My 69 442 with a/c ,rear defogger and 3 gauge cluster has been hacked by owners over the years. Would it be best to get dash harness and start clean or do system my system and repair as needed.

Thank you Mike

 

If it were me, I would start with an all-new harness. I had a '77 Grand Prix SJ that someone had gone into the dash wire harness with a hatchet. I tried fixing it without any good results. I took it to a dealership and they didn't want to deal with it. It took me a couple of weeks to extract it, but I found a GP in a junkyard whose dash harness was intact. After I got it out, I took a few vacation days, extracted the original harness out of my GP and installed the junkyard harness. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be and I got everything right except the cruise control which I later figured out and fixed it (installation problem with vacuum that ended up being easily resolved).

Randy C.

 

I do all my wiring myself, but I have all the correct crimpers for the Packard 56 terminals. It really isn't difficult, just time consuming and requires attention to detail. Frankly you will find that it's much easier to replace just the gacked-up wires than the whole harness, but removing the dash is the only way to go.

 

For me it would depend upon 1. the condition of the existing good wires and 2. the number of wires that were hacked up. If the remaining non-hacked wires are in good condition and the number of hacked up wires are few, I would repair the existing harness. You will not find good quality replacement wire in your local Walmart or auto parts store. A trip to the U-Pull It bone yard should offer you some decent replacement wire if you are so inclined; that is my usual source. There are also sources for the better quality wire on line. I believe Joe P. offered some insight on where to purchase the good quality wire sometime in the past. Good luck!

 

I have seen some pretty messed up dash wiring over the years and the best repair almost always turns out to be a return to the factory wiring. Dash wiring is not usually a "wear" item so is normally still useable unless it is very old and dry. If they are tapped into, remove the add-ons. If they have been cut, try and re-connect them. If there are bits missing from the middle, replace with equal size and quality wiring and use a good quality crimper. My favorite go to connectors now are the heat shrink butt connectors. Take your time and make good solid connections and things can look better very quickly.