Would anyone be willing to offer some input on available aftermarket wiring harnesses?

I have a catalog from Ron Francis Wiring as well as some info from Painless. I pretty much have it narrowed down to those 2 because of RF's Ford color coding and Painless tech support.

My mind is an open book. Thanks!

 

Hi Jason,

I've done a couple for guys but I whack them $$$ pretty hard because they are a lot of work. I've done Painless but they're not as painless as the name would have ya believe. I take about 40 hours to do one right & have everything work correctly.

You got to cut everything to length needed, solder/ crimp ends, use shrink tubing, sometimes even unwind harness wrap to get a branch or lateral sub harness to come out where it's needed, and so on. THey sure are not "Plug & Play" by any stretch.

Unlike OEM they are not plugable separate harnesses that make up a wiring system, they are 1 single harness and run from one bumper to the other bumper, lights, T/Sig's, engine, start sysem, charging system, all combined into 1 single harness. . . . Great for Street Rods, but IMHO not so good for OEM stockers with all their bells & whistles.

IMHO for the kind of money they cost I think they ought to be more like OEM system was, with pulgable sections. . . .But Hey this is my own curmugeoned opinion on them. I usually get a harness set up from a U-Pull it Yard myself. I find it easier, but then again this is what I do so I'm not learning as I go along anymore. Still $75 or $100 is a long way from the $400 -$500 the last "Kit" I saw bought cost, to me anyway.

FBp

 

Come to think of it Jason, I did do a Robert Francis for guy with a 34 Brand X Pick Up. I had to splice in fuselink wires, and I also had to run new wires to his starting system, power antenna, fuel tank sender, fuel filler door automatic release (in the bed floor) because of where he put his battery etc. I put FoMoCo solenoid in that I used to crank his Bowtie Engine. Ya know how they devour starters & flywheels. Ford solenoid quits all that BS!.

I believe I had about 50 hours in that one!
FBp

 

Again I can't get the work for 12V wet Cell electrical Storage
device to come up when I send my reply it mysteriously goes into cyberspace/ Vacuum!!!

AARRrrrgggHH!

 

If interested in reproduction harnesses, not after market kit, Mr. Mustang reproduces them for the 65/65 ford trucks. Purchased the engine compartment harnesses. Believe there are about 5 or 6 different harnesses, engine harnesses, tail light, heater. Same wire code. Vary in prices. Have same connectors as original. The one harness they did not make is the dash harness, have not checked lately. Harness not shown on their web site, need to call and inquire.

Some suggest after market kits to allow for additonal circuits, etc.


Good luck,
dave

 

When I restored my '66, I presumed that it would need new wiring. A local expert, to whom I offered the work, talked me out of it. He advised me to clean, repair, and retape the several harnesses and reuse the ones that appeared to be excellent. I did so, and everything works perfectly. The advantages to this alternative are several: The wiring looks original, it cost me nothing but Simple Green and tape, and, on installation, the whole shebang literally fell into place, just as the expert said it would. I'm not saying you don't need new wiring, just that if you don't need to replace everything, there's a cheap and easy alternative.
Eric

 

Thanks, fellas.

CRIPES, Pete!! I had no idea. I know they are trying to sell a harness and all, but the tech folks from both sides say that their given harness is largely plug 'n' play with some mods along the way - nips and tucks and such - but that an above average shadetree mechanic (present company) can put hay in the barn on one of these in a weekend. (?!?) That's assuming old wires stem to stern are out.

Another way to put the query is this: My old friend has goblins and spooks all over his wiring system. It's a 38-year old harness to begin with, for the crying out of loud! But eventually, I want to install power windows, locks, A/C, really nice stereo system, etc. etc. - the whole nine.
So if I start over from scratch, whither RF, Painless (I'm thinking no), or now Dave says give Mr. Mustang a look? Momma told me I could spend a thou on the old feller in one big chunk (think tax refund). And the wiring's been a pain in my six for way yonder too long and I'm thinking this is a good time to fix that 'little' situation.

 

6t6, we were posting at the same time, so I didn't see yours until later.

How do you feel about the accessories situation - putting a lot more on there than Henry intended

 

I plan to add a second fuse panel for headlight relays and stereo power, etc. I think I'll use a weatherproof import car type and mount it on the inner fender near the starter solenoid.
Eric

 

I wired my 56 with a Painless Performance fuse panel. I had never done anything like that before. It took me a weekend to wire the truck. I had one question and their tech line helped me out.

 

farmer,
did you have a problem (tech or otherwise) using GM color coding? That's what I like about Painless - their helpline. Seems incredible. Ron Francis is no slouch there, but Painless seemed like they CARED, asking me non-tech questions about my dear old truck.
This is the kind of feedback I need to decide what to do.
Thanks for weighing in, Eric. I've been running gremlins down on this old boy for the better part of 18 years - wire the alternator this way, taillights that, why do my headlights flash when I push the brake, splice here, cut there, what the hell did this wire do and why is it smoking - so I feel your last sentence was right on - I think I need to replace everything. I have a little money, and I'm looking for fellers that have done it. Quite frankly, I'm excited about the prospect of having new, fresh wires and connections from headlight to taillight, press-in fuses, new switches, integrated flashers, yada yada.

 

The problem I had was with the voltage regulator I was using. It bolts to the back of the alternator and basically converts it to one-wire. They told me what wires to hook up to it and it has worked for years. I used their fuse panel but I supplied the wires. Tight budget at the time. I wish I could have afforded getting their harness to save some time and frustration.
What I knew about electricity before then was that you had to keep the smoke in the wires. Once you let the smoke out of the wires, it doesn't work anymore. So, wires and motors must be smoke-encapsulated to function properly. See? You learned something today!

 

I reckon. So you used your wires so it has their box and your wires so GM color coding is not an issue with you, eh?

That's my concern with Painless is the fact that the last time I checked, that's all they use, thus rendering all of my wiring diagrams and books useless because I'd be tracing GM wire colors and not FoMoCo. Yuk!

 

I second the suggestion to check out Mr. Mustang. I plan on using their engine compartment harness once I get that far If you don't want to go that route, I have a 66F250 dash harness that I don't need.

I can post the p/n if you want to check to see if it'll work for your ride. I'll also post a picture or two so you can see it.

 

Thanks, Zombie.
I checked out Mr Mustang briefly and I did not see a full stem to stern harness, and the components looked like it would get pricey if you pieced one together in that fashion, but I guess it's a plus because you buy what you need and pass on what you don't. Then again, I may get into a wiring spooks while I'm figgerin what's good and what's not. Startin' over from scratch eliminates the guesswork.
BUT.......I'd like to see pics of your harness. Are you going to put them in your gallery? You could e-mail them to me at:
crackcorn66-at-hotmail-dot-com
and/or
jason-dot-owen-at-rbcdain-dot-com