Opinions on Wiring Harnesses

[w30bob]

Hi Guys,

It looks like many of the electrical connections have been hacked off my truck and some wires left too short to do much with. I see some vendors list NOS harnesses and they pop up on Ebay every now and then. I also see that companies like Vintage Wiring of Maine make new repop harnesses. So my question is should I even deal with the old NOS stuff....meaning will the wires still be pliable and the Douglas connectors sound....or should I just bite the bullet and send bags of money to someone like Vintage for new stuff? I'm sure some of you guys have crossed this bridge....so which road should I take?

thanks,
bob

[T. Highway]

Hi Bob,

I bought the Vintage Wiring Harness, very high quality.
I've read about people making their own harness but that would depend on your skill set and if you have time. It also depends on what you are looking for when the restoration is complete. Factory new or a daily driver.
The NOS harnesses could be brittle and prone to failure depending on how they may of been stored over the years. I've read about some Greek harnesses that had altered wire diagrams or numbering. I'm not sure how that has woked out for people.

Bert

[k8icu]

If you are doing a ground up restoration fixing and or repairing every part on the truck then I would spend the 800-1000 on a new harness from Vintage. They are 100% correct and very good harnesses, but they are also very expensive. That being said. If you want to use many of the origianl parts you could repair your wire harness. If you pull the harness out of the truck and start removing the outer loom (Electrical type tape) you may find that many of the wires are in good shape the father they go into the loom. Just the ends are in bad shape. So, you could take the harness a part and repair as needed. I've even seen where some have taken the Dougles connectors and buffed them back to shinny. But, you have to ask yourself what your time is worth. Is it time better spent on buying the new harness vrs repairing the old.

If I was doing a ground up restoration where I wanted the truck like it looked when it rolled out of the factory then I would spend the money to buy an new harness from Vintage and be one my way. Since I'm making a concept truck I'm using a mix of NOS harness from a couple of different vehicles.

[monkeymissile]

My wiring was toast in many places and I just didn't want to risk a short or worse, a fire so I saved my pennies. I had a great experience with Joe at Vintage Wiring. He was very patient with me as I wanted all sorts of electrical modifications (LED cab lighting, air compressor, backup alarm and camera and a 24/12V xfrmr to run a car stereo). I also swapped my generator for a 60A alternator so he did that too.
He even sent me a new section of harness for free when I screwed up my spec. You'll not deal with a nicer guy so I recommend a full replacement from him; excellent quality and worth the peace of mind.

[m37jarhead]

Ditto all of the above. Have dealt with Vintage two separate times. Making my own harness would have
been a major electrical nightmare for me. I want my military equipment reliable and not have to worry
about it burning to the ground in the middle of nowhere after spending hundreds, maybe thousands, of
hours and dollars.
Vintage...........only way to go. Expensive but consider it an investment in peace of mind and reliability.
You'll never regret spending the bucks.
JB

[Cal_Gary]

Mine isn't a frame-off resto and I'm on a 12V system w/ alternator so I went with a Painless Performance harness a few years back, and other than using a GM-style headlight switch, everything else went in easily, and has worked well.
Gary