The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks 66 fleetside, seeking wiring advice

whilst tracking down my "no dash lights when i turn the key issue" i came across lots of interesting wiring fixes... or should i say messes.


Do you guys fix as you go or swap the whole thing with like a painless wiring kit ?

Is it worth it to replace all the wiring but use the existing connectors ?


am I crazy ? don't answer that

You have options as to what you want. Do you want stock type wiring, or do you want to add circuits? If you want stock, many vendors have wiring harnesses with the correct connectors. If you want to add circuits, then go with something like the Painless kit. Don't run with questionable wiring. I've done that and it has bitten me in the butt.

you can just replace the part that needs replacing. maybe just the in the cab section. i have replaced several trucks completely and on these it's not too bad. i replaced a whole harness one time just to see it was the switch at the end. you can see what's bad lots of times. i have never bought a new one, i just like to look for a unmolested harness. good luck

I've counted over a dozen places in the cab and under the hood where we have electrical tape peeling off of some corroded wire.. 7 places where somebody just wrapped an open wire around a lug/connector for contact...

on a positive note all the fuses are good and no tin foil to be found... LOL

I think once it's running I'm gonna go through all the wiring and patch it back up properly.. thank god for that service manual the previous owner gave me.... don't think he used it much... it's too clean

why can't they put the interior c10 wiring next to the under the hood wiring in the book ? Hhhhhm, think i'll just make a copy of each and tape them together myself ok time to start my real job, have a nice day guy's!

buy the whole new harness for the truck. you can patch it, but it's gonna come back and haunt you again. a stock harness is so much easier to troubleshoot and it's brand new if you put a new one in. I paid $500 for every wire on my '64, and everything is new and works new. peace of mind is what I call it. I work on construction machines all day with rigged up wiring that always fails. save your pennies for a few months and replace the 40 something year old wiring that is rotten or close to it.

The last thing you want is your truck on fire due to a bad wire. better to replace the harness and have piece of mind.

you can still find some good stock ones in good shape. i wouldn't personally try to fix something that has a bunch of splices with electric tape. you can seperate it and just replace the part you need like the starting circut, charging circut, main thru firewall section, under dash section. yes i agree electrical fires are bad and if you want to change every wire that's fine but most trucks from the 60's prob don't need every wire replaced. heck a rock from the sky could crush it with the new wiring, then you'd be out all that money! unless you got rock insurance.