1949 rewire- Most painless kit

[_Ogre]

1 more vote for ezwire harness

read the manual, also download the painless performance manual from their website
it has some added info and is a little better written
take notes of any modifications/additions/subtractions you make from the manual

i stripped the dome light wire out to sandblast my cab
an easy method to fish it back in is to use the plastic package strapping up the A pillar

one thing nice about a total re-wire is that you have intimate knowledge of where every wire is and where it goes

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by 55dude

everyone should take the time to learn the workings of a VOM meter! i have been recycling oem harnesses for years. you should have fire extinguisher in your ride,i know my uncle was glad 5 people at car show did when fuel leak set his restored 57 chevy belair blazing! he got off with huge cleanup and hood repaint, car was a 5 year rotiserie resto-rod. hell of a way to make the paper!

X2 on that, I had a 69 Nova SS burn to the ground that way. Lucky to have gotten stopped and out without getting cooked.

[47 Fasttoys]

I have used most of the major brands out there. All are doable with some time and thought. For me, the most important thing is the extra things that can be done to make it a superior installation. Things like Weatherpack connections throughout, main disconnect harnesses for things like tail lights, fuel tank, engine, dash and front clip. If you later you end up needing to pull the engine it's much nicer if you can disconnect 2 or 3 connections at a central location and leave the main engine harness on the engine. The same goes for the bed of front clip. As far as labels every 6 inches, it's overrated, once your wiring is complete and the bugs are worked out the only point that may ever need maintenance is the connections. I would also recommend drawing up a good schematic which applies to your exact set-up. Even a latter diagram works well for auto wiring. Being in the electrical field I'm sure you are comfortable with this type of schematic. I also solder all my pin connections before installing in the Weatherpack connectors. Oh course use rubber grommets anytime you go through the fire wall and a little slack for vibration areas. Good heavy gauge grounds are also a must. For me it takes 40 to 60 hours to do a complete rewire with all the above technics. As other have said, a fire extinguisher is always a good idea.
Good luck, Rob

[Dan in Pasadena]

Let me reveal my ignorance here (as if it isn't already apparent enough!) and ask a few dumb questions. I confess I know very little about rewiring a vehicle but I've thought about it a bit and wondered these things:

Since cars are direct current, i.e. the electric charge flows positive-to-negative (most cars) and all the components are installed in their varoius places on the truck, the battery is grounded to the body; and yes I know the ground SHOULD be carried from the body-to-the-frame and from the-engine-to-the-frame.

Then isn't the only things to do is to put the fuse panel in a suitable location (inside firewall, under seat, or such) then run the wires that are going ot the back, middle, front of the chassis? I mean the wires have the "stop lights" "reverse lights" "signal lights" marked right ON them. As long as you put grommets in holes where wires pass, tie things down cleanly and follow the words that come on the wires themselves, it SEEMS like it should be a relative no-brainer.

Maybe I'm simpleton but the only part that seems a little more confusing is the primery versus secondary wiring under the hood. But the harnesses already are developed to deal with that, are they not?

So wires marked "headlights" run to....THE HEADLIGHTS, right!

Yeah, at the location (or near) of every electrical device you've got to run a ground (unless the device is grounded through its mounting) to the body, frame etc to make a complete circuit but it just seeems I could do this as long as I didn't rush and did logical, protected, clean job of mounting and terminating things. Am I forgetting something?

[spreader]

Yep, you pretty much have it correct. A good location for the fuse panel/box is paramount. For ease of installation of harness and troubleshooting later on. I use di-electric grease on my connections. Start with the tail section, front section next, then cab and save steering column for last. And, remember, if you use any LED's their + volt lead is BLACK and ground is WHITE. Why, IDK!

[OrrieG]

Most are designed for the fuse box to mount under the dash on the left side of the steering wheel. From there you can run your major circuits (front lights, engine, dash and rear lights) thru the firewall, floor, etc. Look at my build thread starting at post 770 to see how I did it. With frankentruck I did a lot of planning, made up my own wiring diagram to supplement EZ and mocked it up on a long bench. My OCD granddaughter helped with the organization and routing. I routed mine inside the fender down to the frame to keep the firewall clean.

I also spent a lot of time going thru this guys site, good infor on relays and adding stuff to an old truck. http://www.alanhorvath.com/54chevy/ezwire_checklist.php

I used #4 battery cable to make grounds from the bed, front clip and cab to the frame, all tied back to the stock ground on the firewall. Engine is grounded there too. Most problems are grounding issues.

[Russell Ashley]

"Since cars are direct current, i.e. the electric charge flows positive-to-negative (most cars).

Dan, I don't want to open a can of worms here, but current flows the same direction no matter what car it is. Most of us older guys were taught negative to positive.

[tmoble]

In the era of trucks we have there were Fords with positive ground. You just have to aware of what you have. no mix'n'match allowed.

[Russell Ashley]

I probably shouldn't have started this but I was jokingly responding to Dan's comment which seems to say that current flow is different in some cars. It doesn't matter if it's positive ground or negative ground, current always flows in the same direction.

[_Ogre]

you can go to the painless site and download their instructions for free
do it, read them and then ask questions

it may look intimidating and it may be (a little), but you will have intimate knowledge of what every wire is and where it goes when you're done
i've done control wiring for many years, i may be overly simplifying it