Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Step by step tutorial on rewiring our truck. My truck is not stock but this process is identical to how you will do this and with this specific kit it is mostly plug and play. :metal:

So first thing is the unboxing and exploration of the kit. A couple notes

Kit is packaged in an intuitive and intelligent manner with separate packaging for different parts of the truck. The under-hood kit is not in with the lighting. The acc. wiring is separate as some of our trucks don't have any of that, the engine harness is separated from the front half lighting. ;)

here is the new stuff. I laid it out upside down so you can see the stuff in the bags. On the top of each bag is a label and description of what is inside.

Attachment 1779391

Attachment 1779392

I laid out the tools I will need to do the install.

Attachment 1779394

Attachment 1779393

So with no more excuses to delay, I pulled the seat out of the truck and got ready to make my back hurt

Attachment 1779400

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

You da man!!!

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

So Pulled the old carpet and padding out. Took my time to not tear it as it was glued down 25 years ago. It was still in good shape and will have to live a couple more years before I do yet another chassis up build.

Here it is with the carpet out.


Attachment 1779408

I have owned this truck for ever. in that time it has had 3 different stereos installed as well as an alarm system. A new column and several different sets of gauges. None of that was done by me. (Well the column was mine but I kind of cobbed it in too. So the amount of splices, and old dead wires with the ubiquitous electrical tape and zip ties made this truck about as reliable as a meth addict.

see for your self.


Attachment 1779409

Attachment 1779410

Attachment 1779411


here is the instrument panel before I pulled it out. All nice guages and I did do a pretty decent job wiring it all in but it is wired into the original 53 year old harness.

Attachment 1779412


Attachment 1779412

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Continuing with the demolition.

a couple notes here. Last year I did a head light up grade with new halo LED's with High output LED projectors. I built a new harness and used new OEM plugs tied into the front harness so I need to incorporate that harness into the new Autowire kit. This holds true for the trucks current (4th) stereo as I installed it and did it correctly so it to will be incorporated.


So this is the back of the instrument panel and probably has the most complicated part of this. For the folks with a stock truck this is all plug in with the new harness.
Attachment 1779419

this is looking in at the rats nest once the instrument panel is out.

Attachment 1779420

Yikes I found several smoked and crunch connectors in here from previous shorts it is a wonder I did not burn this truck to the ground,


damn how embarrassing. I can't believe I am letting people see this.


so the under dash is demoed, I will get in and clean up some stuff as well as mount a couple anchor points to hang the new harness.

Attachment 1779421
Attachment 1779422

I have a MSD ignition box mounted under the dash that needs to be wired in as well as putting in new defroster and heater ducts.

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Good deal I’m following!

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Brilliant!!!!!!!!

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

yep this is one to follow for me, got the same kit and have been dreading it. Wiring is the lowest of my skill sets.

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

i got the same kit last year , it wired right up , good directions, and illustrations, would defiantly buy another autowire kit if i ever had to do it again to another truck

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

How much money does this kit run?
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Haven't seen an soldering iron like that in a very long time.

Following as I will be doing this in the summer!

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

I used the same kit on my 64 and my 65. Was real easy to install.

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

https://www.americanautowire.com/sho...66-chevy-truck

Figure $600 and some change after taxes

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

$530 no taxes - https://www.ebay.com/itm/1960-66-Che...sAAOSwhj9aj3Qa

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

which set is this from american autowire?

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

This is the 500560 it supersedes the 500559 with more circuits available.

Couple notes for the hot rodders on here.

If you have aftermarket gauges this kit has a complete separate set of leads already marked to wire into those gauges.

If you have aftermarket heating and AC this kit has outputs for that too.

People with stereo systems. Yep, kit has leads for head units, amplifiers and even multiple Acc, all fused and ready to hook up.

My specific application will need a day time running light output that is switched with the ign. Oh boy that is plug and play and even marked with its very own fuse.


I talked to the nice people at Painless and they do offer a simple "builders" harness but nothing like this kit.

I paid just shy of 6 bills direct from American Autowire and they shipped it with a DVD and it was here in 3 days. I spoke at length with the tech support staff before placing my order and they were very informative and instructed me on every aspect of the kit. I hope I can muddle through this install without bothering them again but they are there waiting if needed. :metal:

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

A detailed wiring thread has been much needed. Will follow this very closely.

I think many of us are in this boat and not eager to tackle a full rewire. I have heard that the AA kit is excellent and very doable for the average guy.

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Sub'd
Thank you Mr. Haas

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

One step I am taking as it is the perfect opportunity is to clean up the floor and spray some rust inhibitor on any exposed rust or bear metal. So we cleaned up the floor, and sprayed it with some "Flash" aerosol sealer. It is like POR15 but faster. Attachment 1779665

Attachment 1779666

Attachment 1779667

that out of the way it is time for the sound proofing material

You could use dynomat or what ever, I have a commercial product that we are putting down.

Attachment 1779668

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

So the sound proofing is finished. A lot harder then I thought it would be to be honest but it is important and should keep some heat out of the cab as well. Attachment 1779701

Attachment 1779702

Attachment 1779703

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

How many packs did you use?

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

5 of the 6

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

I am in for this

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

After demolition and matting is completed we went ahead with the panel installation..

The kit supplies a mounting plate and hardware.

remove 2 upper fender bolts and replace with longer ones, (one at a time)

Attachment 1780282

changing from this to this

Attachment 1780284

installed

Attachment 1780283

from the inside you can see how they are now ready to act like studs to hang the panel on.

Attachment 1780286

then hang the panel

Attachment 1780287

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

There are a couple new hangers in the kit to hold the harness got those in and started tiding up the loom
Attachment 1780288


If you are doing this on an unmolested original truck it is really a matter of plu and play for 90% of the kit from this point.

We are not so lucky as I have aftermarket instruments, ignition, headlights and stereo.

The kit is designed to bring all of that into use with dedicated wiring and fuses for each system.

Here is the back of my instrument panel.

Attachment 1780289


It has lots of stuff I did to make it work with the old system that I will now cut away and do using the new harness. For example the new harness has instruments lighting as a dedicated circuit that works with the supplied switch with a dimmer, something the original sort of had but didn't work. Also I will now use the new harness to supply signals for the water temp. Volt meter and Tach all that were dedicated loose wires before. The new harness has these leads and they are marked on the wires every 6 inches so future modifications will be so easy.

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

I really appreciate you taking the time to show this. I will be at this phase of my rebuild sometime this year and actually it intimidates the crap out off me. I do appreciate the " if original it is more plug and play as mine is original .. might lower my stress level .

Any additional insight on parts/accessories/tool to buy to help with the process would be appreciated. :metal:

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Does this kit use or supply new firewall plugs? Or are the wires continuous unless you add the existing plugs?

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Kit comes with new firewall grommets

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

So the wiring passes thru the firewall with grommets and does not use any sort of plug at the firewall? Trying to understand, not throwing rocks here. Many years ago I used a wiring harness from JC Whitney in a car that did not use any plugs and sockets at the firewall- I figured this one either came with new plugs or instructed you to reuse the existing ones.

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

It comes with new plugs. Hard to find a nicer kit.
Jimmy

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Sent you a PM with greater detail, and a link to AAW so as not to litter up Mr. Haas' tutorial.

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

A quality wire stripper and the correct crimping tool (American Auto Wire sell this crimping tool if you do not have one)

https://www.americanautowire.com/sho...n_position.jpg

Pay close attention to the instructions and follow the sequences as they do have a reason to separate each harness into separate bags. Each bag contains its own instructions.

I understand that this type of job seems intimidating and I hear a lot of folks tell me they do not understand completely about electrical theory. To be honest that is not an issue on this project.

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

AAW does not send new rubber for the main forward firewall fitting nor the two medium size OEM GM bulkhead fittings however they sell those separately and you can include them with your order. Their harness does use the OEM style plugs that fit into those rubber grommets so if yours are still soft you do not have to replace them. This is why they are not included in the kit.

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

So here is the summary of the install.

Total labor to do this by a two man team including (Two old, fat, but hard working men) clean up and installation of sound proofing was 2 days and change.

This is the sequence.

Un box and lay out the entire kit on a large flat surface or table near the truck.

Attachment 1780755

Read the instructions from start to finish a couple times to program you with the sequences so you do not get ahead of your self.

Remove your seat and carpet (If you have carpet)

Remove the instrument panel unplugging the factory connections or cutting any aftermarket/owner installed components. take instrument panel to your work bench and leave it there.

Remove glove box (Not completely necessary but if you are going to install the included upgrade accy. lighting or have an aftermarket stereo do this)

If your truck has the deluxe heater controls now is a great time to pull it out and lube it all up as it will finally work as designed.

Now the fun part. Pull out the entire original and owner installed harness, if there are wires spliced in that you do not know where the heck they came from or go to, just note them with blue tape and a sharpie on the harness and continue. You want to have every wire in the cab that is under the dash out.

Important note here. Do not try to unplug the bulkhead fittings. just cut the wires a few inches in from the plug on the interior side of these plugs and leave them in the truck for now.

Do not pull the dome light wire nor the fuel gauge wire that goes to the sending unit, just cut them in the center of the door sill.

Once the cab has been sterilized you are ready to break open the main bag and install the fuse panel. since you have already memorized the instructions,...(Kidding) but you have read them you are now just going to start pulling the wires to their respective attachment and or exit points.

This kit has many circuits that will probably not be used on many of our trucks. I did not use the ACCY Fuel system harness that the folks with fuel injection will use, nor do I have an aftermarket AC unit. But the kit has these circuits in the loom complete with all the various plugs you would need for those. I may upgrade my truck in the future so every one of these extra circuits I neatly coiled up and zip tied them on to the loom for future use.

After the main loom is in place we get to those bulkhead fitting I mentioned above in red. one by one remove these and inspect them for color coding and quantity in relation to what you have compared to what the kit contains.

The main penetration is the plug next to the fuse panel that contains the head light, turn signals,horn. If you bought a new rubber grommet just drive the old plug back into the cab from the engine side with a large blunt drift. If you are reusing the original rubber grommet then you need to destroy the plug and do not attempt to push the stock plug through it, if you tear the grommet you will need to replace it and trust me, it will piss you off. So to get the old plug out of the fire wall here is a simple technique. Of course you already unplugged the two plugs on the engine side for the head lights, turn signals and horn. So using the largest flat blade throw away screw driver you have place it in the center of the plug on the engine side and hammer it through the plastic plug. pull the screw driver out and rotate it 90 degrees and do it again. the original plug should now be broken into 4 pieces. you can now spray some WD 40 in between the plastic plug and the rubber grommet and the pieces will push back int the cab not distorting or damaging the rubber grommet.

Use that technique on the main engine plug as well, remember that these plugs insert from the main harness from the cab interior.

The dome light and fuel gauge need a little trick too. pop the lens out of the dome light and you will see the two clips that make up the ends of the wires to the dome light. Carefully remove them from the light and pull them a few inches into the cab. now that both wires are dangling inside the cab, cut the clips that hold the bulb off these wires. Tape the new wires to the original securely but with out making a big knot or ball. Gently pull the original wire down from behind the gas neck if you still have the incab tank pulling the new wires down and out into the open. the new dome light harness already has the clips on them so just clip them into the light and snap in a fresh light bulb ( I upgraded to a higher wattage bulb to make it brighter in the cab) Bulb installed, snap the lens back on and continue. Do the same technique for the gauge but with less drama as you actually can touch that wire and do not need to tape it to the OEM wire you are replacing.

The underhood wiring is simplistic. You will be rewiring the starter and that is probably the physically hardest part of the job for us v8 guys with headers but every wire is ready to install including fuse-able links pre-installed on the two main battery leads.


The kit is set up for factory or after market gauges or factory warning lights depending on what you need. All wires are the same colors as the OEM harness so determine what was there can be confirmed by looking a at the included schematics. Also having every wire in the kit labeled every 6 inches comes in handy.

One nice thing about the hood harness is you get every thing, new bulb sockets and even the plastic clips the wires tie to along their route.

With the under hood complete moving back to the tail and replacing everything including the sockets takes less then 30 minutes and can be done on the ground with the truck on jackstands.

With everything complete I made the final connection to the battery and turned the new ignition with the supplied new key and my truck would not start:devil:

Turns out that I did not memorize the instructions either. ;)


The large purple neutral safety wire needs to be hooked to a neutral safety switch (For us automatic transmission users) or wired to itself for the manual transmission people.


Truck started right up, all the lights worked and I am a happy camper.

My newly electrified shop truck is ready to play

Attachment 1780769

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

You Rock! Hey what size are your rims and tires/

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

17 x 10 out back 17 x 7 up front

big and littles on the rubber, don't remember sizes :metal::metal:

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Author, Author

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Robert, Thank you for an excellent write up. I am now somewhere in between fearful and excited to get to mine later this year.....that's up from scared to death and wanting to run in the other direction.

THANKS AGAIN !1 You rock !:metal:

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Nice Robert. I can attest to aaw quality. I used their hey 23 series on my truck and liked it very much.

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

Nice truck BTW

Re: Complete rewire using American Auto Wire kit for 1960 to 1966 C10/20/30
 

I just happened upon this post while looking for tips on painting the dash bezel. I am currently in the middle of this exact kit in my dad's 1964 LWB with a 250 i6 and 4 speed with a granny low. Thanks for the clear pictures. And yes I realized that 90% of this kit is literally plug and play. This is the second AAW kit I'm installing myself. The first being my 1972 C10 LWB with sbc350/th350. It took me about 40 hours to install the kit. But that's because I don't know jack about electrical, I didn't have the correct crimpers, and I also soldered and heat shrinked every connection. This time around my dad opted for the right crimpers, and my skillset has improved significantly since I installed my kit about 4 years ago. The AAW kit has probably been the best investment I've made in my 72 c10. I think these kits have only gotten better over time. This kit for the 64 is pretty awesome and includes so many features that it is a no brainer from a novices standpoint. After the first kit I am sold on AAW and recommend them to anyone considering undertaking a rewire on any classic vehicle.