re-wiring a 65 fastback

[Yellow66]

Hi

My 65 fastback needs to be re-wired. Where is the best place to get a wiring kit? I've heard that the Painless and EZ wiring kits need to be modified alot to fit. Any advice appreciated.

Cheers

 

[suki243]

I've used the EZ wiring kit; more specifically the mini 20. I can tell you that unless you're going to heavily modify the car and options you don't need a 20 I didn't use a bunch of wires, then again I'm running a stock car. Things like an electric choke, an electric fan, a A/c; window motor power, electric fuel pump. All that are things i didn't need.
The modification that is needed is the connectors. Yes, if you try and search for all new connectors you will have some trouble. I couldn't find most of the connectors so I had to reuse the older ones.
By connectors i mean for example, to pass the wires throught he firewall on the driver's side I had three options, to reuse the old master disconnects, to cut a new hole int he firewall and use summit racing's bulkhead connector, or to just run the wires through holes existing in the firewall. I decided to just use the old master disconnect, I simply didn't use the wires that looked really bad or were corroded.
Things you would need if you are going to rewire the car, are connectors, perhaps a solder, a wire crimper, a multimeter (but not totally necessary, good to have though), and patience.
Wiring hte car isn't as hard as it seems, it gets easier as you get into it. I'm not sure about the painles harness but from what i've seen/heard they have the stock like connectors with them.

 

[66HertzClone]

The best depends on what you want to do with the car. Will you need or want to have extra circuits available? Are you adept at wiring or will you be challenged and become frustrated when something doesn't work as planned?

The easiest way is to purchase a new harness from someone like NPD, it will have every connector and plug to match what is correctly in your car. Depending on your skills this could be finished in just a few hours. The Painless and others will require you figure some things out and terminate most of the ends. Things like the turn signal switch could be enough to drive you over the edge. The fuse blocks for these harnesses are very big, and can be difficult to position under the dash neatly.

You could use the original style harness and add one of the accessory fused terminal blocks. Installing the main harness would be simple and with the accessory block you could add many independent fused circuits for things like audio equipment and other items you might want to add in the future.

 

[Blu-Steel]

I did what 66HertzClone suggested; I bought a reproduction wiring harness and it made installation very easy since everything connected and the colors were correct. I thought of going aftermarket but did not want the hastle of making connectors match or trying to sort out the aftermarket color scheme. Since I am keeping my car pretty much stock that made sense for me. But, if you plan to hook up high powered accessories or don't care about it not being stock you could try the aftermarket route. What that really does for you is it gives you more options and converts to today's fuses, which are more readily avaliable and reliable. I just stocked up on a bunch of old type fuses just in case they get harder to find down the road.

 

[Yellow66]

Thanks for the replies guys. I don't need excess circuits as the car will be relatively stock. The plans has changed as i have just purchased a 66 GT Fastback so i need to get the 65 fastback up and running and sell it to fund the GT.

I definitely don't possess the skills to do it myself so i will be getting a pro to do it.

Blu-Steel - where did you get your repro wiring kit from? I assume you were happy with it? Was it complete? I know California Mustang sell an "under-dash" kit but i guess this is not complete.

May have to look around at a few suppliers like NPD and check them all out.

Thanks again

 

[Blu-Steel]

I got it from CJ's Pony parts. It's the same one that most Mustang parts vendors carry and it was complete and fit perfectly. I made sure I took lots of good digital pictures of my old wiring before I took it out and I even labled some connections just to be sure. I also had a wiring diagram I got from CJs which helped, especially since it was several months between when I took the old one out and put the new one it. It was an easy job since it is really only one bundle of wires and the colors and connectors matched perfectly.