Which wiring harness?

1967stang302 · Jan 17, 2012

OK, so my 67 coupe has had some serious wiring issues. The past owners have crimped and spliced it so much that it is a mess. Then the last owner had an alarm installed and because of the way it was installed, it caused an electrical fire. So I have decided to replace the wiring in the car, bumper to bumper. Since I am making some changes, I am going to be taking this opportunity to install a much higher amp alternator and a couple amps for my stereo and what not. So I'm going to be running a lot more power through the lines than the stock wiring was designed to take.

I'm heard good and bad about painless wiring. Some say it's simple, some that it's hard. I'm doubting that the OEM harness will take the power I'm putting through so I need to find something aftermarket.

I want something that I can install myself, something that will handle my new power requirements, and something that I can install options easily like power locks and power windows. I also have a new GPS and GSM enabled alarm that I want to install so reliable would be great.

So my question is, I'm going with painless for the time being, but if you think that there is some other option, I really want to know. I have read a lot of posts on here, but each contradicts the last. Lets hear from those who have done a rewiring with one of these kits.

Off topic, I also plan on redoing the carpet and underlayments while I am doing this. Along with putting in reclining seats. Oh how I miss having a car with reclining seats.

EDIT: had to watch this thread and set it to send emails.

rbohm · Jan 17, 2012

any of the aftermarket harnesses will do nicely. the reason some say the painless harness is hard to install is because they dont do much wiring, or they are expecting too much from a universal harness. as for OEM type harnesses, if they come with the proper sockets and plugs then you are good to go as they tend to be plug and play. i like the universal harnesses though as i can put the fuse panel where ever i want it, and the wires are all marked as to what they do and where they go.

65fastbackresto · Jan 18, 2012

American Auto Wire is the way I`m going when I do mine, I`ve studied serveral others, but with the AAW the stock wiring diagram will still apply to the install, making it pretty simple (i hope anyway). I think what your looking for is the classic update harness, has extra relays and fuses built into it for more funtionality.

horseballz · Jan 18, 2012

One other good option is to use a stock harness with a a key on triggered relay feeding an auxiliary fuse box powered directly from the battery/solenoid connection. You could go with as big of a relay (with appropriate wire , of course) as you want/need to a 6, 8 or 12 circuit box and add your circuits from that. It's a very smart move to provide any/all high amperage draw circuits from/through a relay as opposed to having them draw power "through" the relatively low amperage rated/small contact ignition switch.
Just My $.02,
Gene

starchiefus · Jan 19, 2012

I'm very happy with my AAW classic update harness, taking longer to install than planned, but that's mainly due to demands on my time and my desire to make it neat.

http://www.americanautowire.com/67-68mustang.html

Rock Auto still seems to have the best price on them too.

http://www.americanautowire.com/67-68mustang.html

Steve

1967stang302 · Jan 24, 2012

The AAW Harness was on my short list. Looks like the same price as other wiring kits. Now I just have to decide whether to install everything at once, or do it piece by piece. I hate having piles of parts in my closet waiting to be installed, but It will be easier to do all rewiring in the car all at once with the carpeting removed and the trunk rebuilt. If only there was a government grant for us to rebuild classic cars in order to protect our american automobile heritage.

Did I forget to mention that I will be adding 1800 watts of amplifiers and speakers to my new electrical system? And building a new custom center console to house a 2-din GPS android based DVD player. I will be needing a lot of power for these, so the OEM wiring will not hold up.

65wildstang · Jan 24, 2012

I went with the EZ Wire harness. Everything is labeled and straight forward. I personally think the Painless kits are overpriced & there tech support are unfriendly. I saw the AAW kit at Goodguys ,and was impressed with there kit. Which ever way you go will be better than your current wiring. Good Luck

Rusty67 · Jan 24, 2012

I think you have some misconceptions about how to wire a car. I wouldn't even bother trying to wire anything modern into the classic harness. The stock harness had a few minor short comings which are easy enough to correct, like running the voltage for the headlights directly through the headlight switch, but for the most part it works just fine.

When installing things like powerful head units with big amps you would want to put that all on its own circuit and completely bypass all of the stock wiring. If you use a universal kit, there is no difference. Bypass the harness and run dedicated wire for high power draw equipment.

Also, if you get a plug and play harness, it will be brand new high quality wire but you have to do your homework. Did the manufacturer duplicate Ford exactly ? Did they add extra wiring for other accessories ?

With a universal harness there may already be provisions for a stereo but you will still need to run your own wire for the amps.

Now when it comes to a security system, I would think you want to be a bit tricky so that anyone who tries to bypass your security system ends up with problems and maybe gets the car to crank but not fire. Using an MSD box that has both the magnetic pickup and the standard points connector is a great way to do this. You convert the dizzy to a magnetic pickup and then wire the points connection to the alarm. If it gets signal from both it disables the box and you get no spark. Hide your ignition box somewhere not under the hood and you will really make it hard on them to hotwire it.

Also, since you want to add GPS, it might be worth hiding an extra battery somewhere in the car and running the GPS off of that. You can connect the second smaller battery to the chargning system and use a diod to prevent energy from flowing back. That way if they steal the car and unhook the battery under the hood the GPS/security system still functions but the battery wont try to power the rest of the stuff in the car. I've never seen anyone do this but I bet you could get a diod large enough to handle that.

3g/6g alternator upgrades are cake and you can do that with the original harness no problem.

How far do you want to go ? How much do you want to spend ?

WTFO · Jan 28, 2012

If you're leaning toward aftermarket kits check out www.rebelwire.com.

1967stang302 · Feb 15, 2012

Rusty67
- I get where you are coming from, but my original harness is put together with paperclips and electrical tape. The POs were not thinking ahead when they made some quick fixes. And if I am going to replace it, I want to modernize it. I'm upgrading the alternator and with no upgrades but a stereo (ie. no amp or GPS) It's still straining to turn over when I start it. New battery and alternator pumps out the standard 60A juice. I am looking to upgrade to a 160A alternator. I like the idea of the secondary battery to run the alarm off of. My alarm is a GMS tracking alarm. Oh yeah and I actually want a cigarette lighter that can power my phone charger instead of just lighting ciggys.

WTFO
- How are those Rebel kits so cheap? I'm not obsessed with the most expensive items, but I want the best quality so that I only have to do this once. With the painless and similar kits, they are designed specifically for my car and they are well labeled for installation. I'm wondering how well Rebel kits are labeled. It would be awesome to hear from someone who has used a rebel kit in their stang. I would get the 21 circuit just to give myself options for the future.

BTW everyone, I finally opened my trunk, took 8 months, but I took the time to pull out the rear seats and crawl back, replacing the trunk lock only took 5 minutes and that includes a smoke break.

geordie · Feb 15, 2012

A new wiring harness is one of the wisest investments you can make for your classic. Wire insulation dries out and beomes brittle over time, leading to electrical gremlins and (worst case) possible fire. Also a new wiring harness is a clean start, it does away with years of potential 'hacking' by PO's. I went with a Painless Harness. I'm electrical challenged, but did 95% of the work myself sucessfully. Painless mark all the wires and the instruction book was very good. I had a couple of connectors that ended up needing to be replaced, no biggy. I wrapped all the harness with Painless Braid, that was the most time consuming part.

2+2GT · Feb 15, 2012

It would still be hard to beat the quality and functionality of the OEM style harness, which can be had in superb reproduction. Adding high power alternator should be no problem, the OEM was overbuilt in this regard. Adding high-power accessories is also no problem, since the OEM harness was built to provide power to add-on AC, which draws more power than almost anything you could add inside the car.

As for the headlight comment, the powerful headlights today were illegal then, so the circuit protection in the headlight switch is barely adequate. You could switch to a 69 headlight switch, or if your headlights are stupidly powerful, use a click-on relay kit, which can be installed with no cutting, splicing, drilling, etc.

Mainly, though, the OEM repros are totally compatible with the car, so nothing has to be crimped, drilled, added, adapted or extended. You could rewire the entire car on a Saturday afternoon.

Monty_Brown · Feb 15, 2012

65fastbackresto said:
American Auto Wire is the way I`m going when I do mine, I`ve studied serveral others, but with the AAW the stock wiring diagram will still apply to the install, making it pretty simple (i hope anyway). I think what your looking for is the classic update harness, has extra relays and fuses built into it for more funtionality.

I also have the american autowire kit, nice stuff and easy to install and all the wires are labled all the why to the ends. Its on sale right now at Cj Pony parts

http://www.cjponyparts.com/AMERICAN...RNESS-CLASSIC-UPDATE-KIT-1967-1968/p/WHC6768/
View attachment 155357

TomcatNSDQ · Feb 15, 2012

i have a 68 mustang and it has some minor wiring issues. right side blinkers dont work. right side tail liht and right brake light . also front right running light. please help.

Rusty67 · Feb 15, 2012

TomcatNSDQ said:
i have a 68 mustang and it has some minor wiring issues. right side blinkers dont work. right side tail liht and right brake light . also front right running light. please help.

This is a thread hijack, please start your own thread.

TomcatNSDQ · Feb 15, 2012

ok i looked into the auto wire harness but it says i should replace the altenator. is it required? plan on doing it eventually but just not right now it works fine.

TomcatNSDQ · Feb 15, 2012

sorry new to this website how do i start my own thread?

Rusty67 · Feb 15, 2012

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/forums/classic-mustangs.5/

Click the red post new thread button near the top right.

Monty_Brown · Feb 15, 2012

The good thing about the american autowire kit is that it relocates the fuse box away from the leaky cowl vent and uses modern ATO fuses and relays and came with a new dimmer and headlight switch, the old fuse box that came out of my car was so rusted up I couldn't have used it, plus I'm going to run a electric fan, better head lights and a 1 wire alt. plus some other goodys like a line lock......I guess it just fit my needs

jikelly · Feb 16, 2012

Rusty67 said:
I think you have some misconceptions about how to wire a car. I wouldn't even bother trying to wire anything modern into the classic harness. The stock harness had a few minor short comings which are easy enough to correct, like running the voltage for the headlights directly through the headlight switch, but for the most part it works just fine.

When installing things like powerful head units with big amps you would want to put that all on its own circuit and completely bypass all of the stock wiring. If you use a universal kit, there is no difference. Bypass the harness and run dedicated wire for high power draw equipment.

I did an EZ 21 harness in my 73 back in 04. It was a major challenge but worth it. My original harness was worn out probably due to the heat in West Texas and all the electrical extra's I had on my stang. I had already seen that the stock harness and headlight switches couldn't handle the current to run the lights so I started making auxiliary fused harnesses to allow that current to bypass the main wiring harness. I used a relay on the main harness to turn on and off the power to the auxiliaries.

The mistake I made is that the relays are not all easy to get too and relays do go out from time to time. At least the 10 buck ones you can get at the autoparts store do.

I installed a wiper switch out of a 86 Ford F150 so I could do the intermediate wiper. That was one of the best mods I made. Added cruise control too, but it's sort of wonky. I need to add a speed sensor for it to the driveshaft I think. Engine RPM doesn't seem to always do what you expect to the cruise control control circuit.

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/wiring-harness-install-and-dash-restoration.447316/

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/wiring-harness-problem.492564/

Which wiring harness?

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