The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Wiring Harness - Barn Fresh

Hi Everyone,

Getting ready to work on my barn fresh '49 3100. I know that the truck has sat at least 30 years. I feel that the wiring may be to far gone to be trusted. The issue I have is that I wanna keep it looking barn fresh but don't want to start things on fire. I don't mind buying a new wire harness but I really don't want late model plastic/vinyl coated wire. Is it reasonable to find a good used OR cloth covered harness? Or should I try and locate various spools of cloth covered wire and try and fix things up one circuit at a time?

Thanks Don

YNZ sells new cloth covered wiring harnesses made to original spec. They aren't cheap but are very good quality and excellent customer support. You are smart to not trust the old wiring.

The weakest link to any of these old trucks is in the wiring. Add to that age, moisture, mice, and the elements, and even if you don't have a fire, you'll be spending every spare moment fixing one wire after another. Best thing you could do is as Tiny said and find a supplier that can make you up a replacement harness in the old style, and you'll be riding in style without any of the worries that come with electrical gremlins. Good luck with your ride.

why don't you like the plastic? i think the plastic coat harnesses are safer than the cloth, i haven't had any problems with mine since i changed it to the plastic, and as far as being original you can't see the wiring anyway

The YNZ harnesses are the best of both worlds. They are modern PVC coated wires that are then covered with original design cloth to replicate the original in appearance but provide modern protection.

The PVC coated wires do change the look of the truck in my opinion. As far as the quality issue with PVC/plastic I agree that its probably superior to the original cloth covering. If I was going to "update" the truck I would use modern wire. My plans are to keep the truck as built. Just a personal preference.

Thanks
Don

that sounds cool Don glad to see someone who wants to theirs orginal, i didn't know they made harnesses like what Tiny was talking about; in that case since it looks orginal that sounds like the best way to go for you. when i rebuilt my 49, i left everything orginal execpt the converting to 12 volt and up dating the harness. to me it wasn't a big deal about the wiring but i didn't know that they had that type of harness, i may have even considered going that route if i had known. what does that set up cost you anyway?

Take the link in my first post.

I rewired my 49 by following the existing lines and the schematic in the shop manual for the wire sizes. It is very easy to do yourself. Plan it out. I did one wire at a time but also thought about the next one for routing and so on.

The most important thing is to have a good crimping tool. Once you have it crimped do a pull test but don't go crazy. I also put heat shrink over the ends.

Now here is the part that will make some people wonder. From the firewall forward I used only black wire. Why? Because there are only a few wires and the longest run is less than 4 feet. If I could not trace it then there is something wrong with me!

If you want you can buy a fabric loom from PICO that looks authentic and run your wires through it. However I would suggest you run the wires before you put on the terminals.