Wiring fears

[6772man]

I inherited this 56 and to make a long story short the wiring is fubar'ed. I plan on using a speeday 12 circuit harness and replacing everything electrical. I was wondering if this is easier than i think or what. This is going to be a super low budget and slow build. i just want to be able to jump in and go anywhere anytime.

[Denee007]

Neat truck! I think we all try to maintain a "low budget", but you get into these trucks and one thing leads to another and the next thing you know, you spend a bundle of dollars quickly! Lol. I was a little intimidated by the wiring, but actually wasn't bad at all! So will you be replacing the under dash wiring and instrument panel wiring as well?
Btw, welcome!!
Dne' ; )
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[mark '87 930]

The wiring isn't that bad at all, it's time consumign is what it is. Plan to not have use of the truck for a few days if you are working on it consistently. If you do it sporadically, then a few weeks us what it will take you.

I laid out the harness next to the truck, grouping into rear, front (headlights), engine and then dash. I then passed all my wiring in the truck firewall, fenders, frames, not worrying about wiring anything, onoly routing. Once all that was done, I started to connect everything.

I had ripped ALL my wiring out , so i started with a blank canvas. I didn't care how it as wired before, I wanted it done my way and hopefuly the 'right' way!

[memo43]

Nice truck
I have wired three previous cars/trucks
I have used painless and EZ wiring. it may seem a little intimidating at firdt but with everything labeled and bundled, its actualy not that bad.
I read and re read the instructions and diagrams for an entire day. Best advice is to get a pair of wire cutters and cut out every single wire.
leave about 6-8 of wire at the terminals (light sockets). this way you will be determined.
post lots of pictures of your work and take lots of picturesto help with the lay out.
pros to wiring it urself, sense of achivement and knowing it will be safer and up to date
cons, nine that i can think of
if you have questions im pretty sure the folks here can chime in or send me a PM

[Kim57]

Welcome.
Very nice truck.
As the others have said if you pay attention and take your time it shouldn't be that bad.
Kim

[mr48chev]

Before you buy the Speedway kit you might want to take a look at what Rebel Wire has to offer in their wiring kits. http://www.rebelwire.com/ Their stuff is popular with the guys on the HAMB not only for it's quality but for the tech service that they provide and the ease of being able to get in touch with someone who can answer questions. Painless also has a good reputation for both quality and tech support.

That's a nice looking truck you have keep us posted on the progress. I can relate to compromised wiring. I've been slowly fixing the wiring issues that my uncle and his cowboy buddies created on my 71 GMC for the past seven years. some of it will make you shake your head and some of it will scare the daylights out of you.

[Cuse]

My son and I used a Rebel wiring kit on his 55 Ford Ranch Wagon, very nice kit, well labeled, and excellent customer support (plus a little cheaper than most). Our kit came with all the wires terminated to the fuse block with flashers (some kits require you to make these connections). We had a couple of issues with wire colors and they answered those questions quickly, they are great people. Don't be afraid to do this, just take your time. Piece of cake!

[sqrlnts]

+1 for EZ wire here. Awesome customer support.
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[Daze57]

good lookin truck - as said before read and reread take your time and you will do ok

welcome to the forum ! from sin city

[dcmalone]

In keeping with the low budget dream I did all the wiring myself on my 55 2nd series. After all was said and done I really don't think I came out any ahead by not buying a rebel or painless harness. Either way it's not as bad as you might think.

[stellar]

Don't be afeard. You kin do it.

[OrrieG]

I am in the middle of my wiring now. A planner by nature and training I had everything worked out on paper ahead of time due to the frankenstein nature of the truck. I got an EZ wire 21 circuit harness. Fuse panel is completely wired, wires are the correct size (there are places stating EZ only uses one size that is too small) and labeled every 6 inches. You can get all black or color coded pretty close to factory colors. The one I got comes wired for a later gm column harness, later model alternators, ac, elec windows, elec doors, etc. I am using the extra circuits for other stuff (7 pin trailer connector, aux. lights, etc.) dimmer, alt and some other connectors are prewired. The rest you have to terminate, which is ok because I am finding most of the wires are to long anyway. Instruction book is great and the two times I have called with questions the owner answered the phone and knew right away what the issue was and the answer.

Process is straight forward, lay it out, verify and modify the circuits then temp tie them together. Figure out when to mount the fuse panel. Mount the panel and pull the wires (photos in my build thread, latest entries). When everything is where is should be then start terminating and connecting doing one section at a time until complete. Check for any major short (instructions in the book) then fire it up and make sure stuff works.

So far I have about 12 hours in the actual install and am ready to start terminating and connecting. I expect another 12 to finish it up. Others have estimated 16-40 hours depending on how much you want to hide.

Here is a great place that will give you some confidence. Scroll around his site for other electrical and wiring tips (and restoration, resto-mod tips too).
http://www.alanhorvath.com/54chevy/ezwire_day1.php

[nvrdone]

Many years ago when I rewired my 49, I mounted the gauges and switches etc on a board so that I could build the dash harness without laying on my back under the dash. It made life a lot easier
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[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by nvrdone

Many years ago when I rewired my 49, I mounted the gauges and switches etc on a board so that I could build the dash harness without laying on my back under the dash. It made life a lot easier
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That would allow you to do a lot neater job too. Hopefully I've wired my last vehicle without using a kit. I bought a box full of color coded wire when I did the 48 in 1979 and never was fully happy with the way it came out.

I went on the Speedway site and looked up that 12 wire kit 6772man and it does look fairly complete. It says it has 17 ft of wire from the switch to the tail lights so at least they included the wire for the lights. I bought a bargain kit off Ebay and it didn't come with any wire for the lights front or rear. It will go on a roadster I am building as it will only need about 4 circuits anyhow. I'll just use a roll of trailer tail light wire for the head and tail lights on it.

[ozzie50]

I used the 20 circuit from speedway. I had 12 circuit ez wiring kit but I ended selling it and going with the larger circuit from speedway. I don't know about the 12 circuit but the 20 is great.....for the money 160 bucks, switches, plenty of connectors. At the same time I am wiring my 50 gmc my dad is wiring is 55 Belair, he is using an American Autowire kit. Comparing the two you can tell the difference in quality (in favor of the Autowire kit). His budget is a little different then mine. I had everything wired and tested in a weekend. Grab some extra 5 fuses. They already labeled and grouped together, the only thing I change I made the wires come up from the top of the fuse panel instead of the bottom took a little time and a lot of zip ties but kept the wires unseen.

[blue 72 gmc 4x4]

Painless is the way to go. It is a little pricey but in the end you'll be glad you did it. Once its done its done and you will never mess with it again. Its also real easy to do since all the wires are labeled.

[Denee007]

This is my assembly area when I put my wiring system together. Then after that, I worked on my instrument cluster/dash. Lots of thinking, reading the directions and hope I didn't connect the wrong wires together! ; ) There is so much wire to contend with! So far it's working! You can do it!

[Denee007]

Well, don't be a stranger, may as well start a mini build thread! Makes for a nice documentary/timeline of things you've done, besides, you'll probably start doing more than you bargained for! ; )
dne'

[_Ogre]

nice looking truck
as everyone else has said; take your time, don't be afraid to do it and plan on 2x your budgeted time.
i'm have a little nerd in me. i had downloaded and read the painless wiring manual before i ordered the ezwire harness.
12 circuits is plenty for a stock truck that originally had 4 fuses in it

[skymangs]

I gotta vote for EZ harness as well. Great product, excellent customer service. I've used thier thier 12 and 21 circuit kit, as well as thier mini fuse kit.