i've used ez and rebel personally in the past. i'd buy the rebel over the ez any day.... That being said now that i work at a shop i've done the digging. We sell American AutoWire, Haywire, and Ron Francis. i personally ordered a haywire 14 fuse kit for my unibody just last week. was gonna save a few more buck and order the haywire e series which is kinda similar to the Rebel kits but i needed ignition, light, dimmer, etc switches and none of that comes with the E Series and by the time i bought all of that the 14 fuse was about the same price and it does come with those items.. I almost went american autowire. We get a better deal on Haywire and since i'm the sales guy at the shop i wanted to use a kit that i can suggest and that i can offer the best price on...ken....
Thanks for the offer, I really mean that, but I don't think wiring a car should be the same as hanging lights on the Christmas tree. I did that the first year we were married and let the "expert" do it for the last 34. Switches that look good to the eye along with the lights and whatever should be on the table, inspected and ready to install. The wiring should be figured out and placed out of sight, and the runs planned long before they are run. I want a full schamitic of everything so I know what is what. One thing you can count on in a HAMB wiring thread, and it it truned up here "they left out the brown wire".WTF is that all about? Wouldn't they left out the wire (pick a color) that goes from point A to point B? Waybe its part of the black art code. Bob
they are all the same to me. optional number of circuits, labeled circuits every foot or so. red is hot, black is ground.
I have installed a couple EZ Wire and Its a Snap harnesses. I didn't have any real issues with either brand. Both were relatively easy. I just did an install with a GM tilt column in a '50 Pontiac and the mini EZ wire fuse panel. It sure made things easier being able to just plug in the ignition, turn signals, dimmer and horn wires. All my other installs were with clamp on turn signal switches. I had to eliminate one of the flasher circuits because the emergency flashers are built into the turn signal switch so only one circuit is needed. I can understand someone being confused when it comes to turn signal wiring. The instructions for both kits are about as vague as the other and mentions nothing about wiring the turn signals with a after market clamp on or older factory type system. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I agree with whoever said it , that you either "get" wiring or ya don't . I've installed plenty of harnesses from different makers & they're all similar in the end . There are always parts that make you scratch your head . The last couple I installed were from Centech Wiring - it may be my favorite of all . Good instructions , really nice fuse box setup & a great guy at the other end of the phone if ya need him . Either way , remember , if the wiring job gets to ya , walk away & go back later with a fresh head . That usually works for me .
I always thought on of the main attractions of aftermarket wire harnesses was that you didn't have to understand wiring to successfully install them.
Ok read all this and have to reply. I installed one EZ kit in my 55 Chev 8 years ago. I had no problems installing it. BUT! It had had a fundemental design flaw. I called and was told that was how you guys preferred it. It was many beers ago but it had to do with blinkers, maybe e flashers. No matter what, it was wrong and designed to be that way.
The very First step for you Bob in understanding this electrical stuff is to forget everything that know about it, everything you think you know about it, ever learned about it, or were ever told about, or ever imagined about it. That will be the hard part. With an uncluttered thought process and an un littered virgin mind, this is very easy stuff. You really don't kneed to know how electricity is made, how it lives, how electrons move, all you need to know is how to tell it what to do. Analogies always go bad and I hate them because of that. But it's like training a dog. Do you need to know how the dogs heart pumps, or why heart worms exist, how it's digestive system works, what enzymes should be in its bowls, how to make a leash? No you don't need any of that to tell a dog to sit, or shit out side, or go get you the paper. Same with this simple hotrod electrics. You tell the electricity where to go and what to do. The electricity knows how to do exactly what you tell it to do.
Yes the fundamental flaw was that the flasher circuit was wired wrong. They had the flasher connectors wired opposite of what they had to be...............who wants that?
Oh I've got a TOTALLY clear mind, trust me. I can ID components, even install them on the vehicle and have them Pebble Beach ready, just clueless as to how many wires are needed and were they run. I want that planned long before parts are painted, upholstered and plated. Will there be 6 or 16 wires runing from the dash to the back of the car? I want that figured out years before the wire gets bought. Bob
One of the things I really enjoyed about the Speedway 20 ckt. kit I used recently was the devices that came with the kit. It had plugs for headlights, dimmer switch, and came with those in the kit, so easy to plug and play. It also came with a connector to fit most GM columns, and many aftermarket, plus a second connector to re-pin the steering column connector, if you were using a later model GM column like I did. Wiring to the front and rear was plenty long, well marked, and had everything needed, plus spares to the front, rear, and dash. The last kit I used was a universal hotrod harness, which is pretty basic, and only about 5' of wire in the harness. I wanted this kit because I didn't use a prewired column, and was going to wire my own blinkers, and switches for all the lights, and dash gauges, components. It was a NW Autowire, and still came with some nice diagrams for turn signals, and start/ignition ckt. Did what I wanted, but took me twice as long as the Speedway kit.
From the dashboard to the rear ? Run them inside along carpet edge. Simple hot rod You'll need 5 wires that go all the way to the rear bumper. 1 wire that goes to the fuel tank sender. Bit more than simple ? Want an electric fuel pump? 1 more wire Want a trunk light? 1 more wire
Every single car ever built in the last 60 years or so has wires under the carpet. 1/2 of them before that had wires under the carpet all the way to the first one that ever had carpet. And they shouldn't be duct taped but some are. Best to run them in a plastic chase and to keep them flat. Besides that they are fused. I told you forgetting everything would be hard.
I have wired 3 street rods from scratch....all GM wiring....get the book " How to wire your streetrod" from speedway....you will "get it" then. All 3 had all kinds of wiring extras and GM tilt columns...last 2 pwr trunk opener, one pwer cowl vent in the f100, all have pwer windows, air, latest p antenna and electric speedometer ( some trouble there, but wired according to instructions and live help and still a problem with going 40 mph while sitting still in drive way, yeah...its going to be fast, LOL). Once you get it....it is easy. Working backwards helps when you first start.
I have wired several vehicles, I just used a EZ wire kit on my truck. It worked great for me, easy to follow instructions. No problems, my buddies also use EZ wiring without any issues.
I've always been very comfortable with wiring and electricity. My first car was a 57 Chevy Bel Air that had the wiring melted when someone put a nail in place of a fuse. I've known many good mechanics that are totally lost when it comes to wiring. It is much easier if you have a good schematic but sometimes you have to figure it out.
I've used bunches of EZ kits--no problems and I've always had great tech support (wiring is NOT my gig). what kind of message did you leave to make them not want to call you back!
I, too, have had no problem with an EZ Wire kit, but my first re-wire was a Triumph M/C I did with just the factory manual and a NAPA. Next one was a Ducati, manual and diagram in Italian. I now know wire colours in Engliah and Italian. Also did work on a Citroën 2CV, where ALL the wires are green, and have little coloured flags at the termination. If no one has removed them... Yup, you either 'get it' and have no problem, or, as was stated, you might want to farm out the job. But, I'd not blame EZ wire just yet, IMHO. Cosmo
I've done 4 with EZ wire and no problems, starting my 5th now. Speedway sells a small orange book "How to wire your street rod" get it, very helpful.
Just flipped through the copy I bought last year. Not sure if the cartoon style is ment to help or make the clueless feel even more so. Bob
9 times out of ten,problems come down to a crappy ground on whatever's not working. i put a buss bar under the dash with differnt size threaded holes in it with a nice big 10ga. wire comming off it. hook that to the motor. same in the trunk. treat your metal body like it's fiberglass.
Here I go......I've used ez kits and won't any more for various reasons, mostly, you get what you pay for. I like american autowire, my preference, but I'll never try to convince others to use it, or not. Nor will I slag another for "not getting it" I don't "get" finish body work or upholstery, others do, they do it for me. Thats just how it is when you build cars, some of us have strengths and weaknesses, I understand chassis and wiring, what I do best.
I have done a lot of car wiring from scratch, to converting a harness from one car to a different car. I have even mixed a couple wiring harnesses to form one. The worst project I ever encountered was a "wiring kit" for a 12 volt negative ground into a 6 volt positive ground car, when we tried to use the original switches. I was really wishing I had a schematic for the harness and for the car on that one, parts of that one still haunt me. Worst part was that was the first store bought harness I ever installed. Bet the next 6 volt positive ground to 12 volt negative ground project gets everything new. Unfortunately, these days new components does not mean the parts are good. I needed a new head light switch for an old project because the terminal for tail lights wasn't functioning. I bought a new headlight switch for the car from a major parts outlet. When you turned on that new switch, there was no power to any terminal, completely dead! Of course they didn't have another switch in stock. I reinstalled the original switch, added a jumper to the tail light terminal and everything worked. In about a week, another new switch came in and I installed it. Still no tail lights, no power through the switch. The factory service manual proves the power for the tail lights comes through that headlight terminal. A second defective switch! I reinstalled the original switch with the jumper, life is OK. I'm not sure I will try another switch. Gene
I bought a Painless kit and gave it away. Scratch wiring it yourself is the only way I will ever do it. As said here by others either you understand wiring or you do not, if you understand it, it becomes a fun experience and you can enjoy being creative.
Really sounds like you need to have someone else wire your car. The comment about running wires under flammable carpet shows you don"t know what you are doing. Admitting you don"t know how to do something on your car is not a crime. 90% percent of all members of the Hamb can"t rebuild an automatic tranny or paint their hotrod but they wouldn"t try and blame it on the company that sold them the paint or parts just because they messed it up.
Knowing were the wires will be safely run before you start to wire was my point. If they are inside a boxed frame or conduit the chance of them being cut is reduced IMO. Bob
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