I am gonna start by saying I am no where near rewiring my whole car. I am trying to do research for a future frame off.
That being said I have a 72 NOM small block that I plain on making a large displacement small block. I will replace every bit or wiring in the car when I pull the body, but I was wondering if anyone has tried to wire a car with a universal kit. The reason I am considering this is because there are some fancy options in these kits, such as a magnetic fuse panel with 16 extra inches of wire attached so you can grab it and pull it out to check your fuses easier, and another harness that has the wire labels every 8 inches what it is for. I see huge advantages in both of these kits for future diagnosing because my car that is older then me already if properly cared for could outlive me. Sorry it was so long thanks in advance for opinions.

 

If you are not looking for 'originality' and the generic wiring system has all the hookups you need for the electrical components on the car (and more), give it a go. Just make sure it is from a reputable company. There are many "inexpensive" aftermarket items out there that end up costing you lots more than you save, because of poor quality. Good luck.

 

Some of those "street rod" kits are made in China. I am not impressed with the quality. Ron Francis wire works makes quality universal kits. I have seen Chinese stuff for under $200 at Good Guys events, I wouldn't use one of those.

 

I am doing the same thing with a C2 custom build. I decided to go with an ISIS wiring system. The system is kind of pricey but is being used on a lot of race cars.

I learned about the system from another car builder who convinced me not to buy one of his cars because it had been assembled before the ISIS was available. If your not in a hurry, I may be able to give more opinions when the build is complete.

 

I put a Painless universal kit in my '69 about 5 years ago when I rebuilt it. I got it for around $200.00 and it was of good quality.
Very easy to do! The only real work involved was having to solder in all of the connectors and that wasn't hard at all. The wires are all labeled to tell you what section of the car they should be routed to and then they are labeled to indicate where they should connect.
Also I was able to mount the fuse block to the L/F of the firewall in the Eng comp. for easy access.(I removed the Vac. reservoir)
So Easy even A Caveman could do it!!!!

 

Thank you all for you responces as I said the car is allready not original so if I can make it more convenient and save a lil money without going "cheap" then thats the best option for me.

 

for your future resale considerations, I would not buy a car with a hacked up universal wiring setup. too much of a nightmare if I have to troubleshoot.

I vote for the correct replacement harness.. it will cost you several hundred more, but will allow you to sell quicker, and for more $$$. so invest in the correct harness, you should get it back come resale time.

 

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It will not cost several hundred more but about a thousand+ more. The front or rear wiring harness alone cost more than many FULL universal kits. Yea the made For Kits are basically plug and play so I get why they cost more.
Also the univeral is not hacked, its complete with layout and each wire is labeled. The factory one in my car is a hack. They wanted a alarm kit and had to hack to get that in, with the universal that would not be a problem.






I have looked into all the kits and am also going with a universal one. Cost is one small part but not the only one. For me it’s getting newer fuses, more compact, and the ability to add F/I and other items that would require me adding on the factory harness or hacking it up.
Here are 2 I am looking at now.

21 Circuit 18 fuse EZ Wiring kit
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310311031495...84.m1423.l2649

Keep It Clean 15 Fuse 24 Circuit
http://www.ebay.com/itm/320628537159...84.m1423.l2649


The first one is bigger but has more fuses. The 2nd says it has more circuits but less fuses and is smaller.
Both are wired for GM columns and both have coded wires. Just trying to get all the specs on both to decide. Leaning toward the EZ wiring harness but had seen reviews for both and they seem ok.

Also looked how to wrap the wires since its universal. The 2 big ones are vinyl tape with no adhesive. Like factory and does not get gooey like electrical tape. The other is the self-fusing tape. I liked this but cost was higher. I went with the self fusing tape; I like it seals itself but will not get gooey. I just found someone to sell me 15 rolls of self-fusing tape for $20 shipped so now need a harness to wrap. Negative for the self-fusing is it’s thicker so may need larger grommets going between firewall and you can’t have 2 separate wraps touching each other as they will fuse together.

Any one have any thing else to look for or tips for us doing this?

 

Marlin it seems you have been doing a lot of research as well I know that I am atleast two years out and prices will change so much over that time that the only thing I was wondering was about the leangth. I know my 72 is longer then alot of cars of its time with a longer streach needed to run from the headlights to the dash (at least it seems to me). I figgured it would be best to start doing research years out to avoid the last min hussle.

Another thought I just had was about the dash lights is that a pretty common connector or was that one of the spacific things?

CM2

 

From what I have seen the length of the kits I see, for the lighting part, are long enough for a full size GM truck. So our cars, mines a 73, should not be an issue.

I think the dash gets it light signal from the headlight switch. Our, classic GM, headlight switch is almost generic in that others copy it and there are plenty of harness's to tie into them. Just make sure you get a kit that has at least 15ish+ fuses. There are smaller kits but I am afraid I would run out in the future.

I will be doing mine next year; to cold right now.

If you are looking for easy plug and play buy the pre-made custom ones like joewill was talking about.
For lower price and custom setup get the universal one. Not for the amateur if you are not ok with soldering, splicing, running, etc… wiring.

I don’t think either one is perfect so each person and car owner needs to decide.

 

I can deff do the soldering and splicing but I am gonna have to decide how much my time is worth to get a good mix of price and down time.

 

I should have added I bought my car with the interior stripped and painted. So only thing left on my dash is the Speed/tach. Rest is bare.

So for me its already apart and my current harness has been hacked from add ons over the years. So one of those things to do while its apart. That and I will, in the furture, add on a F/I system. So I need more options and abilites the factory harness would have more problems with.

 

When I did mine I had to re-wire the heater sw. and the wiper sw.
My Painless kit supplied voltage to the heater sw. but I had to run separate wires to the resistor. As far as the wipers go I had a wire that supplied voltage to the motor but had to supply the wires from the sw. to the motor.
All pretty common sense kinda' stuff and not at all difficult.
Also I secured my wires with nylon ties about every 6" or so.(Aircraft Style) I liked the fact that if I needed to get into the harness for any reason I would not have to mess around with the tape. As of yet I have not had the need to access the harness.
I also installed new relays from Watson Street works....I think. 1 for the blower...1 for the wipers and 1 for each of the headlights.
For the dash bulbs there was 1 wire in my kit from the headlight sw. and I ran that to a terminal strip mounted under the dash then I simply ran a wire from the strip to each bulb wire. Make them long enough to make it easier to re-install the driver side dash.

Again if you have any questions I am happy to help.

 

What is wrong with the stock wiring harness? Mine is 42 years old and is fine. Of course it hasn't been subjected to Bubba hacking it up, hacking it up, cutting it apart so Bubba can "fix" what he doesn't understand . If a car hasn't been molested, there isn't any reason why stock wiring won't continue to give good service - in an otherwise stock car.

We constantly read here on this forum about Bubba doing bad things to our cars, and yet there is a community here on the forum that performs Bubba "stuff" to the cars with the support and advise of forum members.

I'm with joewill here, but I expect most of you won't agree and will let me know, so my flame-proof suit is on.


Pete

 

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Old wire will have the outer sheath come apart, the copper can corrode, wire can wear from rubbing with age, etc....

For me age is just one small part but also its been hacked to add a alarm and I think it may have a drain in somewhere. So for me its a no brainer to replace it now with the interior stripped and my future plans.


But if you have little to no add-ons, its in good condition and you have not short/drains then you may be ok.

 

I have seen how easy and fast things can go wrong with old wiring when new stuff is added. I plan on installing a new radio, upgraded speakers, HID headlights, and LED tail lights. As well as there have been some BUBBA stuff found in my car already
.

 

What kit number did you use, I called them and they said they dont have one for a 69 vette.

 

I believe this was the kit I used. Along with the harmonica connector for the steering column.
http://www.jegs.com/i/Painless-Perfo...oductId=744588

I see however that the prices have gone up substantially since I bought mine in '06.
I also see that Painless has increased their product line. They sure carry alot of stuff now.
I would still have no hesitation in using the Painless kit again if needed.

 

most univeral kits have the function printed on the wires themselves, so that makes trouble shooting easy in my opinion. I use them in my race cars and they work great and really clean things up.

 

I ordered the 3 cell ISIS system last week. Have you installed your system yet? If so, were there any issues or tips you can lend me before I start?

Brent