72 wiring

[81zippenz]

I worked at a LS wiring swap manufacture as the senior technical sales rep until recently. I also modified/repaired harnesses when we were short on workers because I had 35+ years in the automotive industry. We offered the AAW harnesses as a compliment to our swap harnesses and I was genuinely impressed with them. They came complete all the way down to the high beam switch and offered other add ons to make the installation easy. I never had a warranty issue with them. As far as rewiring your harness, if you choose that path make sure you have professional terminal crimpers, that makes all the difference in the world. If you don’t crimp properly you’ll fight to get the terminal into the connector, possibly having the wire pull out of the connector eventually (or worse staying in the connector but making intermittent contact) or you can compromise the dividers between the terminals in the connector. I can’t tell you how many customer harnesses I fixed over the years because they took it upon themselves to modify it and it came down to simple crimping issues. Rebuilding a harness can get expensive since you will be buying wiring in spools with multiple colors/gauges as you try to replicate the original wiring. The wiring you need would be high temp TXL and please, no Amazon connectors. Also the pins, connectors and such will start to add up because you either buy in bulk (lots of leftover parts) or smaller quantities which come at a higher cost. The last thing I’d like to point out is if you purchase a harness through AAW or Painless, if something does go wrong they have tech departments to walk you through the fix plus you get a warranty.

 

[carfan]

I buy connectors/terminals from this company.

Search results

www.customconnectorkits.com

The OEM connectors were called Packard 56 connectors. Looks like the were bought by Delphi/Aptiv.
81zippenZ is correct in getting the right crimper. Struggled with trying to crimp the terminals with a crimper I had on hand. Turned out bad. Bought a better one, not ideal as it’s a two step crimper. Have to crimp the wire strands, then crimp the strain relief.

 

[kdsracing]

You might think about looking around at some salvage yards for some early 70's GM models and rob the wiring out of them.

Jim

But why would you go to all of the work replacing old wire with old wire?

 

[kdsracing]

OK so i'm thinking and asking first. I've seen the rewiring kits and the American auto wire one is like $800 Any reason why i couldn't just do it myself with regular wires? Nothing wrong with my wiring per say other than it's been hacked to pieces over the years and many different owners. Only thing that I would really want to do in the sense of upgrades is the better Alternator and gauges. So, i figure if i just get say 12-16 gauge wires and just run them better i should be good right? could probably even re use my connectors.

I used painless very happy with the results , others have used American wire and were happy also. I liked the Painless institutions more than American wire's. I would buy one the kits comes with everything you need

Used both, like both, but kind of lean towards Painless. Very user friendly, just take your time and plan ahead.

 

[snipescastle2]

I restored a 1969 Camaro back in 1990, my dash harness had many cut, and or missing connections. Someone suggested I call MH electrical fabricators in Santa Fe Springs,Ca.

Reproduction Wiring Harnesses for America's Muscle Cars

M & H Electric Fabricators manufactures a complete line of exact reproduction wiring harnesses, battery cables and switches for Classic GM and Chrysler Muscle Cars.

www.wiringharness.com

I sent them my harness and the extra missing plugs I found, they groomed my harness and re-wrapped it. The cost wasn’t too bad back then, might want to give them a call and ask them about repairing yours.
Hope this helps!
Ben Smith

 

[Jerry73Z28]

I’m replacing all the wiring in my Camaro. I did a lot of research, and read a lot of reviews, read a ton of posts on this site, and contacted both AAW and painless before I decided to buy harnesses from AAW and use the Painless instructions as a guide. Still a work in process, but I love the original look of the AAW. And I love the “correct” glass fuses as well. It comes down to personal preference.
I had not heard of M&H in the previous post, but I think I’d take a look it I hadn’t already bought my harness.

 

[Jim Streib]

But why would you go to all of the work replacing old wire with old wire?

The OP is asking about his cut up wiring.

I've got 50 year old wire in my 68 Chevy II Nova and works just fine. If it was butchered up like the OP has with his wiring and I then found a pristine harness for not much out of a donor car I would be going that route.

Just because stuff is old does NOT mean it's inferior.

Jim

 

[kdsracing]

The OP is asking about his cut up wiring.

I've got 50 year old wire in my 68 Chevy II Nova and works just fine. If it was butchered up like the OP has with his wiring and I then found a pristine harness for not much out of a donor car I would be going that route.

Just because stuff is old does NOT mean it's inferior.

Jim

Not inferior, just brittle and worn out. But yes, I have seen some wire that was in amazing condition for its’ age.

 

[severum17]

I dont know your experience level, but I do know its a big job. I would not do it MY own self. I wouldnt want to risk a short and burn my car down. At the very least I would seriously consider an already done harness such as Painless. JMHO