Anyone used an EZ wiring kit?

I thought someone asked this same question a while back but I just searched through about 2 months worth of posts and came up dry. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough?

So I wondered if anyone has some experience with EZ Wiring kits? They have a big ad on page 33 in the current Rod & Custom.

The 12 & 21 circuit pre-wired panel kit with mini-fuses is priced pretty reasonable. I see a couple other manufacturers with kits in the same price range ($125-$175). Wiring is supposed to be GXL 125' (which I seem to recall some discussion this isn't good enough for underhood use, it gets hotter than that underhood) in their kits.

I'd be using it in a '50 Chevy fastback, if that matters much, running a '56 235.

I figured if I tried to build the wiring myself I'd probably spend just as much plus have to find a clunker to cut a fuse box out of, so I would be just as far ahead with one of these kits that's color coded and labeled and everything is brand new. Obviously you get what you pay for, there's a couple other manufacturers I can check out if these aren't that hot.

Thanks -

 

I used an E-Z kit in my 49 Merc, its easy..............OLDBEET

 

I've used three of their kits and have always been happy with the quality. Their technical phone service is about the best in the industry. I don't know enough to comment about underhood wiring specs. I have not had any problems yet with the wires that I put under the hood.

 

I used a Painless in my A and it was nice except for the
tiny writing on the wires.

EZ- in the Commander lived up to it's name.

 

I have put several of these kits in several cars with no problem... including my own car that sees 1200+ miles/month in all kinds of weather.

I will say that their instructions suck pretty bad compared to some others out there. You need to have some knowledge of the basics of automotive wiring to really "get" them... but they're not really any worse than the manual that comes with kits from Painless.

I'll also say that I usually find that I hafta replace the flashers within the first couple weeks, though. Then you're good.

For those of you that want to wire your own car, but have no clue what you're doing, I highly recommend the Ron Francis kits for being the absolute easiest I've ever used (though they are the most expen$ive). Typically, the people that have problems with these kits are ones that try to second-guess the instructions: "This doesn't look right! This wire should go over there instead!". You just need to accept what they say and move on. Don't question it. Orange wire #57 goes to Orange terminal #57... period.

Oh, and 99% of all the wiring problems people run into, no matter what kit they use, falls into one of two categories:
1. Bad Grounds
2. Bad Crimps

 

Used the ez 21 circut kit on my open a coupe and loved it really easy just dont cut the tie straps till you hve to there in the right bunches frt,rear and interior .The instuctions tell ya that but read em after the fact,no big deal though.like the kit alot.

 

I just used a 21 circuit E-Z in my C-dan project. Real nice kit for the money, but like man-a-fre said, don't cut the bundle tie wraps too early. With every wire marked every 6" the way they are it was still easy enough to figure out even after cutting them, but it made me think just a little. I'll use them on the next project for sure.

 

I have a brand new E-Z Wire kit in my garage right now. It's there because they sent it to my customer to replace the defective one currently in his '37 Ford sedan.

Whilst looking it over to find the wire that was causing the problems in his installed kit, I moved the harness and, lo and behold, strands of wires started popping out of the crimp just like they did in his installed harness.

Here's a shot. This is typical of the poor quality found in E-Z Wire kits.

Does the phrase "product liability lawsuit waiting to happen" mean ANYTHING or will you guys keep using these things because "the price is right".

 

And I bet if you manhandle any of these types of boards built by any of the manufacturers and bend the connectors over like you did, they will fail also.
What make kits are you suggesting that are bulletproof?
By the way, send the E-Z kit you have in your garage my way so I can use it in my next project.

 

A couple years back I went over a buddy's to help wire his ride. I think (memory's a bit fuzzy) he had bought a Painless kit or was it Penniless (that bad boy wasn't heap!) The name Painless was extremely IRONIC - as it was extremely painful. The directions were pathetic, the wiring marginal (although the crimps seemed fine) frankly I was competely unimpressed.The "shematic" (if you could all it that appeared that they went to great PAIN to NOT show yopu how anything actually worked - just a bunch of numbered termination points. Nothing actually drawn out enough to actually allow you to trouble shoot any problems. It appeared that this was completely intentional and JUNK. From my perspective it was a complete waste of money. A better job could have been had by just buying a couple spools of wire and bunch of connectors and a used 50 cent swapmeet "how to wire your rod book". In all honesty I think all those wiring companies do a good business because wiring in general seems mystical and buying a kit somehow makes it seem easier to tackle. However I think a fella could do just as nice as a job (likely far better) by just running the wires like in the old days - 1 at a time. I guess I am jaded - but that's ok. Someone's gotta keep the economy going!! And it sure as hell ain't gonna be a tightwad like me!!!! As I am a confirmed Cheap Bastard! Just ask anyone that knows me!!!

Rant over!

 

I used a painless 18 wire kit and had no issues. Most kits are okay if you plan the layout first, avoid sharp edges and route away from heat. Like someone else said most problems are bad crimps or grounds. What the kits don't contain are ground wires make sure you size correctly and add body to engine straps as well.

 

i installed one in my 53 ford couldnt be happier,went from headlight to taillight, have not had a single prob. what ive run into with painless ,if theres a prob the first thing they say is that its not there fault and act like your a fool for asking for help....

 

I'm currently installing an EZ kit in my Plymouth Coupe. Its a nice kit.I like it and will use one again on my next project.

 

I have used both Painless and Easywire, if its your first attempt at wiring I would suggest the Painless as the instructions are better with that kit. The Easywire is a good kit but as I mentioned... lacking in the instructions which appeared to be printed in a third world country. Rick

 

Sounds like as long as I watch the crimps on it, it should be fine. You have to watch for that on anything mass-produced anyhow.

I think Painless must be the harness that got the bad rap previously, which is why I missed finding the thread -

 

I have installed 2 EZ wiring kits and my next project will have another EZ wiring kit to. It is a good quality kit at a cheap price!! That is hard to find these days!! I am very farmilar with automotive wiring and house wiring, I thought the instuctions were very good, told you were to put the wires and showed you why in the diagram. IMO someone with very little wiring knowledge could tackle installing the EZ wiring kit, no I do not work for them, I just like the kits!!

 

I don't like the kits with all the wires already hooked to the panel- Painless, Haywire, EZ, It's a snap-- and on and on. I much prefer a panel and a box of wire, i.e. Affordable Street Rods, American Autowire, Ron Francis. No extra wires end up in the car, no clipping, plus I like being able to run some of the wires from the item to the panel, instead of the other way.

 

This kit needs NO manhandling to come apart. Normal road vibration will do it.

The crimp they use is TOO SMALL FOR THE WIRE. The crimp boesn't roll over into an inverted "w" shape and capture EVERY wire strand. The crimp doesn't even close up.

EVERY KIT THEY MAKE IS LIKE THIS.

BTW, I understand these kits are assembled offshore.


Painless, Centech and American Autowire make good quality kits.


You get what you pay for

 

Give Gary a call at Kwik Wire...Super guy...a hot rodder...knows his stuff as he's been in the OEM and street rod wire biz all his life. No bs....really good stuff.

www.kwikwire.com

 

Just for discussion....

What stops me from soldering the crimps? I realize you can't load it up and turn the wire into a single strand way up into the insulation, we're just talking enough to tack it into place. As long as the wires aren't being flexed back and forth at the block, it aught to hold. I've done car stereo wiring and made it bulletproof that way, but usually its in a beater and the radio outlasts the car and gets cut back out.

EDIT: I clicked on the link to Kwik-wire and right on the main page it says "All Lead Wires in Kwik Wire's Fuse Panels are Crimped And Hand Soldered" plus it scrolls by in a band just above that. Apparently they feel it's safe to do when done correctly.


I bet if there's not one there already a tech-o-matic on correctly crimping wire would be handy. I don't even remember them covering this in school (granted, it's been a long time). Or, we could all just look at the current Street Rod Builder (I think, cant remember where I layed it down last) which has a big section on wiring tips straight from Ron Francis.


For comparison's sake if I wanted to go through the trouble to get it out, $25 at the U-pull-it gets me a fuse block ($5) and wiring harness ($20) from any car. Of course it's so much work to adapt it I may as well scratchbuild it, but... it does give some adaptability to use a factory block only because they usually have a lot of redundant terminals to allow for various options to be added, which gives you places to test and temporarily add stuff with.

 

He's right about the loose joints. I had some loose in mine. Just went through and recrimped them before I assembled it all. No problems after that.

 

Yes, soldering is ok IF you don't let the solder wick up into the wire itself and make it brittle. That's what I'm going to have to resort to when I put this kit into the cutomer's '37 to replace the defective one. i.e. solder every pre-crimped connection and to do that, I have to disassemble the fuse box to get at the crimps.

BTW, soldering wires is a no-no in marine applications 'cause it makes the wire brittle past the connection.

As for Kwik Wire, he was the originator of E-ZWire 'cept one of his distributors "stole" the concept from him and started having the kits assebled off shore.

 

Desoto, you seem to know your stuff, just wanted to ask about the above statements... did the customer provide you with the EZ Wire (I believe that's the brand you are talking about) kit, or did you? If you provided it, was the customer aware of the potential problems? I am mostly just pointing out that what you say above makes it sound like you're making a mickey-mouse fix to get a customer's car out the door, when in fact (and I really hope!) that's probably not the case...

A little clarification will go a long ways for this citizen... Take care, and no insults intended if you got any, just want to make certain you keep a good reputation, assuming you deserve it.

Take care,

Ben

 

I've used Painless several times and tried E-Z once. The quality of the E-Z kit is very low compared to the Painless.

 

Friend of a friend phones.

"My car won't run"

He has it ramp trucked to my place one Saturday. Says he has a "new" E-Z Wire kit they sent him when he complained about numerous wiring problems in his car.

I drop what I'm doing and figure out that there's no power going to the ignition switch. Chase the black wires back to the fuse panel and it's got a loose connection on the ignition switch supply wire where it's crimped to the buss bar.

I remove the insulation on it and the adjacent battery feed wire from the solenoid, solder a jumper across it and tape everything up.

The engine fires but the harness heats up when the AC is switched on. Recommend he refrain from using the AC as it's wired THROUGH the ignition switch and is overloading it.

Send him on his way as I had to get pack to painting my car for the Nats.

Couple of days later he phones up. His power windows don't work and he needs to be able to run 'em up and down if he's going to drive from Mass to Louisville and back.

He drives it back down the following Saturday and brings the new harness, too.

I cut a few wire ties so I can get a better look at the back of the fuse box and some of the rest of the harness. Find a few more bad crimps so I open up his new kit to show him what I’m finding and lo and behold, the new kit (this one’s got the colored wires) has the very same wires falling out of the crimps.

THAT’S when I decided to shoot some photos for my new book. (Yea, I’m writing a sequel).

I’m to re-wire the car this winter AFTER disassembling the fuse box and re-crimping and/or soldering the offending crimps.

Here’s a shot of the fuse box that’s currently in the car (black wires Check out the crimp quality. The insulation isn’t even captured in the crimps.) and the new box before the wire fell out of the crimp when I moved the harness to get a tighter shot of the crimp quality.

 

E-Z sucks. I have used them only once and that was enough, total shit quality. I only use Painless on all my customers cars.

 

You guys should try an Enos Custom Components black box. THE BEST!!! Hands down. Their instructions are great and you will actually learn something while doing it. I've used 'em all (pretty much) and they have it wired (pun intended).

 

If you're talking aout their "lugless" connection box, the wires don't stay in the cavties. They use single-strand wire clamps (like the wiring in our house) for multi-strand wire. When you tighten down the screw, the wire works it's way out. Dakota Digital's terminals do the same thing.

 

Excellent... thanks for the clarification desoto... it probably wasn't necessary, but it makes me better understand the situation, and that you are a completely helpless bystander in the situation who was trying to help out, rather than the instigator. Take care,

Ben