I am going to need a whole wireing harness. The old one has a lot of broken connectors and bare wires. Anybody know where to get one or am I just "butt out" and making one myself? :confused:

 

There are two main manufactures of wire harnesses.Factory fit and Lectric Limited(no I didnt forget the "e")Do a search ,they both have websites. :seeya

 

James80vette,

I only have experience with Lectric Limited, their harnesses matched up exactly to my 1980 with the color of wires and type of connectors exactly the same. From your username I presume you have a 1980.

Study the catalog, there are "sub" harnesses that you may also have to purchase, for example the engine compartment has "sub" harnesses for the starter and automatic transmission (350C).

When I replaced my harnesses I first rolled them out and compared wires and connectors to those already in place. Then, as I disconnected each connector on the old harness, I connected the new harness. Also, before disconnecting the old harness, I labeled the connector ends with masking tape and identified what it plugged into. I also took lots of pictures.

DON'T throw the old harness away. You may want to refer back to it at some time. Once I get my car put back together and working OK - I plan trash most of my old stuff. But it is surprising how many times you reference the old parts you've removed.

You might search the archives on this topic - lots of useful information.

 

ive never had to do this myself but i have always heard that these guys are the best... http://www.painlesswiring.com/

 

I know a lot of this depends on your time, electrical talents, soldering capability, and wether you want to keep all the factory faults or not...the option of doing your own, while daunting, when looking at the factory harness stripped of all i'ts tape and coverings...wires splayed out all over the place, you need just back up and look at ONE aspect of it at a time...
as you distill down through the garbage, and see what's where, you will find a LOT of wiring redundancy, and silly component placements in the car...
it's a result of the sharks having to meet external/internam requirements and not enough time/people/talent to do the job right....so it got done in a hurry on the fly...and so well, we have to deal with it....

I rewired my car completely last winter....engine and dash....only the lighting sections of the car are original...everything else is rewired.....and everything works MUCH better now.....takes time...about 40 hours of time..to do it right....
eliminating connectors and soldering wires and good proper taping/insulation lead dress is critical.....

I have an advantage though...years at an ET engineering aide....building prototypes....

GENE

 

I'm an Avation Electrician in the Navy. I work on HH-46D and MH-60S, so doing it myself is an option. Did you get orginal connections or just use regular terminal lugs and connections?

 

I was in the same situation as you,& I made up my own.It's best to remove the harness from the car & lay it flat on a table,I then just copied it wire for wire.using a good wiring diagram(I enlarged the 79 wiring diagram from the Haynes manual,& joined the pieces together with clear tape,save you turning pages)also helps you to remove wiring that you do not need in the harness. Wire & connectors are available at most auto stores,& if a particular wire is not cut or damaged you can use it again.