63 Wiring Harness

3047 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Fast65, Oct 18, 2005

Fast65

Discussion Starter · Oct 15, 2005

Looking to rewire the '63 while it is apart. Narrowed it down to Ron Francis or Painless for the harness. Anybody here have experience with either vendor? Talked to techs at both companies, and neither makes a harness specific to the '63, so I have to go with a universal kit. My biggest problem with one of these is the fact that neither kit includes the connectors on the accessory end of the wires. Short of cutting off the connectors from the old harness and splicing them

on to the new one, I'm not sure what else to do.

Any suggestions?:clonk:

P.S. As of right now, I have more posts here than Flyer or wharever he calls himself at Team Nova!

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1 - 7 of 7 Posts

· #2 · Oct 15, 2005

i thought post counts never REALLY meant anything... it's in the spirit of helping that i acrued 10,332 at Steve's

Hey Fast, something i haven't checked into yet, on the universal kits... what about the fuse block ??? does it fit our HotRods or do we need to mod the hole for mounting ???

i'm gonna be getting a harness too pretty soon.... has that been clarified yet ??? 'bout the fuse block through firewall fit ???

Johnny (64 Freeway-Flier) my name at Steve's originally

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DANNO

· #3 · Oct 15, 2005

You might try these folks. I have no experience with them, but I think NNN sells their products.

http://www.americanautowire.com/products/factory_fit.cfm

Dan (gonna check'em out for my wagon)

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69NovaSS

· #4 · Oct 15, 2005

I could be wrong and my info is based on my looking into getting a harness for my 3rd gen car so possibly it might be different for other gen cars but Painless is the only company I know of that offers a factory type bulkhead connector. The rest require some sort of modification to the hole in the firewall.

I think the only ones that come with the factory type connectors on the ends of the wires are the reproduction harness that some of the repop companies market. They are big $$$ but for a big $$$ restorations they are the way to go. BUT for the rest of us little guys Painless, Ron Francis, etc are the way to go IMO.

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Fast65

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 16, 2005

Here is what I've gathered so far after quizzing the techs at R.F and Painless - this applies to 1st gens only: Ron Francis harness' do not use a bulk-head connector at the firewall. Their kit includes a plate with through holes and grommets that can be welded onto the firewall to cover the original bulkhead opening. Painless kit uses a bulkhead connector that measures 2.75" x 2.875". This will require enlargening the original firewall opening. Fuse blocks for both will need some under dash mods to accomodate new mounting location. Again, these are "universal wiring kits, since neither company produces a specific harness for 1st gens. But, I'm still hung-up on the accessory end connector question.

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66RICH

· #6 · Oct 17, 2005

Fast:
Both companies make high quality products. I have helped friends
install several after market units, You can use common insulated
crimp style butt connectors to add the factory pig tails. I prefer
to solder the connections, and use shrink tubing to cover the
splice, you will never worry about a bad connection. I never reuse
the old head, and tail lite plugs, they sell replacements in the
help section at auto stores cheap which makes a nice clean
connection.
I prefer the Ron Francis style where the wires terminate at the
fuse box, makes it much easier to install each set of wires instead
of sorting thru all the wires like the Painless. It's also easier to
trouble shoot later on if need be.
I wouldn't want to install the fuse box in the stock location any way,
to hard to get at! LOL You could put it under the edge of the dash
on a flip down panel, glove box, etc.
Good luck, Rich

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Fast65

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 18, 2005

66RICH said:
Fast:
Both companies make high quality products. I have helped friends
install several after market units, You can use common insulated
crimp style butt connectors to add the factory pig tails. I prefer
to solder the connections, and use shrink tubing to cover the
splice, you will never worry about a bad connection. I never reuse
the old head, and tail lite plugs, they sell replacements in the
help section at auto stores cheap which makes a nice clean
connection.
I prefer the Ron Francis style where the wires terminate at the
fuse box, makes it much easier to install each set of wires instead
of sorting thru all the wires like the Painless. It's also easier to
trouble shoot later on if need be.
I wouldn't want to install the fuse box in the stock location any way,
to hard to get at! LOL You could put it under the edge of the dash
on a flip down panel, glove box, etc.
Good luck, Rich

Thanks Rich, right now, I'm leaning towards Ron Francis. I plan on doing as you suggested - soldering the old pig tail on and shrink tubing the splice. I also like the fact that R.F. does not use a bulk head connector at the firewall.

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