The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay To rewire or not to rewire

Just wanted to get some thoughts on whether its cheaper in the long run to buy an aftermarket wire harness for my 65 or if I can do it myself for a reasonable price... I do have complete and detailed wiring diagram for my truck... anyone have any ideas?

My answer was already given in the General discussion section. Cecil.........

Considering the dangers and problems involved with old wires ... and with countless splices and "quick fixes" made by PO's ... my vote goes to a rewire job.

The EZ-Wire kit is only $160 and isn't brain surgery or rocket science. Check out my many notes Here

And if you want to go further, read this ... as well as the links at the bottom of the page.

I bought a painless system for my 59 and it worked very well. I recommend it. On my 47 jeep, I did it myself, and other than one boo boo, I actually improved the system with a new fuse box I bought for cheap.

The wiring harness you buy has all the wires labled and near the right right length. When you do it yourself, you have to decide on wire colors and make a lot of notes. Now for the jeep, there is no heat, no radio, no turn signals, and very little else. So myself was cheaper and worth it. On my truck with all the other junque, I think the wiring harness is a better answer. Especially if you look to add stuff down the road. It is a neater install too.

Do you have experience wiring vehicles? If you've not done it a few times before I would suggest buying a kit.

Its hard to buy the parts at the price of the cheaper kits. So unless you have some real good reason for creating your own wiring harness, I think the smart move is to buy one.

That said I've wired several from scratch. I might do it again, but only if I'm convinced I need something a kit won't support. Right now I've no idea what that might be.

Often times Steve (oldsub) you can buy the kit and add to it the circuits you need. It's smart to buy a fuse panel larger than you think you need and /or relays to add to the system.

Ditto what everyone else says... do yourself a favor and buy the harness.. Even if you have the wire and experience it's the most logical way to go... everything's wrapped, plugs are attached and numbered, etc. it's all "wire-by-number".