Rewiring...start fresh or piece by piece?

I'd never wired a car in my life until last summer. Bought a rebel kit and other than a single question about my signalstat turn signal/flashers, everything worked perfectly the first try, including brakelights without the key. On a sidenote, the turn signal question i had was answered immediately when i called their number. The guy i talked to knew his shit. Figured i better balance out all the badmouthing i see in here about rebels products. : )

 

Good illustration, I work for a military manufacturer and we do 1:1 harness boards the same way with full-size harness drawings taped to plywood. Mark it up as needed, also put marks where the connectors end in case you want to take the whole thing off. Make a cut list as well, it comes in handy in case you lose your bearings.

Bob

 

I completely rewired my 29 coupe. It came with a box from Affordable Street Rods. I call Rich Fox and he sent me all the wire, switches and stuff I needed to complete the job. He was more that helpful and talked me through a lot of the issues. His kits are complete and numbered. Thed fuse box is also numbered the wire hooks from the box to the accessory, one circuit at a time. I have been very pleased with the results.

Gary aka cornbread-red

 

I also wire a lot, wiring doesn't care what kind of car its in, it only matters that you take your time and wire it properly. Fuses, fuses and more fuses, there's nothing gonna be more heartbreaking than watching your thousands of hours and dollars ride burn cause you cheaped out. It's pretty basic stuff, the internet is full of info on wiring, the best library on earth, educate yourself first.
D.C. wiring is exactly the same as a garden hose, more water, bigger hose, more electrical power, bigger wire, its not hard.
For example, headlite circuit, goes like this, Power (battery),fuse, wire to switch, one wire from switch to splitter (hi-lo beam switch), two wires to headlites from hi-lo beam switch, one hi beam, one low beam, to headlite lamp, then to ground.
This is very simplistic, but pretty much how it is, not rocket science, take your time, one wire at a time, and before you know it the car is wired. I personally prefer using American Autowire kits, their help line is awesome, I find kits save time and when you're charging for your time, a kit makes sense. For my own stuff, I'll wire from scratch, I enjoy making all the connectors and the alone time I get doing it, nobody is allowed to bug me during those times.

 

I'll just add that in your situation, I'd take pictures and make a detailed diagram before I cut anything out.

When I build a new car I make a detailed drawing showing all the electrical parts, their location and their terminals. I show where I plan to run the wires so that all the wires running in that area can be included in one harness and break out only when it nears it's destination. I spend some time thinking about it so that I don't rush too quickly and have to add a lonely wire that I forgot about. I can select a color for each wire and determine the gauge required before I get started.



I wired this truck from scratch over 30 years ago but because I made my own rough wiring diagram first, I can still remember where the wires went and why.

I used and extra relay in the starting circuit just so that I could use a Ford starter button strictly for looks. You can't do that with some fit all kit most likely designed for a chrome 1 wire alternator, a GM column and the universal ugly switches that they sell. I must admit that this had an alternator back then.(but it was not a 1 wire) Back then we bought the chromed cases and transferred the guts from a core alternator.

 

I gut the car then start with "start, run, charge" wiring. I get my fuse blocks from Sherco a Florida supplier for $6.50 each (stackable) and do the rest from there out.

 

I can not believe you would even bother comparing a model t to a 2012 cadillac, as if he would be more likely to be wiring the cadillac.

 

a fresh start is the best way. i had a friend on here wire up my old 36 coupe and it worked great and looked very neat and tidy. it cost more in materials than a universal fits-all harness, but it came out much nicer I think. Now i just need to talk him into rewiring my truck from scratch to get rid of all the mistakes every previous owner made with the wiring!

 

When I built my Fat Fender in 1989, I bought a universal fuse box, used a GM steering column, and different color wires (Different thickness too), but before that I removed all old wiring.
Since I'm a GM guy, I used Chevy color code, even though it is a Ford.
I wanted to drive the car for the summer and then I'd do the wires with a kit from Painless wiring. Well, 23 years later (And no wiring problems yet...
"Knock on wood") the same wiring is still intact.
Simple advice, route the wires neatly..especially under the dash, so it doesn't look like spaghetti.

 

I just finished wiring my 50 Ford with a sbf, gm column. I bought a wiring kit from Keep it Clean and was tghe best investment i've made so far. I always wired my own but by the time you get all the stuff together it costs more than buying a kit. Diagrams are simple to follow and every wire is labeled from front to back. I'll never do a home brew again.