights, tach, electric speedo, etc....(18 circuit system) I also like the location of the fuse box above the accelerator pedal.

The bulk of the installation took me a weekend (and about half of a 12-pack)and while I did have to use a few things from the old wiring harness (wiper harness, emergency flasher wiring, for example), it was fairly easy to install. The wires are labeled every few inches or so however, the color codes do not match the original ford colors. it included a new starter switch, light switch, a kit for using the existing steering column connector and everything needed to build a plug for the instrument cluster (one plug to disconnect the cluster instead of a bunch of individual ones) I did spend a few extra nights the following week getting a few other things connected. and the first time I started it everything worked. (I figure total hours put in to the job was about 20 or so)

If you want to restore to original factory, then you need an oem kit. If you are just looking to rewire, than the AA kit will do fine. Also, make sure you don't throw out your old harness UNTIL you get everything working in the new one. You will need parts from it.

 

[pyroman]

Cool, I'm really leaning towards the Autowire kit now. My old wiring was ok but I was putting it on a trailer to take to a friends to have some welding done and I pinched one of the alternator leads with a tow strap and shorted it out. I didn't think to unhook the battery before heading out and my entire front wiring harness incinerated, in some locations that is. The more I poke around in the interior though the more burned wire I find, it sucks that this happened but at least the car didn't catch on fire.

I'm hoping the stuff I will need from my old harness isn't damaged.

 

[afreejack]

What prompted me to look into replacing the wiring was that the PO did a bunch of splicing in the engine compartment and it looked like crap. Then the pink wire got broken somewhere and after looking at the condition of the rest of the wiring (old, brittle insulation, lots of dirt in the wiring bundles, kinks, etc...) I decided to just do it. I figured at the very least it would save me the trouble of having more eletrical issues later on down the road.

Good luck to you.

 

[tx65coupe]

Ah ok thanks. That kind of electrical work doesn't bother me, I actually sort of enjoy it oddly enough. I saw that CJ pony parts is having a sale until the 20th, they have the painless for 67/68 for about $610 and the american autowire for about $575 so there isn't much price difference. I guess at this point it's just splitting hairs, they both seem to be quality products.

Its not so much the work involved although that is part of it. Its more the chances for bad connections. At least thats my thoughts.

Our car had some hacked up wire splicing too. Well it still has a little under the dash. That will be one of the next projects on it, to rewire under the dash. I will be using reproduction wiring for this too.

 

[robbz28]

Just want to throw my 2 cents in there, i have a 67 coupe and went with the painless (I Lucked up and found one somebody didnt use still new in the box for 500 bucks). Anyway, the install was extremely straightforward and took me about 6 hours of work (2 afternoons) on a weekend. Yes you do have to crimp some terminals here and there, but it can be installed as clean as anything if you take extra time and solder and heat shrink the connections (I didn't at this time) It has the extra relay for my electric fan and I have another relay for fog lights or whatever I want to add later. I didn't have to cut any holes like someone mentioned above, at least on a 67-68 you don't. It came with a new ignition switch and several wiring options for points, electronic, single wire, whatever setup you wanted to run with. But that was back 7 months ago, still works great, havent blown a fuse yet! I'm sure American makes a quality product and you will be happy with whichever one you choose. Good luck.

 

[pyroman]

Thanks for all the input guys I went ahead and bought the Autowire!