Wiring Harness options

miker98038

miker98038

Well-known member
Some asked for wiring harness experiences on another thread (padded dashboards). I thought starting out might get more responses than my limited experiences.

My bird is wired with a Centech fuse panel, and I did that 15 years ago. It was small, replace all the inline fuses, turn flasher etc. Individual marked wires that all had to be terminated at the panel. No problems in all these years. I used the OEM breakers and relays on the power seats (new wires), and the same when I added power windows. It was a bit more work, but allowed flexibility on my car. Not a lot in the way of instructions.

I’ve done 3 more complete vehicles with American Autowire kits. 2 GM products, 1 universal. The American kits came with extensive instructions. Do this for points and condenser. Do this for HEI. This for an MSD. Order harness xxx for power windows, xy for A/C, and so on. They also came with many extra crimp terminals, forks, rings, spades, you name it. Very complete and comprehensive kits. I highly recommend them.

I hear good things about Painless, Ron Francis, Rebel, etc. but I’ve never used them.

Who else can help 56sedandelivery out with more info.
 
miker98038 said:
Some asked for wiring harness experiences on another thread (padded dashboards). I thought starting out might get more responses than my limited experiences.

I hear good things about Painless, Ron Francis, Rebel, etc. but I’ve never used them.

Who else can help 56sedandelivery out with more info.
Click to expand...

The above is a continuation of the thread - PADDED DASH INSTALL QUESTION -

LOCATED HERE - https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=308178

(POSTED SO IT WILL NOT BE LOST)
 
I used a Rebel 9+3 kit when I converted my '39 p/u to 12 volts. And I'm in the process of rewiring my '54 Ranch Wagon with a Rebel kit. High quality kits and good tech support. For an original harness with options for power windows and A/C another choice is Y and Z Wiring.
https://www.ynzyesterdaysparts.com
 
Ron Francis is the very best. Endless tech support, your harness has a serial number that they keep for future use should a problem occur. If you install their kit and down the road make changes that require wiring mods they have your harness on record and will make the changes needed to make it a "bolt-in" change. Mind you, you pay for that service. They are the best but also on the top of pricing.

Your skill level and electrical knowledge should drive the source for kits.
 
51504bat said:
I used a Rebel 9+3 kit when I converted my '39 p/u to 12 volts. And I'm in the process of rewiring my '54 Ranch Wagon with a Rebel kit. High quality kits and good tech support. For an original harness with options for power windows and A/C another choice is Y and Z Wiring.
https://www.ynzyesterdaysparts.com
Click to expand...

My 1955 Ford Club Sedan includes a lot of accessories and customized features so I rewired (went 12 volts) with the same kit from RebelWire and I was/am highly impressed. They make the harnesses right here in the US (Tennessee as I recall), everything fit/worked like it's supposed to, and the level of support by a simple phone call is just something you don't see much of these days.
 
i also used a rebel 9 circut harness in the restoration of a 37 ford/seagrave fire truck worked flawlessly tech support was great I used keep it clean i think thats the name harnesses in my wagon and ranchero. wagon only had a/c added ranchero had power windows and door locks all worked great
 
Back in the mid '80's I ordered an exact duplicate '55 Ford car wiring harness from someplace like "The Ford Parts Store" or "Concours Parts" for my '55 Fairlane sedan. Never had a problem with it and it is still in use today. The best thing about exact duplicate wire harnesses is that they have all the OEM terminals that plug-in to OEM components on the car without requiring any modifications to the wire terminals. I also wanted to retain the factory color-code because I had already pretty much memorized it just by normal maintenance.
In 1999, I ordered another exact duplicate wire harness for my '55 Courier sedan delivery. Apparently they have taken some shortcuts in the mafg of these since my first harness. Two different wires inside the harness that had been internally spliced burned up, due to insulation from the butt-splice not being sufficient and digging in to an adjacent wire. On the first harness, I got, there were no internal splices except for the dash-light circuit, which was well insulated. The 1999 harness has several splices in various other circuits to make up for using wires that were too short to reach the factory located items they serve. They did this to save on material waste.
So, where I would have recommended these long ago, I must now change my position on them.
I could have easily made my own main wiring harness for the Courier if I had known it was going to be trouble, but it would not have had the factory color-code and some terminals would be a little trouble finding. The larger 6-volt, #12awg bullet connectors are very hard to find now. It's easier to find the smaller 12-volt #14-16awg bullet connectors.
 
I’m not so sure. The comments on Ron Francis were what I expected, but those Rebel kits sound pretty good too. Features and price would play in obviously.

Do to the extensive wiring diagrams, I never called tech support at American. But I spent 40 years in the electrical construction industry, lots of industrial work with motor controls, so schematic diagrams were all I needed.
 
The bullets are available from the different parts stores. CASCO for one, I have ordered the bullets from them. They are crimp on style with a plastic end. I usually take the plastic end off and use shrink wrap - looks a lot like stock


Daves55Sedan said:
. The larger 6-volt, #12awg bullet connectors are very hard to find now. It's easier to find the smaller 12-volt #14-16awg bullet connectors.
Click to expand...
 
I agree on Ron Francis - a good quality product and experience. OTOH, I have nothing else to compare it to. I will say that the customer service at Francis was positive and helpful, but I had to go through some hoops to get connected with them, as I recall. I think they wanted email contact, but I was able to get a hold of someone by phone in the office who set me up with a good tech guy. No harness related electricity problems three years after installation.
 
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