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Hot Rods Anyone use this wiring harness?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by ShortyLaVen, Jan 13, 2019.

  1. oliver westlund
    Joined: Dec 19, 2018
    Posts: 2,352

    oliver westlund
    Member

    similar subject, what is the technical name for cloth insulated wire like wouldve come in 40s and 50s cars stock? anywhere i can buy it? if im going to start from scratch with a hidden updated fuse panel, itd be sweet to use original looking wire
     
  2. klawockvet
    Joined: May 1, 2012
    Posts: 580

    klawockvet
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Original style wire is usually called "Vintage Wire" YnZ (https://www.store.ynzyesterdaysparts.com)carries it as do many of the suppliers. Best fuse panels are marine panels found on Amazon that are USCG(United States Coast Guard) approved. Best connections are the crimp with adhesive that are waterproof. Proper crimps are better than solder as they are less brittle and not subject to breaking over time with vibration.
     
  3. oliver westlund
    Joined: Dec 19, 2018
    Posts: 2,352

    oliver westlund
    Member

    my hero! thanks!
     
  4. Beanscoot
    Joined: May 14, 2008
    Posts: 3,053

    Beanscoot
    Member

    There's a recent thread that beats the soldering vs. crimping debate to death, if you are interested.
     
  5. lostone
    Joined: Oct 13, 2013
    Posts: 2,820

    lostone
    Member
    from kansas

  6. 56sedandelivery
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 6,695

    56sedandelivery
    Member Emeritus

    I've mentioned this before, although it's been several years ago, and when I posted about it, I'd already had it at least 15 years! I bought a wiring harness from J.C. Whitney for a 56 Chevrolet. That was a mistake. When it arrived, the first thing I really noticed about it, was it made in BRAZIL (???). OK, so what else do I have? ALL the wiring was RED, every single wire, no color code or anything, nothing "labeled", but there were terminals on every wire, or supplied terminals for those that did't have them (like the headlight receptacles), and it came with a wiring schematic about the size of our kitchen table. I did't use it, gave it to a friend who deals in Tri-Five Chevrolet cars and parts, and he sold it at the Monroe Swap Meet one year. The terminals were really cheap, only crimped on, but the various "circuits" came taped up. Every single wire was RED. Every single wire was RED, ALL of them! RED!!! Maybe Brazilians are color blind? I do have another complete wiring harness I bought from a Tri-Five Chevrolet, E-Bay vendor, CrazyLights, and is an exact copy of the stock wiring harness, and you can get them for single or 3 wire alternator, and any body style (sedan, wagon, hardtop). You get what you pay for. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
     
    egads likes this.
  7. Were there any red wires in in Butch?
     
    jimgoetz likes this.
  8. Man, all red wires would suck; everyone knows they should all be black.:)
     
    alanp561 likes this.
  9. 56sedandelivery
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 6,695

    56sedandelivery
    Member Emeritus

    Yeah, I think there were a "few" red wires! In all fairness, the headlight receptacles were all black; probably should have mentioned that earlier. The wiring schematic, like I said, was about the size of our kitchen table, but it was accurate as far as which "grouping" (taped up), went where. Maybe Brazil got a deal on red wire?
    I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
     
  10. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,442

    goldmountain

    A long time ago, I wired up a car for a friend with all the wires in black. It was fine until he had someone else try to check out an imagined problem. What a mess.

    Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  11. I can see that; seems from reading on here and other forums; that quite a lot of people are intimated by electricity.
    But; wire color really doesn't make a difference if you troubleshoot a problem in a logical manner. Most faults are at either one end or the other of a wire, not the wire itself.
    Very seldom have I found a previously operational harness to be at fault; unless physically damaged. Other's experiences may vary.
     
  12. OK, here is a followup on one of those cheap wiring harnesses. My 48 Ford started letting smoke out of the wires so I decided to rewire it and convert to 12 volts. I bought one of those cheap $57 wiring harnesses off of Ebay. It was wired crazy so I decided to just wire my car from scratch. But then I decided to use the fuse block that came with the cheap wiring harness since it appeared to be of "usable " quality. I had to change several wires that did not make sense how they were connected. If you ignore the labels on the wires and just use the proper wire gauge to go to the specific place you want, wiring one wire at a time, pulling some wires out of their spots and moving them to other spots on the fuse block, then the cheapo stuff can be made to work.
    I would say if you have never wired a car before then you should use one of the trusted companies like Rebel Wire or American Autowire as the instructions will guide you through it. The cheapo comes with no instructions, just a diagram of the wiring harness and it doesn't even match how it is actually wired....If you have wired a few cars and know what you are doing, the cheapo kits give you the fuse block and "some" wire. Not enough wire to do the whole job, but enough for the under dash and firewall part.
    Anyway, I got the car wired and everything works...no more smoke. My car is stock, with no options other than radio and heater so it was pretty simple.
     
    jimgoetz likes this.
  13. deucemac
    Joined: Aug 31, 2008
    Posts: 1,483

    deucemac
    Member

    As I read through the thread, a phrase one of my old bosses comes to mind. Pay peanuts-get monkeys! Or as a sign read in the ancient tv show "Duffy's Tavern" free lunch , a dollar.
     
  14. Just a side note, had done a 56 that i had rewired and also had the undercarriage sprayed with bedliner, bad mistake, there was a short and the bedliner went up like gasoline in seconds almost burned house down, ruined a beautiful 56 ...........
     
  15. ^^^^^^^ THIS
     
  16. Re-wiring a car is something you don't want to have to do over. Kwik Wire has the best book I've seen so far. I put it into a small binder along with my notes I made while wiring my Ford. Quite invaluable when it comes to figuring out a problem. I had 2 mis-wires that were my own fault and the back up was handy.
     
  17. Automotive Stud
    Joined: Sep 26, 2004
    Posts: 4,304

    Automotive Stud
    Member

    I bought one of the $50 kits on the bay for my roadster and I wound up sending it back and buying the speedway kit for $150 or so. At a glance I thought it would do everything I needed, but it didn't have the nice long leads that the speedway kit has, where it's already branched off for the head lights and turn signals. I'm sure it would work but it just seemed like more work and more cutting and splicing and I was only wiring a model A, I imagine with a larger car it would be worse.
     
  18. jimgoetz
    Joined: Sep 6, 2013
    Posts: 517

    jimgoetz
    Member

    This is what I did for the same reason. I have nothing in my car but lights. No radio, heater, horn etc. I used my own wire for my ignition and charge circuits. I guess I could have scratch made it all but the fuse block and printed wire were nice. The instructions were almost useless thou.
     
    56don likes this.

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