Well I decided to start a thread for my truck. This is actually my first vehicle I've owned that made it on the road. It has a 1972 350 with th350 and 9" rearend. What I've done so far is install a fuel cell in the bed with electric fuel pump, replaced the rad support and inner fenders. I've put a crane 100072 cam and lifter kit in there with a weiand team G intake and hedmann longtube swap headers. Baically all this happened because my trans clunked out and I started taking things apart and what can I say I couldn't help myself. So i'm just about done rebuilding my trans and my new american autowire power plus 20 harness just came in today, so I'll let you know how that goes. I'm gonna snap some underhood photos tomorrow.
why the need for a high buck aftermarket wire harness? just asking
was wondering the same thing, but maybe it's "butchered" up??? I used E-Z wiring harness when I did the 52 poncho, just follow the instructions for laying it out 1st. then DON"T HURRY" took me about 2 days but everything worked when I "powered' up!!!!!
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Ya my whole wiring harness is butchered. So many things have just stopped working mutiple times(shorts) so i'm just goin to replace it and save the headache.
why the need for a high buck aftermarket wire harness? just asking
Every car that's 30 years or older should have the wiring replaced. Wire does have a life span !! Not sure what you mean about "high buck"? These wiring kits are available for less than $250. Cheap insurance.
I decided to go for a full rebuild. I have tore the interior out to strip the wiring and got myself into to floor pans. I borrowed a licoln 140 welder and picked up the pans. I've cut most of it out already and am gonna prep the new piece to go in tomorrow. I also have the motor pulled as I'm doing a 383 for it. I plan to replace the existing motor mounts with "proper" s10 v8 mounts. I also plan on having a plain sheet metal dash made as I don't have a break. I'm thinking of putting my fuel cell under the bed between the frame rails too.
-- Edited by scott420p on Monday 4th of March 2013 10:24:22 PM
i guess im used to fabbing most of my stuff myself from scratch, i dont tend to spend white man money on such luxuries. i would assume other limits besides money would apply. i can build a wire harness from pretty much nothing.
Wiring is not rocket science, and when I was just starting out building cars I used to Mcguyver wiring harnesses together also. Unless you have access to brand new wire,new connectors, new fittings and all the time in the world, $350 is money well spent, and also cheap fire insurance.
thats what i mean by limits other than money, i have all the equipment and supplies to make whatever i need, i dont need to pay someone else to do it for me. ebay is quite helpful as well. pre fabbed harnesses do save time i will agree but they tend to lack things if you are truly building a custom rig
Whoever did the v8 swap only used red wire and cheap butt connectors that don't hold. I was having problem after problem and just decided to do it over. Here is a couple pics of the old one.
-- Edited by scott420p on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 04:20:21 PM
at least you apologized at the end of your post after knowingly offending so many including blind people, ie stevie wonder. at least the blind wont be reading ur post lol
-- Edited by fatstax on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 09:23:33 PM
I have to agree with Hemi on this one, a quality harness like Autowire is the only way to go! To say that pre-fabbed kits "lack things if you are truly building a custom rig" is rubbish!! Sure you may have to buy extra crimps, heat shrink, or relays, you don't get welding wire in a crossmember kit do you? Somethings you have to supply stuff yourself! But if you do your homework before you buy the kit, you will have more than enough circuits to cover anything you put in the vehicle. I have gone both routes more than once, it is more cost effective and neater to use a kit, unless a quality installation and your time aren't worth anything! I have heard too many guys say "ya, I wired it myself, only took 2 days", but their installations look like they were done by Stevie Wonder! Try pulling on one of their crimps done with a 3 dollar crimper, all of a sudden you have the crimp in one hand and the wire in the other! Don't get me started on "I soldered all my connections", save your breath for the guy that has to come and solve your electrical problems after you've driven the vehicle for some time. Please pay no attention to my thoughts if you are building a " true rat rod", as quality and rat rod just don't go together! Scott420, I wish you nothing but the best for you and your project, I will be following your build. As for the wiring, take your time, plan ahead, lay out each section, run the wires neatly, do a show quality job! Buy yourself a pair of good quality crimpers [not the ones where you crimp between the handles], you will need them eventually. Don't be afraid to ask questions, no matter how trivial they may seem, someone here will the answer. Wiring is one of the most important parts of a project, you don't want to unexpectedly meet the guys driving one of those big red trucks with the loud horns and flashing red lights. If I have offended anyone, I apologize, I have never been known for being politically correct.
I have to agree with Hemi on this one, a quality harness like Autowire is the only way to go! To say that pre-fabbed kits "lack things if you are truly building a custom rig" is rubbish!! Sure you may have to buy extra crimps, heat shrink, or relays, you don't get welding wire in a crossmember kit do you? Somethings you have to supply stuff yourself! But if you do your homework before you buy the kit, you will have more than enough circuits to cover anything you put in the vehicle. I have gone both routes more than once, it is more cost effective and neater to use a kit, unless a quality installation and your time aren't worth anything! I have heard too many guys say "ya, I wired it myself, only took 2 days", but their installations look like they were done by Stevie Wonder! Try pulling on one of their crimps done with a 3 dollar crimper, all of a sudden you have the crimp in one hand and the wire in the other! Don't get me started on "I soldered all my connections", save your breath for the guy that has to come and solve your electrical problems after you've driven the vehicle for some time. Please pay no attention to my thoughts if you are building a " true rat rod", as quality and rat rod just don't go together! Scott420, I wish you nothing but the best for you and your project, I will be following your build. As for the wiring, take your time, plan ahead, lay out each section, run the wires neatly, do a show quality job! Buy yourself a pair of good quality crimpers [not the ones where you crimp between the handles], you will need them eventually. Don't be afraid to ask questions, no matter how trivial they may seem, someone here will the answer. Wiring is one of the most important parts of a project, you don't want to unexpectedly meet the guys driving one of those big red trucks with the loud horns and flashing red lights. If I have offended anyone, I apologize, I have never been known for being politically correct.
To each their own.
I'll show you my cobbled harness when I'm done so you can find the faults.
Pugsy, if you have the ability [which I greatly respect and admire] to give seminars about metal shaping, forming tools etc., chances are you are a perfectionist! I'm sure that I wouldn't find any "faults" with your installation, but you aren't the average car guy! There are lots of guys out there that can do a nice, safe job, but there are a lot more that shouldn't be allowed near a piece of wire! Like you said "to each their own", I just gave my opinion based on experience.
My vote is on the new wiring harness..you did the right thing in my eye...If your not knowledgeable on electrical stuff a new harness is the best and safest thing to do.. I have worked on a lot of cars ,rods, restorations and wired a lot of cars over 40 years in this trade and I have worked on a lot of cars that guys wired up from cobbled up donor harness's and then tried to add air, cooling fans, power windows, electric solenoides , etc and boy have I ever seen see a lot of stuff that was pretty bad stuff..poorly wrapped ,poorly soldered , poorly insulated and generaly just a pile of fire waiting to happen ..A new harness is cheap and easy and well worth the cost in my eye..I also know many guys in this hobby,trade who are quite capable of using a good donor harness and having enough skills,and knowledge to do a good job building their own harness ..Hey many of us were building rods long before we could just e-bay a nice new wiring harness made for a hot-rod..we also made and or fabbed/cobbled a lot of patch panels, and other custom or home made parts and other stuff because we had no other options, many of those things we would not do or use again with the tools and technology we have available to us now thanks to princess auto, China, e-bay, kijiji and ton of other sources on the internet...I beleive we need to build the safest way we can ..Your life, your family's and mine depend on your doing it right and I beleive you did the right thing and your doing it right ..Over the years one I have learned I have never been sorry for doing the job right and I have never regretted a cent I spent on quality
I have to agree with Hemi on this one, a quality harness like Autowire is the only way to go! To say that pre-fabbed kits "lack things if you are truly building a custom rig" is rubbish!! Sure you may have to buy extra crimps, heat shrink, or relays, you don't get welding wire in a crossmember kit do you? Somethings you have to supply stuff yourself! But if you do your homework before you buy the kit, you will have more than enough circuits to cover anything you put in the vehicle. I have gone both routes more than once, it is more cost effective and neater to use a kit, unless a quality installation and your time aren't worth anything! I have heard too many guys say "ya, I wired it myself, only took 2 days", but their installations look like they were done by Stevie Wonder! Try pulling on one of their crimps done with a 3 dollar crimper, all of a sudden you have the crimp in one hand and the wire in the other! Don't get me started on "I soldered all my connections", save your breath for the guy that has to come and solve your electrical problems after you've driven the vehicle for some time. Please pay no attention to my thoughts if you are building a " true rat rod", as quality and rat rod just don't go together! Scott420, I wish you nothing but the best for you and your project, I will be following your build. As for the wiring, take your time, plan ahead, lay out each section, run the wires neatly, do a show quality job! Buy yourself a pair of good quality crimpers [not the ones where you crimp between the handles], you will need them eventually. Don't be afraid to ask questions, no matter how trivial they may seem, someone here will the answer. Wiring is one of the most important parts of a project, you don't want to unexpectedly meet the guys driving one of those big red trucks with the loud horns and flashing red lights. If I have offended anyone, I apologize, I have never been known for being politically correct.
thats ok i dont tend to pay attention to people with that kind of mindset anyways, im a pro when it comes to wiring as i do a fair amount of complicated electrical stuff where i work. u should work on being at least correct as well, rat rods are not unsafe death traps as some on here seem to think. there are fine examples of junk tossed together that shouldnt be driven anywhere but thats who gives any genre of car a bad name. i personally wouldnt drive something unsafe.
Scott420, my apologies for my part in screwing up your build thread, my original intention was only to voice an opinion, but I guess my "mindset" and personal experiences have ruffled a few feathers! I guess I didn't realize there were so many electrical gurus on board. This will be my last post on this topic on your build thread, again Scott420, I apologize!
Fastax, I don't know how you can do "complicated electrical stuff where I work" when you can't even read a post properly! Scott420 was the only one I apologized to, I stand by everything I said! If you feel the need to come up with some smart-ass reply, please do it in Off Topic or where ever, let's let Scott have his build thread back.
Fatstax you are absolutely right! It was me that should have gone back and read my first post, instead of just my last one, before shooting my mouth off about your reading abilities! When you get old, you sometimes forget that you even made a first post!
you actually had me second guessing myself there, i wasnt sure either till i read back a bit. i was wondering though if scott420 is installing a reproduction of a factory harness or not. 400 dollars for a harness like a factory one sounds kinda cheap actually. i know of a guy who knows a guy who sells a harness including computer for a LS style motor install, hook it up and go for around 900 dollars. that is when its worth the money over the time you would spend making one yourself. i might do a LS motor in something down the road for that price, finding a motor is the trick to it.
The harness he's using is a universal 20 circuit. Same as mine except I have the Highway 22 circuit. Real nice stuff !! All the wires are printed on what they're for at every foot. The wires even feel nice, unlike the old crusty 25 year old ones.
Used same as hemi, but 8 circuit. Nice stuff. Paid $100 for it and worth every penny. Comes with nice fuse panel as well. Extras to buy where fan relay wire kit for $30.
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, so I'll let you know how that goes. I'm gonna snap some underhood photos tomorrow.
All those goodies will make that S truck haul
