The Painless harness

[Strange]

Well I had my new toy(72 swb) delivered to my shop yesterday, and after getting it under the scope I discovered the whole wiring harness is a GIGANTIC disaster. It has all new gauges but none of them are hooked up and there are no wires for them anywhere. Whats left of the harness is spliced all over the place and there are un explained bare wires aplentyThe crescent shaped steering column connector is hooked up but none of the signal lights work.

I really like the way the Painless harnesses look, how are they in terms of quality and ease of installation? Im using "ease of installation" loosely as I know this is not one of the easiest things to do. I have never done a full chassis harness before. There one of the 67-72 Painless harnesses on ebay for $390.00, is there another manufacturer that makes model specific harnesses for a good price?

I posted pictures of my project in the Welcome section if you'd like to see

[msgross]

I bought the painless when they had a grat rebate, very good quality...

another options is the American Auto Wire for 69-72, it might be a notch better than the painless is is usually found at a decent price.

They also have a plug and play original replacement harness, M&H has one as well, but they run $800 for the entire truck.

The first two will require some ends to be added, the later has everything that you need already attached.

[chevy71c10]

Originally Posted by Strange

Well I had my new toy(72 swb) delivered to my shop yesterday, and after getting it under the scope I discovered the whole wiring harness is a GIGANTIC disaster. It has all new gauges but none of them are hooked up and there are no wires for them anywhere. Whats left of the harness is spliced all over the place and there are un explained bare wires aplentyThe crescent shaped steering column connector is hooked up but none of the signal lights work.

I really like the way the Painless harnesses look, how are they in terms of quality and ease of installation? Im using "ease of installation" loosely as I know this is not one of the easiest things to do. I have never done a full chassis harness before. There one of the 67-72 Painless harnesses on ebay for $390.00, is there another manufacturer that makes model specific harnesses for a good price?

I posted pictures of my project in the Welcome section if you'd like to see

Welcome, I've used a harness from American Autowire on a 55 Belair before and was a good quality harness with clear instructions, each wire labeled every few inches and schematics. I'm not familiar with any others but know there are a few different companies out there.

http://www.americanautowire.com/69-72truck.html

Justin

[Strange]

The plug and play option is a touch out of my range for now, that may change though. I downloaded and breezed through the manual that comes with the Painless harness. I read that two of the connectors are no longer produced, did you encounter any trouble popping the pins out of the old connectors and placing them into the Painless supplied replacements?

[Strange]

Originally Posted by chevy71c10

Welcome, I've used a harness from American Autowire on a 55 Belair before and was a good quality harness with clear instructions, each wire labeled every few inches and schematics. I'm not familiar with any others but know there are a few different companies out there.

http://www.americanautowire.com/69-72truck.html

Justin

Thank you for the link! American Autowire is defiantly on the table. Your build is looking great btw

[1stimer]

I have a mess of wiring, too, and it is outside the scope of what I am comfortable tackling. What would a reasonable estimate of hours be to completely rewire a 72 using one of the aforementioned kits?

[gkesseru]

I can't afford American Autowire prices, but their instructions are great.
http://74.8.159.74:8081/recordlist.php

[Strange]

Originally Posted by gkesseru

I can't afford American Autowire prices, but their instructions are great.
http://74.8.159.74:8081/recordlist.php

Wow those are some great instructions. American Autowire is looking better and better!

[laid_out_70]

i installed a painless wiring harness in my 70 c20. i have no experience or understanding of wiring other then negative and positive. went togeher without a hitch. i got it for a horrible price, dont ask. but i had it together after a few weekends. i took my time and the only thing i need that wasnt included was a diode of the alternater wire. all the wires were labed every few inches also and the plugs that i had to reuse were the stering column and something else, cant remember but it wasnt diffucult removing old pins and installing the new ones. all the fuses come pre installed and has extra wires for things like power windows,ac, 1 wire alternator and a few other accessories i cant remember

[1stimer]

Originally Posted by laid_out_70

i installed a painless wiring harness in my 70 c20. i have no experience or understanding of wiring other then negative and positive. went togeher without a hitch. i got it for a horrible price, dont ask. but i had it together after a few weekends. i took my time and the only thing i need that wasnt included was a diode of the alternater wire. all the wires were labed every few inches also and the plugs that i had to reuse were the stering column and something else, cant remember but it wasnt diffucult removing old pins and installing the new ones. all the fuses come pre installed and has extra wires for things like power windows,ac, 1 wire alternator and a few other accessories i cant remember

Great! So....how much will you charge me to do the same thing to mine?

[tantrumpipeline]

running an EZwire setup on a few past projects and ordered one for my current build as well, labelled wires, good fitment, never had any issues and they seem to be the lesser expense when looking anywhere for our trucks, under $200 in the US

[laid_out_70]

Originally Posted by 1stimer

Great! So....how much will you charge me to do the same thing to mine?

ha. not much but you would have to come to me. i ride a bike for transportation.

[OARNGESI]

I bought the amerinan auto wire on ebay like 460 shipped on ebay all new conections enen came with extras like a headlight switch and new key switch

[Tom Vogel]

AAW... save your coins if you need to, but buy AAW. Do a searsch on yhis site.

[68BBC]

I just got finished putting a painless harness in my truck, and I have to say all in all it was not bad at all. The only things you really have to take from your old harness is the parking lights, tail lights, and your steering column (half moon) plug. I was really not looking foward to doing it, but I just took my time, and I think that it turned out great. They also gave plenty of wire, so you can run it how you want. I went with the painless #10206. I have no complaints.

[Cbrown67]

my buddy showed me a wiring harness he picked up for his 55 chevy its called EZwire
looked pretty sweet and i think only like $100 i plan on doing that in mine

[Lance-ftw]

I'm also in the market for a wiring harness but I shied away from the 500+ dollar stuff from the more popular sites.

I just came across this..

http://www.ezwiring.com/wiring_harness.html

How do I know which one works? Are these good for our trucks? Which one shoudl I use? Do I ask too many questions? I like grapes, do you guys like grapes?

[Clyde65]

it depends on what you have on your truck. power windows, power antenna, power locks, cruise and alot more come with the EZ, I used one on mine and it went together fine, used some new brass (?) connections but used the old bushings, they are easily pushed out, take a real small flat blade screw driver and push through the connector ( there is a small tab that locks it in there) and it will pull out the back easily.

If you dont use the circuits then just snip them off at the fuse block or tape them well and hide them until you need them.