I know there have been lots of threads on wiring, but I did not find an answer to my question. I decided to go with American Autowire and hoped it would make it easier. After getting the kit, it’s a bit intimidating. I have the old harness and it’s not in too bad of condition, just old stiff wire and I was afraid some of the insulation would start cracking if I put it back in. Is it feasible to make the new harness, using the old as a template? I figure if I could do that, getting all the wire cut about the right lengths and put on new terminals, it install would go pretty smooth. I may be hoping for too much, and of course I have to be careful not to cut myself too short when I clip everything. And then there’s the extra circuits that I will probably never use, as I’m going to be doing anything much more than stock. Not sure if I would just run the extra circuit and leave them coiled up for possible future use. I was also thinking of wrapping the bundles, kind of like factory, but that would be hard if I just hook everything up as I go along. I’m sure lots of people have been through this, but it’s a first for me.

 

Maybe I should have phrased my question differently. Is using the old harness as a pattern for the new wiring layout? It seems feasible to me, but I’ve never attempted a full rewire.

 

I was holding out waiting for members who have installed the wiring kit to chime-in. Personally I would not mix and match harnesses. If you decide to recondition the original suggest lay it out and use plastic ties to keep the truncated sections separated making repairs less labor-intensive. I posted a thread on finding a source in making repairs to the harness and a member, believe it was CD, who provided a link to a source I found helpful. There are several suppliers, I went with the referral: https://www.riwire.com/

Personally, I would stick with the American Auto Wire kit, follow the instructions, if experiencing difficulty contact customer support. It has been years since I purchased wire harness from American Auto Wire and I was impressed with the quality, at the time they sold individual and separate harnesses with the same wire color codes and connectors, a matter of unplugging the old and plug in the replacement.

Hopefully, other members' who have installed wire kits will chime-in.; also, suggest contact AAW their website offers a number of instruction downloads, interesting to find out how reliable is their customer support?
Good luck!!

 

Thanks for the feedback, I hadn’t thought about contacting the unless I had issues getting it all to work when I’m done, however that may be a good idea. I have no intention of trying to reuse the old. It would work, as it has no major issues, but I hope “Blue Boy” will be around for my grandkids and didn’t want wiring to be an issue for anyone else.

 

I have installed an AAW kit in my '71 K5. It does seem intimidating at first but the instructions were pretty easy to follow and I would be able to breeze through a second install now.

My tips:
-Buy their crimpers. You're going to do a lot of crimping and their tools are great.
-You don't have any need to lay the new harness on top of the old one as a template. Just route the wires where they go, then terminate when you're happy with the routing of the wire and add on the crimped end you need. This will allow you to route wires in a much cleaner manner than the factory.
-Practice crimping. Some were easier that others. They give you some extra connections to practice with.
-Just go slow and methodical. Think 3 steps ahead so you dont cut a wire too short.
-Buy yourself a spool of OEM style self adhering vinyl wire wrap. When laying out my harness I would lay them in the general area they were going and start wrapping wires together that would run in the same areas.

And while not exactly the same as your Ford I can upload pics of my K5 install.

 

Thanks for taking a few moments to reply. I won’t be starting mine quite yet, I have to finish a little insulation/sound deadener, and then install the firewall insulator. My instrument panel needs to be put in place so I have something to run wire to! I’ll get to it some time this summer, hopefully, but I think about big things like this for a while before acting. A few picture of your install might be helpful too. I have to check around to see who has good wire wrap tape, but AAW must have some.

 

I will try to get some pics up today of my instal. I do want to second what Dave said about contacting AAW if you run into something you dont understand. Their customer service is great! Lastly - for my Chevy install the factory assembly manual helped me remember where all the wires were ran from the factory. I'm unsure if such a book exists for you the Fords but it was immensely helpful. BUT I will say that AAW typically gives enough extra wire length to allow you to run wires in other ways if you would like to hide wires.

 

Crimpers, weather tech connectors (I bought the kit), wiring tape 3M (no glue). plenty of the old timey Ford wiring loop hangers. Those zip wire ties fail after a couple of years. Install the fuse box so you can easily get to it later. I blocked off the bulkhead holes and just passed the wires through a step bit hole in the firewall. Learn about Bosch relays and use them to take the load off those 50yo switches. I would install a new TS switch while you are at this. Get the headlight relay set described by Steve Delany "whiter whites and brighter brights" on this site in the tech section. You can get the relays and wiring harness made up off ebay now. Most of the time when stuff dont work it will be a bad ground. I add ground wires between the cab and frame and between the frame and engine and one between the core support and the frame. Get a cheap test light or a volt meter. Take your time. This is actually a fun project.

 

Thanks for your input, I actually have considered putting relays in for my quad headlights on my ‘69 Tbird, since I had change out the low beam bulbs last year. I just have got around to it yet. I’m not sure I’ll want to tackle the relays on the F100 at the same time as a complete harness, but I’ll consider that advice. I planned on making up my own setup for the Tbird, so I would probably do that on the F100. What is a TS switch?, not familiar with that.

i just figured out what a TS switch is! Silly me.

 

I’m in the exact same situation as unibody62. I just started my rewiring project and I am using the Kwik Wire 14 circuit harness even though I am planning on just using the stock set up. Got the major wire groups run roughly where they need to go but haven’t actually started connecting anything yet. Interesting thought about using the old harness as a template but I think it would be too hard to route if you made it and then tried to stick it in there. I have the new wiring instructions along with the original wiring diagrams, but it is a little confusing trying to translate between the two. My advice would be take it one step at a time and start routing the new wires and getting them grouped before you start terminating.

 

You are probably right about using the old harness, it may not lay right if I try and match up, plus I wouldn't be certain I have all the wires correct if they branch off. I looked at the crimper situation and decided (with others recommendation) that the AAW crimper is something I probably should use to insure good connections. Trouble is, it’s very expensive and even on eBay, I didn’t find any used ones.

 

No matter what you use the old harness for, just be sure you DO NOT throw it away until you're 101% done with the new one!
There always seem to be original connectors that nobody reproduces and are just much easier to scavenge from the old harness to use with the new.

It did not sound like you were going to toss it anytime soon, but that was my bit of sage advice I thought I could add to the discussion.

Paul

 

X 2, which also applies in replacing or repairing any accessory/.component/part, learned from experience reproduction replacement parts do not always include items necessary for assembling.

 

Yes good advice. It doesn’t appear to have any provision for new instrumentation lighting, so I’m guessing I’ll have to splice on my old ones, since I’m not upgrading to a fancy gauge cluster.

 

Haha, I’m a saver also. I may just save it after I’m done, just in case. I’m know to save stuff if there is any life left in it at all.