71 blazer wire harness questions

[DSST_construction]

what are my options on my 71 blazer . i removed my ac, and im looking for the basic wire harness. what do y'all recommend?

also wheres the best place to buy the harness at? ive seen anywhere from 200-450 prices.

is there any step by step or video that shows how to install the woe harness

thanks guys

[RED 1970]

If what you have is still good you could remove the associated wiring for the AC and save the rest.

[DSST_construction]

I'm thinking all my wireing is shot. I would like to redo it all. I don't need power windows. What do you guys think?
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[Bhelton]

I just purchased a ez wire 21 circuit mini harness with switches for $204 shipped to my door, and have also bought an American auto wire setup that was $500. Really depends on how original you want it
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[DSST_construction]

I don't really care about oringal, where did you buy it? Does it have instructions when you bought it?
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[Bhelton]

Here is what I ordered

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...id=22649694808
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[vanislejimmy]

I put an American Autowire kit in my jimmy last winter. Was impressed with the quality of the kit and excellent instructions. They include extra connecters to practice on, and for when you make mistakes. It was more expensive than other kits though.

[in deep 72]

From my experience, "Painless" is a very nice harness, but is anything BUT painless! It comes with all the wires extra long so you can alter routing if you like, but you have to cut all the connectors off your existing harness and splice them on. I had over 40 hours just under the hood and front lights. It's very nice now that it's done, especially having a new fuse box with modern horseshoe style fuses, but it's a LOT of work. Have heard great things about American Autowire. Will try them next time.

[DSST_construction]

bhelton

How did you like that kit, how long did it take you. Is the tech support any good. How do you start to re wire the blazer, remove all d wire and start or run the new wire along the old then after the new is installed remove the old?
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get a general idea on what to do.
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[Bhelton]

I just ordered the ez wire kit for my 72 yesterday, the gentle that sold it to me was very helpful on my decision
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[tubbedII]

Did you already strip out your current wiring? If so, did you keep it? And if not, have you looked at the connectors on it?

The less expensive kits like ezwire and even painless require you to re-use some if not most of your plastic connectors. If those are in good shape, and you don't mind re-using them, then it's a great kit. AAW (American Auto Wire) is known for being very complete and include most if not all connectors already on the wire. They even come with a new headlight/dimmer switch. Depending on your current wiring situation, AAW could save you a lot of time and headaches without being too much more $$$. I went the AAW route on my nova, but did a painless on my Blazer since it was all in pretty decent shape.

[Bhelton]

Originally Posted by tubbedII

Did you already strip out your current wiring? If so, did you keep it? And if not, have you looked at the connectors on it?

The less expensive kits like ezwire and even painless require you to re-use some if not most of your plastic connectors. If those are in good shape, and you don't mind re-using them, then it's a great kit. AAW (American Auto Wire) is known for being very complete and include most if not all connectors already on the wire. They even come with a new headlight/dimmer switch. Depending on your current wiring situation, AAW could save you a lot of time and headaches without being too much more $$$. I went the AAW route on my nova, but did a painless on my Blazer since it was all in pretty decent shape.

I haven't pulled it yet and will probably do away with it
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[tubbedII]

Cool...just make sure you don't toss it till the job is over!

[DSST_construction]

how long did it take yall to install he harness?

[Bhelton]

I haven't installed yet, all my buddies say a full day including pulling all the old out. It'd take that long to do a American auto wire kit I'm pretty sure
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[in deep 72]

For those never tackeling this before.....When I did my Blazer, it was my first time. It really isn't that bad of a job. I started by mounting the fuse box because it's about the only constant. From there, I went under the hood. I seperated out all the wires into groups like engine, left side and right side wires (marker lights, blower motor, etc.) then take one section at a time. I removed the old, but left it laying somewhat in place as a guide, then ran the new. From there, the harness that goes to the rear of the truck seens how it comes from the under hood side of the fuse box. Then to the dash.
Believe me, once you start to lay out the harness, it will be VERY intimidating. Just take one area at a time and it goes pretty smoothly. One word of advice, don't tighten anything down until your done with that area. I wound up cutting zip ties several times because I either had to add wires to that area, or wanted to route something differently. It's a great feeling when your done, especially knowing you won't have to chase electrical gremlins anymore.
I'm getting ready to pull all of my new harness out to get it woven. We have a harness maker in town that can do the nylon braid on the outside and think it will take it to the next level of keeping my new harness in great shape for many more years.

[tubbedII]

Great advise in deep 72...That's exactly how I did mine. I too had to cut zip ties several times. It took me a full weekend to finish my blazer with a painless kit. I wrapped mine with electrical tape and I don't like it very much... The woven nylon is a much cleaner look, but I just couldn't afford it.
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[in deep 72]

I have connections

Cost for me to get it woven = $0

[tubbedII]

Originally Posted by in deep 72

I have connections

Cost for me to get it woven = $0

Man...awesome connect to have...but I guess getting a free paint job is a pretty cool connect too

[rsavage]

I have never bought a harness that didn't have new stock connectors. Why would anyone buy a new wiring harness and then have to splice in dozens of connectors all of which will be potential trouble spots? Why would anyone want to buy a harness that didn't have the same wire colors and gauge wire as original. Sure makes referring to the 67-72 wiring diagrams a lot easier. Why would someone buy a harness that doesn't come taped as per the original? If the answer is to save some money, I think it can be penny wise and pound foolish. I have used several harnesses from LMC. Don't know who makes them but they were correct and good. I have also used M & H same excellent result. Just my opinion based on my previous experience.

[tubbedII]

Originally Posted by rsavage

I have never bought a harness that didn't have new stock connectors. Why would anyone buy a new wiring harness and then have to splice in dozens of connectors all of which will be potential trouble spots? Why would anyone want to buy a harness that didn't have the same wire colors and gauge wire as original. Sure makes referring to the 67-72 wiring diagrams a lot easier. Why would someone buy a harness that doesn't come taped as per the original? If the answer is to save some money, I think it can be penny wise and pound foolish. I have used several harnesses from LMC. Don't know who makes them but they were correct and good. I have also used M & H same excellent result. Just my opinion based on my previous experience.

I kind of have to agree with you rsavage. For me, my brother had the painless kit already for his C10, and I just took it since I was farther along. I jumped into it without any research since it was just there and was very surprised to see that I had to re-use connectors. The only reason I'm ok with it is that I was able only re-use the plastic part of the connectors and attach the correct "fittings" on the end of the wires for them. Luckily in my case, all the connectors were in pretty good shape.

[in deep 72]

Some of that would depend on your final purpose for the vehicle. If your doing a full resto, absolutely you'd want it as close to OEM as possible. I wanted to do away with the glass fuses for one. I also bought into the advertising propoganda when I ordered a Painless harness. I would have much prefered something with all the connectors installed. One thing I did like was the flexibility I had by not using a factory reproduction harness. I could route wiring differently (front edge of the cowl for one), and they come pre-wired for about any accessory you may want to add such as an electric fuel pump, power windows/locks/antenna/ac. I don't use most of those, but the options are there.
Reusing connectors is definitely a PIA and having the electrical circuit 99% new kind of sucks, but if done right (solder, heat shrink, loom) there shouldn't be any future issues. I would never recomend using the little blue crimpy things.

[tubbedII]

LOL...I HATE soldering...mainly because I suck at it. I do use crimps/butt connectors, but I borrow my buddies good crimpers when doing a job like this and still heat shrink it all. There's really nothing wrong with using the crimpy things, as long as you're ensuring you're doing it right (using good crimp tools and crimping in the right area). In my case since I seem to not solder very well for some reason, it's actually safer.

[in deep 72]

Heat shrink over them does help a lot. One trick my dad used to do way back when, (he hated soldering also) was to fill them with silicone, then push the wire in and crimp while the silicone was still wet. Never saw any of them go bad that way either. Just need to get a good crimp and a way to keep the moisture out.

I may have gotten a bit anal when I did mine. If I needed to use an eyelet at the end, I'd pull the plastic off then crimp, then solder the wire to the eyelet and heat shrink over that. Definitely overkill, but my truck sees 4' of water a few times a year.