Question: Asking for opinions - are the American Autowire crimpers really worth the extra cost over the Painless crimper or even a Klein Tool & die setup? I will admit up front that an extra $50 bucks for a crimper is minimal when looking at the overall cost of the full wiring harness and other related items that are sure to come up (maybe upgrade the alternator and go with electric fans, etc.)

I have had my 68 Olds Cutlass convertible for over 40 years and within the last 2 years I really have started having fun fixing it up again after 17 years sitting in the garage. I have the engine running, new tires, wheels and suspension refreshed, converted the front brakes to disc and it is finally comfortable driving at freeway speeds.

My next step is to replace the wiring (either myself or have it done). I am planning to start out replacing the headlight harness wiring and adding relays to see how well I can test and maybe build some skills before getting into the full electric harness which is bigger than I have done before. I have decided to go with the American Autowire harness but I again, I have started with buying with the headlight circuit package and now looking at tool(s).

Thank you for your reply’s about the tools and any other guidance and suggestions about replacing the electrical wiring,

Ernie

 

Any quality ratcheting type crimper will work fine as long as it was meant for the use with a specific terminal set. There should not be much crimping needed for the relay mod, most are plug and play with the exception of a power wire.

 

Most of the ratcheting crimper handles are interchangeable. I got a used set at a swap meet for $15. I splurged on the MSD 3509 dies, however, which are correct for Packard 56 and Weatherpack terminals. They form both the conductor crimp and the insulator crimp simultaneously and look like factory. I've been very happy with them.

Why, oh why, do you think you need relays in the headlight circuit? The wiring and switch contacts are sized to carry the current. Now, if are doing something crazy like adding high current HID lights, that's different, but for incandescent, halogen, or even LED headlights, the stock wiring and switch are more than adequate. Adding relays only increases the number of potential failure modes.

 

I installed the AAW #510645 Classic Update harness in my '72 442 convertible project. The AAW kits are very well done and the documentation is excellent. I bought a Painless kit first but they didn't sell an Olds specific kit; I didn't like having to "translate" the Chevelle wiring to the Cutlass. I've a visual learner, and although the Painless documentation did a good job of explaining each circuit, the AAW kits conveyed the info more succinctly in a visual format that I preferred. Spend the money and get some good ratcheting type crimpers and if you need extra terminals or connector pins, buy them from a reputable distributor. The kits should have everything you need, and even provide a few extra "practice" terminals in case you screw-up a few crimps.

I modified my harness a good bit and bought extra terminals off eBay, Amazon and Texas Industrial Electric (210-654-4075). The eBay and Amazon terminals did not crimp as well as the ones I bought from Texas Industrial I bought non-ratcheting crimpers that were sold as "Packard-type" but they didn't always fold the tabs over well or they didn't have a strong "bite" on the wire and could be easily pulled off with. Having a strong, tight crimp is imperative to reliable connections. The Classic Update kits use modern ATC type blade fuses and the fuse panel has additional circuits for electric cooling fans, electric fuel pump, power seats, power windows, etc.

I hope this info is helpful to you!

Rodney

 

The underhood wiring is very easy to install, for the most part it’s all remove and replace.

The dash harness on the other hand will be a major pain in the *** to replace. To do it properly in my opinion will require complete dash removal. I suppose you could just cut the old harness out, and then just hang the new harness under the dash, but I’d rather do it right. Not to mention removing the dash would provide the opportunity to clean 50 years of dust and dirt from the firewall.

I looked into a Painless wiring kit when I first upgraded my fuse box, the painless kit is very generic. It didn’t include all the specific harness plugs abd ends, you were expected to spline your existing plugs onto the new harness. That’s less than ideal, especially if you don’t have perfect plugs. The AAW is much more complete, and they offer harnesses for accessories and optional equipment that your car may have or need. Id use the AAW stuff instead of painless

I have had the dash out of my 69 a couple times, without a doubt the easiest way is to remove the cables from the climate control, disconnect the fuse box from the firewall, remove the steering column, a d take the dash out as complete as possible.