New Fuse Box, but no wiring harness

[bobwires]

I've got a '78 I'm working on, and the customer brought me a 'Painless' harness #10203, 18 circuit GM. The fuse box isn't the same shape as the stock one....








my question is this: Has anybody just replaced the fusebox alone? I'm confident I can do the job, since I solder wires for a living, but I'm looking at the pros and cons of chopping the wires and having a bunch of heat-shrinked wires there vs. ripping it all out and doing the whole job.

Also - I could keep the fuse box plastic, and replace all the fuseholding tabs and wire connections in the back. that is the problem on this truck - the wire is fine, no green, no stiffness, but the fusebox is rusting out.... sucks for me.

any thoughts?

[bobwires]

to clarify - I'm not going to use the painless fusebox. I don't want to have to fill in the hole in the firewall.

[JimmyFloyd]

interested in the responses to this...

[bobwires]

nothing? where can I get a factory fuse box? or a factory complete harness?

[JimmyFloyd]

I know you can get factory harnesses through M&H, as well as board venders and there are other companies too (American Auto Wire, etc)

I am interested in how you deal with the factory hole if you go with a painless system

http://www.wiringharness.com/

[my67chevytruck]

My Ron Francis kit came with a plate you could screw over the factory hole, the plate has two holes with grommets that would allow the wires to go through the firewall. we shaved our firewall, so we are drilling our own holes, and routing wires as inconspicuous as we can.

Bob, you can peruse the For Sale section to see if any member have a wiring harness for sale.

[bobwires]

M&H make good stuff - I've worked with them before. they said the dash harness was $450, and they don't sell individual parts, and the lead-time was 8-10 weeks! well poo

I may be better off disassembling the old fuse box, sanding all the individual parts, and reassembling it.

[BGRAFX]

That looks exactly like my fuse box. My truck is a 74 that the PO changed somethings to 81. Apparently wiring wasn't on that upgrade list.