I'm looking to replace the entire wiring harness for a 63 Valiant convertible. It has a manual top so the wiring for that is not needed. I am not looking for OE appearance. The cars wiring has been hacked and whacked over the last 50 years. I am capable of soldering and using my connectors where needed, but would also like to replace those as well, where possible. What brands should I look for? I see Painless, M&H, American Autowire, Ron Francis and Evans as some of the more popular companies out there. Price range I would like to be in is around $600ish. Who would you guys recommend and where to order from?

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

If you want the best plug and play, go with M&H. If you want to modify your wiring, I would go with the others you mentioned.

An option would be to purchase lengths of wires & do it your self. NAPA has the 1/4" male and female brass terminals 725147/725145 99 cents ea & install em in your old connectors. there are companies that will sell you exact lengths of wire in any gauge and any color including colors with tracers and you FOR SURE want to maintain the OE colors and you can go to a smaller gauge on some circuits as needed. I set the old harness on the floor and made a new harness next to it & soldered in one circuit then cut that circuit out of the old harness till the new one took shape and the old one dissappeared. You can alter lengths as needed just measure carefully.

I'm installing an American Autowire Highway 15 kit in my 70 Superbee great product with awesome tech support. Keep all your old connectors and buy a bag of male and female series 56 males and females and get cracking. I've heard Ron Francis is best but you pay for it. Owning an FSM is very important when adapting all your switches and connecting appliances.

Looking at the different kits for American autowire, and wondering which i should be looking for. whats the real difference between these 2 and which should i be better off getting? They both use GM connectors, but that i can work around, but for almost $100 difference between the 2, why wouldn't i go for the 20 circuit kit? Opinions please.

http://www.americanautowire.com/view-product/power-plus-20-wiring-system/

http://www.americanautowire.com/view-product/highway-15-complete-wiring-system/

Save yourself some money and buy the wire by the foot in the colors you need. Terminals are Packard 56 series for most connections, 59 series for the headlights.

http://www.riwire.com

http://terminalsupplyco.com/Store/Default.aspx?CAT=TERM060&PCAT=61820#Categories

I don't have the patience do a complete harness by hand, plus my fuse box has seen better days. I also feel that a new harness would eliminate a lot of issues that come with the stock harness. I also plan on a high amp alt, plus fans, stereo and at some point maybe power windows and locks. I also maybe someday add fuel injection.

The only real difference between the 2 I listed is the style of fuse box. Any benefit of 1 over the other?

The 20 kit says it has 7 extra circuits on it for adding options. They don't carry anything specific for your car though.
I picked up an American Autowire for my Cuda but haven't installed it yet so I can't comment on the quality but I got the kit that can be used with aftermarket gauges.

IF going with a non factory harness American Autowire gets my vote. owning a resto shop we do a LOT of new harnesses from scratch.

Painless is a JOKE IMO. Francis is OK but we use AA exclusively when possible. No experience with Evans, have had some quality issues with M&H.

The main difference between the two AA kits as already stated is the number of circuits you'll need. hope that helps

just reread your post that mentioned possible future additions
go with the bigger kit now and you'll have the room if you need it

Thanks for the words of advice. Going to order the 20 circuit kit and go from there.

I'm using the highway 15 kit. No reason to go for the 20 circuit kit unless you're running a ton of electronic items that need a dedicated fuse. A word to the wise. They already have a plug and play kit for the eBody and last time I called tech-support they said they were just about to release a kit for the B body. They are more expensive than the generic kits, but you won't have to retrofit any connections. The nice thing about these kits is you can make your runs look really nice and professional instead of what the factory gave you, which was a big ugly mess.

stay far away from evans. they are well known for poor crimps all over the harness. of course i found out after i put on en and had issues...


when i rewired my dart i used the american auto wire highway 22. very complete kit and easily adapted to my dart.. top quality..