Another part of my 1966 442 restoration is what to do about my wiring…..looks like spaghetti under the dash.
I see a bunch of companies that will redo your existing harness and fuse block and/or upgrade the fuse block to the newer fuses.

Looking to find the best/easiest way to renew the wiring…….looking to see what others have done, what companies they used.

Thanks, Tom

 

Well, "restoration" and "upgrade" are 2 different things. If you want a restoration, get yours reworked. If you want to upgrade, the American Autowire Update kit is very nice. It's not a small job no matter how you s(p)lice it. 😁

 

No one makes replacements for big cars, so I have a spare harness or 2 under the house. GM used a system called “Packard 56” in that era for electrical terminals and shells. Those parts are still avaible, get thee to Google for where to buy ‘em.

When removing a harness for fixing or replacement, I start at the headlights/turn signals and work my way back to the fuse box. Once the engine harness is free, you can slip it into the cabin from the driver’s footwell after the fuse box is removed. Usually the interior harness lines are in better shape than the engine side having been protected inside - well, except from previous owners. Most of the wiring to the doors and rear of the car can be disconnect aft of the fuse box when they turn into ribbon cables that go under the carpet.

These harnesses can be repaired and upgraded with time & care at home. Basically I remove them, lay em out on the garage floor and find all the problems. Usually the problems are melted plastic shells, broken wires, almost broken wires, previous crappy work by previous owner(s), burnt insulation and oxidized terminals inside the plastic shells.

I unwrap the plastic wrapping tape to get a clear look at each wire from start to finish, but to not lose the shape of the harness, I either zip tie or velcro the naked wires in to maintain the turns. Once the main branches are visible, I mark every, each & every problem with a bit of blue tape, maybe with a sharpie note about what needs fixing - “repair terminal”, “resolder & shrink wrap broken wire”, “polish terminal”, etc. Then you just go through and do the repairs.

The easy part of this is the electrical repair, but I’m assuming you have a factory original color wiring diagram to follow. The hard part is some of the wires are colors with stripes which aren’t made anymore. That’s where a spare harness comes in handy so you don’t substitute a different color wire and drive yourself insane trying to remember what color was substituted on what circuit.

While you’re in there, it’s a good time to decide if you will be using and HEI distributor (needs full 12v and removal of the points resistor wire), internally regulated alternator (need to remove and rewire the external voltage regulator), upgrade the alternator - higher amperage output to run stereos & stuff benefit from higher than 1966 amperage alternators so you might want to run a fatter (8-10 gauge) output wire from the alt to the junction block…etc.

This is a fun project if you like electrical work. It really helps you get to know the car. If you don’t enjoy it, I’d go with a replacement harness and not look back.

Cheers
Chris

 

If you're going to tackle it, cream hand cleaner does a great job of cleaning and restoring flexibility to the insulation.
As mentioned, the terminals are mostly Packard 56 style. Kwik Wire has pretty good prices; don't get raped. They're a pain to crimp, compared to modern stuff with thinner metal.
Use GXL or TXL wire. It's available in a lot of colors and patterns.

 

My interior harness is not in good shape due ‘to the previous owner’. In fact it’s in pretty bad shape……that’s why I’m looking to replace, not repair the existing interior harness. I’ve looked at a few aftermarket companies. American AutoWire looks like one of the better companies.

Has anyone had any experience with them?

Tom

 

American Auto wire is a very good company to use.

 

Yep, they're very nice. I put one in a 62 Impala. I have aluminum trim rings for the bulkhead connector, too. It looks 1000x better than the sheet metal screws they give you.

 

Im restoring a 66 442 and I've had very good luck with M&H Auto Harnesses. Ive replaced pretty much all wiring in the car and when compared to original harnesses they are spot on.
But I'm going for originality, so if you want upgrades not sure if they do that.