[Laguna37]

I've got a 75' Laguna S3 that I'm in the process of restoring. I've got the dash off and am going to soon be pulling all the body panels, and as I'm doing this I'm noticing more and more of a mess of the factory wiring. Theres wires everywhere, most of which dont connect to anything, and a large majority of electrical stuff doesnt work on my car anymore. As such, I want to fix/upgrade my wiring situation.

I've heard of Painless countless times, went looking on their website, and found a 'Universal GM Muscle car' harness that fits a 69-74 chevelle, I've got a 75'..think it will still work?

Im considering a whole new wiring harness because the car is being turned into a street rod/strip toy. I pulled the AC, replaced the th350 with an m22 so theres no cruise anymore, e-fuel pump, new stereo, aftermarket speakers, and with all this non-factory type stuff there is jsut a ton of unused wiring just danging behind the dash, and under the hood the wiring is a mess. A mess that I want to clean up.

I also considered trying to just remove existing wiring that isnt being used anymore, but I dont want to mess anything up.

Any suggestions?

 

[UniversalFrost]

i went with an american autowire engine harness kit and it is a good investment (ordered and they made specificly for my 72SS with my options and the upgrades for HEI and SI and had them leave in the hook ups for the cowl and the TH400 once i get around to yanking outthe 350 and 350TH) make sure to get plenty of the flexy tubing stuff to run the wires through (you can even color match the stuff to your paint now) and also get the metal holders with the rubber insulators to hang the wire and tube through and that would help to clean up the look of the engine compartment.

also if you don't have a lot of the options that came on the car you can specify to have the extra wiring removed from the bundle so you have less wires to hide and mess with.

only complaint with american autowire is that it took them forever to get my wiring kit to me once I paid for it (took about 8 weeks). only after several irate calls to them did they get it out the door (original quote was 2 to 3 weeks after order).

JOE

 

[zeke67]

I think a 75 is going to have lot more wiring than a typical 64-75 GM. Lots of wiring in the mid 70's that wasn't needed or expected in the mid 60's. Also, the Painless kits require a lot of DIY compare to M&H or Auto Wire kits.

However, since you are going for a street/strip car, Painless may be a good choice. This is their niche. But don't expect a plug and play deal, you'll have to do some work.

 

[bdc1013]

If you're going to try and clean up the wiring yourself and go with the stock harness i recommend you take off all the factory non adheisive tape and check the wires. I was going to clean mine up and use the stock wiring until i untaped everything to check it. Found melted and cracked wires. I dont have any money but i'm willing to put my car together at a later time rather than watch it burn to the ground on the side of the road.

The complete American Auto wire kit for my car is $549 plus tax and shipping.

still waiting on funds.

 

[Laguna37]

The only thing Im concerned with is finding a kit thats designed specifically for my car, because my car has a ton of neat little things that I want to work, such as the little light that shows when the trunk is open, or when the drivers seat belt isnt buckled up, etc.

I don't think a generic universal wiring kit is going to have all that stuff.

 

[bdc1013]

the best thing to do is call these wiring places. (painless, M&H, american auto wire) talk to them, tell them what you have and what you expect. The websites suck, and the tech support is good.

 

[lsrx101]

The only thing Im concerned with is finding a kit thats designed specifically for my car, because my car has a ton of neat little things that I want to work, such as the little light that shows when the trunk is open, or when the drivers seat belt isnt buckled up, etc.

I don't think a generic universal wiring kit is going to have all that stuff.

You won't get those circuits unless you get repro harnesses specific to your car.
If you are familiar with wiring, you can easily add those circuits when you install your new wiring. They are very simple circuits. The warning lamps usually just use a switch in the ground side to complete the lamp circuit, just like the oil/temp lamps and the dome light.

 

[UniversalFrost]

like i said before call american autowire.

they can remake the harness exactly to your specs and it will be a plug and play deal, not one of the universal muscle car kits. it costs a few $$'s more but worth it instead of trying to make everything work from a universal kit. buddy of mine got an entire kit for his monte carlo from american autowire and it has all the wires for the seat belt lights, trunk, rear window defrost etc.... just give them a call.

heck they even used the correct color of wires (exact hues) and if I wanted to pay I could have had wires with the correct wording per the original factory specs, but generic wire is good for me and this aint no 100% correct show car.

 

[UniversalFrost]

another company that does factory original wiring is http://www.lectriclimited.com/

 

[zeke67]

The only thing Im concerned with is finding a kit thats designed specifically for my car, because my car has a ton of neat little things that I want to work, such as the little light that shows when the trunk is open, or when the drivers seat belt isnt buckled up, etc.

I don't think a generic universal wiring kit is going to have all that stuff.

Then you need to stick with a stock style harness.

 

[72ragtop]

On your car, I suspect you'd be better off with a fac GM harness, either yours or one from a donor car. How bad is your harness? Don't worry about wires which were added, only worry about the integrity of the original harness. If you can remove the non stock wires, repair any splices, and then add any needed wiring in a way you're comfortable with, you should be fine. I like to repair former hack butt connector splices with solder and a double layer of shrink tube. Another good option are butt connectors with shink tube preinstalled. Good luck, Jim.

 

[rocks66ss]

On your car, I suspect you'd be better off with a fac GM harness, either yours or one from a donor car. How bad is your harness? Don't worry about wires which were added, only worry about the integrity of the original harness. If you can remove the non stock wires, repair any splices, and then add any needed wiring in a way you're comfortable with, you should be fine. I like to repair former hack butt connector splices with solder and a double layer of shrink tube. Another good option are butt connectors with shink tube preinstalled. Good luck, Jim.

I was going to replace my harnesses in my car. I ended up taking them all out, and completely unwrapping them. I checked and re soldered all the junction points, took all the connectors apart and cleaned the metal tabs in the connectors to shiny new metal, my harness was pretty much unmolested except where the radio wires were, so I made new connections and soldered them and used shrink tubing on the repairs.

While setting at home watching tv in the evening, I would re wrap the harness. My harness is as good as it was when new, and I didn't have to buy replacements.


Rocky