Painless/horn relay/ heater light/ voltmeter questions

[Southedisto]

I searched and found nothing on this,
Alright, here goes:
1. What wires hook to the horn relay?

2. What wire goes to the heater light?

3. Which wire to use for the voltmeter (not ammeter)

I upgraded to all autometer gauges, and the harness says ammeter gauge/light. Will it be different than the one for the voltmeter?
I found only one wire for the horn, and its on the engine harness.

[cstm68]

i used the painless kit in my truck and it did not need a hor relay the wire for the horn should be in the stering colum section

[nandress]

I assume that this is a Painless kit from your post title. Therefore, my answers will be with that in mind.

1) The horn relay is built into the fuse block. There should be a wire from the column/turn signal section that will connect to the horn button. The wire in the engine section goes directly to your horn (with a chassis ground supplied by you). You don't need your old horn relay.

2) There isn't wire for the heater light that I know of. You will need to splice on a wire going from the dash lights.

3) I am pretty sure that there is a wire for the voltmeter (and a redundant one for ammeter for those who have one). If there isn't you can use any of the hot wires you want (suggest one from the ignition switch if you can).

[Southedisto]

Originally Posted by nandress

I assume that this is a Painless kit from your post title. Therefore, my answers will be with that in mind.

1) The horn relay is built into the fuse block. There should be a wire from the column/turn signal section that will connect to the horn button. The wire in the engine section goes directly to your horn (with a chassis ground supplied by you). You don't need your old horn relay.

2) There isn't wire for the heater light that I know of. You will need to splice on a wire going from the dash lights.

3) I am pretty sure that there is a wire for the voltmeter (and a redundant one for ammeter for those who have one). If there isn't you can use any of the hot wires you want (suggest one from the ignition switch if you can).

Thanks a lot, I didnt want to chance screwing something up after all the time I have in this thing.

[stsalvage]

YOU KNOW I LIKE HOW THE FATORY DID THERE WRIEING HARNESS NO PROBLEMS AND THEY EVEN GIVE YOU ALL THE CONNECTOERS INCLUDED nOW THIS WILL BE A LITTLE CHEEP BUT FROM ALL THE PEOPLE IN HERE PAINLESS


R&D PROGRAM ONLY HAS 75,000 DOLLERS IN THERE RESERUCH PROGRAM THE REST IS RIGG IT AND SEE IF IT BURNS TO THE GROUND

NOW GM R&D PORGRAM OVER 2.5 MILLION PER MODAL I FOR ONE LIKE THE STOCK HARNESS BUT THATS ME AND YES I'M A BLOCK HEAD EHOUGH SAID

[nandress]

Originally Posted by stsalvage

YOU KNOW I LIKE HOW THE FATORY DID THERE WRIEING HARNESS NO PROBLEMS AND THEY EVEN GIVE YOU ALL THE CONNECTOERS INCLUDED nOW THIS WILL BE A LITTLE CHEEP BUT FROM ALL THE PEOPLE IN HERE PAINLESS


R&D PROGRAM ONLY HAS 75,000 DOLLERS IN THERE RESERUCH PROGRAM THE REST IS RIGG IT AND SEE IF IT BURNS TO THE GROUND

NOW GM R&D PORGRAM OVER 2.5 MILLION PER MODAL I FOR ONE LIKE THE STOCK HARNESS BUT THATS ME AND YES I'M A BLOCK HEAD EHOUGH SAID

I would agree that the stock style harnesses are better overall, but these trucks weren't made for things like power windows, HEI ignition, one wire alternators, etc. All the extra stuff would burn up an original harness, easily. Or if you were inclined you could wire a bunch of stuff off the battery and use relays, but you would end up with a rat's nest at best.

Also, I'm sure that in the 60's the development budget for the entire truck wasn't over $2 million, so I don't think it's fair to say that R&D for each model is that high. Sure, GM has invested heavily in wiring R&D overall (probably better than any other manufacturer in the world). But Painless also is taking advantage of that R&D that GM did with the wires used and every Packard and PackCon terminal they use.

But the thing to keep in mind is that wires are wires, and electricity is electricity. This is not overly complicated stuff to begin with. And in my opinion, it is not Painless that will get the bad rep if someone's car burns down, because it would 99% of the time be a bad installation job by the installer.

Finally, I in no way defend Painless (or any other harness manufacturer out there). There are plenty of things I did not like about my Painless kit, mainly that I didn't use about 60% of the wire it came with. Truth be told, for my next project I will probably build my own harness from scratch.