When routing my wiring I didn't like where the factory harness exited the cab high on the driver's side of the firewall. I routed my main harness across the inside of the firewall and down through an existinghole int he passenger side toe board just righ to the tranny cover. This brought out all the main power connections right at the starter (yes, I'm running a GM engine) and from there I was able to run the wiring forward and back along the frame rail. I was able to bring the necessary engine wires up from the bottom which kept the engine nice and uncluttered as well.
The only drawback to this whole plan was that most of the aftermarket harnesses are made to be mounted left of the steering column and routed along the left side of the vehicle. By reversing that I had to scab on a short length of wiring to both the front and rear turn signal wires....no big deal.

I also chose to mount my fuse block upside down as the main harness exits the fuse block towards the bottom. I didn't want the big mass of wires dropping down out of the box and then looping up. Here's how I mounted my box. I fabbed a bracket to attached it to my brake pedal assy so that I wouldn't have to poke holes in the firewall.

(the mess of wiring above the box has since been cleaned up with split loom)

With the EZ Wiring harness, and I'm assuming most of the others, you can remove any of the circuits that you don't want. The wires are all held in place with simple lock tabs. Its an easy thing to use a small pick and release the lock tabs and remove the wires you don't want/need instead of cutting them off (in case you change your mind later)

Bobby

 

and on mine, I routed the wires down to the tranny cover..

Sam

 

My 56 was re-wired by the PO using a Ron Francis kit. Unfortunately he did not route the wires the way I would have, through holes in panels and frame with no grommets for instance, and little care given to strain relief. So although it all works fine now, there will be problems down the road due to vibration if I don’t fix a lot of it.

For whatever reason, a few years back I took it upon myself to design and build a full-on MIL-spec harness for my BMW M3. I was converting it to a Pectel engine management system and figured what the heck, let’s just rewire the whole thing. That turned out to be a hell of a project. The biggest task, other than planning it all out, was probably the power control unit, which was mounted between the seats on the tranny tunnel.



Note that on racecars, as on satellites and airplanes, no wiring is soldered. It is 100% crimped, with very sophisticated techniques for strain relief to combat fatigue of the wiring due to handling and vibration. Here is a neat picture of some satellite wiring, note the little “shoe strings” they use to tie the wires together.



Since these trucks have a lot less going on generally than modern vehicles, it probably would not be too tough to rewire from scratch. But Julie did it right, plan it out and make wiring diagrams before you start. And label stuff for sure. On high end racecars every connector will have a yellow printed label on the jacket nearby, covered in clear shrink, indicated what that connector goes to (usually in some cryptic numbering system, but labeled nonetheless). The Francis kit is nice that way, in that all the wires are labeled. Makes it easy to figure out what’s what on vehicle that is new to me.

The PO left the wires just bare. That looks pretty bad so I have been wrapping them with cloth electrical tape where they show, like in the engine compartment. Not sure if it is original, but it looks more authentic than bare wires. Where the wiring is hidden I’ve been jacketing it with black heat shrink for abrasion resistance.

Gustave

 

If you are still looking for options on wiring kits you might want to take a look at Rebel-wire. It is a popular choice with the guys over at the H.A.M.B. site and made here in the USA if that is a concern. Supposed to have great customer service.

 

A friend of mine just used an American Autowire kit for his '56 and it is very user friendly, great instruction packet with individual diagrams for each circuit, and good customer service. Don't know about the price however.

 

Dr G why isn't solder used in those applications? Thought it insured the most reliable splice.

 

One of the guys over on Garagejournal wrote up a great primer on crimpers and crimping... good info for those getting ready to do their wiring... Ratchet crimpers are the way to go !!

Don't Crimp My Style! - The Garage Journal Board

later
John

 

I beleive the main reason is that the solder makes the connection inflexible which leads to possible stress risers in the wire and allows for fatigue to weaken and possibly break the connection over time.

Gustave

 

Exactly right. Same issue we ran into all the time with repairing jewelry chains, they would almost 100% of the time break right next to any soldered spot.
I used the EZ wire Mini 21 and was very impressed with the quality and value. Not only can/should you remove any wires you will not be using from the fuseblock by releasing the connector lock, but you can also switch wires around, always on for key powered location etc. The same way. EZ Wire also has OEM grade switches etc at 1/2 the price of other sources.
"It's a Snap" is another harness manufacturer that makes a good product. If you are paying more than 200.00 for a 21 or less circuit harness, you are paying for advertising/middle men/greed not for the harness IMHO.

 

i'm going to start mine thursday, i bought a kit from rebel wire.....made in the usa

Rebel wire automotive wiring kits for street rods, hot rods,custom cars