How Painless are painless wiring kits?

[spinach]

Hi Guys...

I've got my car back and it runs, thats a start. It stops to, which is a bonus, but now the brake lights are on all the time and the indicators dont work. Apparently I have a box on my firewall that the atuo elec didn't recognise, it had 'temperture controlled" on it. By the looks of it most of my cars wires go into it, I work with computers so I havn't got a damn clue what it is. Anyway, back on track, has anyone tried the painless wiring kits? I'm looking at buying the GM 12  Circuit Harness and would just like to have your thoughts/ideas/criticisms before I fork over hard earned dollars? Are they really painless to install? I doubt very much!

thanks guys.

Luke.

[Ed]

Hi Spin,

I helped install one of these in an EH.. and they are as the name suggests.. PAINLESS!

A little on the pricey side tho.

I'd check all your earths thoroughly before handing over 600 bucks for a wiring system...

Brake lights on may be a simple fix like brake light switch located above your brake pedal.

Likewise with indicators.

Get a test light and make test leads using alligator type clips on wire.

Curretly re-wiring the FE as well, fun isnt it...

CHeers

Ed

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Have a read of the "Dirty Stuff" column in Street Machine this month. It's about a starter motor problem, but same principle. Old car old electrics, old switches etc, etc.

[HARKO]

And also for those of you who dont buy the magazine ,There is a great full four page feature on  Kevin Woolards trick FC Ute ,Good job Kevin if your listening..

[Sarge]

Hi Spin
As Ed said they are pricie but are pretty simple to install, personally I would have a closer look for sticky switches or earth leak's (shorting out some where) first. Does the car have a trailer plug or has it had one. Thats a good place to look as well. Some poeple remove them and there could be a small brake in one of the wire in the boot compartment. You may save a lot of Money.

Regards
Sarge

[fastjbav6]

When i rewired '2BRITE' about 8 years ago it cost $40.00 to buy all the coloured wires to the length i wanted and all the terminals, globe holders, globes,Metal fuse holders and fuses.                         Two weeks on and off to do the job.
Very easy to rewire the original harness. The FC workshop manual came in handy to check if the orig harness had been tampered with, which it was.

Regards  Seb  

[smithy]

hi luke, just going down the same path . i thought about re-wiring it myself but the original loom was in such a mess i just stood there scratching my head.
there is an alternative to the painless kits, there is a chap in hoppers crossing called glen who operates Classic Car Connections.  03 97295556
really helpful fellow makes all the units himself and he does airbag suspension kits too.

im getting a full harness including all relays, floor mounted dipper switch plus room on the fuse panel to add on power windows etc later. all coloured coded and terminated at the fuse panel. all for over $100 less than a painless kit which wont include your relays.
give him a call and let him know what you need
happy wiring
dean

[spinach]

thanks dean, I'll be giving him a call real soon. I was actually going to buy the painless kit today, but I'd definately prefer the other kits from what you say about it.

Luke.

[chris banning]

hi,i'd think twice about a "painless wiring solution" :-/,i'm an auto elec by trade & most of the problems i've encountered with old cars have been caused by bad switches & globe holders,not the actual wiring.i think you would be be better off giving a good auto elec a couple of hundred to sort it out for you.good luck

[fccool59]

I had a harness made for around $260 wich came from a place specailising in vintage harnesses, it looked exactly like original except for the fact that it was made for a alternater, since the car was apart fitting was just a matter of poking it through a couple of holes in about five minutes.
after that everything just went together when I chucked in the motor and dash, I have added remote controlled power windows to the front doors as well as remote controlled central locking, cruise control, electric wipers, heater, flamethrowers, a compressor to raise the rear suspension for speed humps, mp3 player, amps, speakers, valve radio, lit blue dots, electric fans, electric fuel pump, claxton horn, tacho, electric ariel and all that kind of stuff.
I did have a few problems with switches and ended up putting in a few relays on the higher load drawing accesories, this is a cool trick as you can use any switch or button you like to run something rated at 20 amps as well as giving the wires carrying heavy loads a shorter path for less resistance.
It was all pretty basic as the car is so basic from the begining. The harness was tailor made to suit the car and if I ever was stuck with any problem I could still refer to a workshop manual