Painless wiring kit ???

[nbroady]

So this weekend I'm installing a Painless wiring kit in my '69 C20...

Anyone have pointers, tips, suggestions, etc.... that has installed one to make the operation go well.... "Painless"?

How long did it take you to install everything?

[BigSky71]

I dreaded the wiring install on my resto, but I actually found it to be quite simple with the Painless kit. The toughest part was removing the pins from the steering column plug to reuse the plug end, that took some patience. I would say that it took me two long evenings in the garage to install and I had never done one before.

[Ackattack]

when I did my GMC in 2001, I ended up having to go track down a few extra connectors from the parts store and even the dealership cause it didn't have everything I needed. Also, it doesn't include the A/C wiring.....I ripped all of my old stuff out before I realized that.

Also, my radio and a few other things didn't work in the accesory positing. I don't know if they've done any updates to fix this.

[d10s69c10]

i have never used a painless so i dont know how the kit comes out of the box but (as seen on a tv show) i like to map out my hood cab bed on the floor and run all the wires on the ground first so i get an idea of what im doing rather than try pushing in one wire at a time thru the truck.

[haysonj]

I did mine over a period of several weeks. Just be patient and don't try to hurry. make sure of your routing before you cut the wires. There were a few ends not in the kit but all can be found on your old harness or the wreaking yard. Awesome feeling when you get it done and it looks clean.

[gcburdic]

plan out your location of the "maxi-fuse".......I took me like 2 hours to install because I wasn't sure where it would be out of the way yet reachable if I ever had to change....

Also, get a good crimping tool and wire cutters, different size heat shrink tubes, WIRE LOOM or whatever you plan to use to protect the harnesses

By the way, don't forget to check all of your ground straps too!!!!

And as said before....measure twice (maybe three) times and cut once!!!

Good luck and have fun....took me several weekends to do.....I'm a first timer as well....

OH....I had fun with the park light, side maker wiring (I am doing my 68 swb)....it's not very clear in the instruction manual so check for some threads here to verify!!!

[72Subby]

I'm getting ready to re-wire my suburban, but I've done several cars using Painless and American Autowire kits. Here are some things I learned:

- Don't cut the wires too short. My first time I routed them, cut and terminated everything, it looked great. Then I started putting the rest of the car together and needed more slack to move things around for installation (or because the wires were in the way).

- A corollary to "don't cut the wires too short" is to watch the routing and be generous with grommets, heat shrink tubing, and wiring loom to protect the wires.

- Map it out, go slow and carefully. There is an excellent book ("How to Wire a Hot Rod" I think) by the guy that founded one of those companies (I forget which one). Must reading. Try to plan as much as possible ahead of time on paper so you don't find yourself having to do a last-minute mail-order for some piece that even the local NAPA doesn't have (or if you are like me, you put the generic NAPA piece on and then it irritates you every time you open the hood and see it...)

- One thing I really like about those kits is the OEM quality connectors. It just makes your car that much nicer when your wiring doesn't have a bunch of pep-boys terminals, splices and wires. If you haven't yet, you might want to order some extras (1 wire, 2 wire, 4 wire, etc.) because you might find places you want them or you might mangle a terminal and then realize the kit gave you exactly the amount you needed and not enough extra...

- One of my favorite websites/suppliers for this sort of project is http://wiringproducts.com (I have no relation to them except as a satisfied customer). They are super nice people and have all kinds of neat hard-to-find goodies. For example, they sell the asphalt-impregnated wire loom material that the old cars used and other stuff I've never seen anywhere else.

- "Use Quality Tools" is good general advice, but in my experience it seems to be more important when doing electrical work. That cheap crimper will drive you nuts (and waste lots of terminals and time). I finally bought a heat gun for my shrink tubing. Big improvement over my other attempts.

--steve

[72Subby]

one more thing... I also like Ron Francis products and his catalog and websites are full of lots of great basic information and tips.

[68shortstep]

Here's an "On-Line Auto Electrical Course" I found a while back.

Maybe too-basic, but good stuff for the novice (like me).

http://www.autoshop101.com/autoshop16.html

This one's been posted before, but also good stuff:

http://www.6066gmcguy.org/wire-tips.htm

[sierragrande71]

Can't help much with the Painless wiring set-up, since I'll be using ez-wiring. But hopefully your excited as I am to get to know my truck a little bit better!

[nbroady]

Originally Posted by 68shortstep

Here's an "On-Line Auto Electrical Course" I found a while back.

THANK YOU for those links... that should help ALOT!!

Originally Posted by sierragrande71

Can't help much with the Painless wiring set-up, since I'll be using ez-wiring. But hopefully your excited as I am to get to know my truck a little bit better!

I'm stoked to be able to rewire everything the previous owner did a botched job on... then I'll rebuild my dash, put in the radio & heater controls and it'll but pretty much done.

I've decided to wait though and not plan to get this all done in a day. I'm going to wait til I after my garage is built in the next month that way it's parked in there and not in someone else's.

Thanks again for everyone's input!