So I have been laying low and collecting parts this year because it has not turned out how I expected, and I am all jammed up with life type stuff right now. Only the Lord above knows if I will have this all running this year...

I ordered all the right crimpers and such and bought a wire labler to do this right. I bought a Leash street/strip relay board and an appropriate harness from Vincent performance.

My question on race car wiring is, I have a switch panel with about 11 wires on it, and an ignition box with 11 wires on it, and I bought 12pin connectors from Painless. I also have a ton of the weather pack connectors. None of them, to me, are any good for any real amperage draw...But should I use the Painless connectors, or should I use the wire strips with screws and spade connectors? I am worried the pins may move around some in the multi connectors and not have positive contact like the screws and spade connectors would...Thoughts?

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/prf-40012?seid=srese2&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Brands+|+P&utm_term=4581939832705897&utm_content=GSAPI+5ba28fd9454f1

Or
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rfw-tb10

i have wired several vehicles using the screw connectors you show. they are available in 4,6,8, 10, and 12 place lengths. [at least that's what i have on my shelf] they have taken up to 65 amps without any trouble. i believe they are also available with a snap on clear cover that contains labels to tell which item is connected at each terminal. [which my terminal blocks do not have]
however, instead of using open spade terminals, i use the ring style that fit the screw size.
i believe the rings give a better connection.
just my opinion. your mileage will vary.

Would you use the 12 pin connectors though? None of the circuits I am running thru them will be any real amperage, but I do not feel they are up to automotive standards.

Why do you feel that the 12 pin connector built by an automotive wiring company isn't up to automotive standards?

Personally I would use it if I were wiring a car and want to be able to disconnect through a firewall or some such

First thing to consider is if all the wire gauge size are proper for the load that each one is design to carry in that circuit :with a safe margin for occasional higher short term loads like after starting the car up after it has set a long time scope:

I am not much of a garage mechanic, but I try and have the tools I need and work on my skills as I go. So this is my attempt at wiring the Cuda the right way after dealing with the mess its been since I got it....Not sure how it will turn out, but there is no turning back now....A nice Dodge Viper would have been so much less work and cheaper in the end.

looks like you got a good start on it

but not as much "fun", and you would have a "fuller" head of hair.........
it looks like you are starting off on the right track, and are using quality components.

Yeah, now the tough part begins....

Looks real nice to me. I like to use Vincent for what he has in stock, good guy.

i have several new 4 and 6 screw terminal blocks [like you have shown a picture of the 8 or 10 terminals] on my shelf i will never use, so if you would like a few, pm me your mailing address, and i will send them out gratis, just so someone can get some use out of them.

Well, I am feeling better and I am starting to pull the wiring out of the car to get it all stripped down, so I can start putting in the new harness...I have a bruise on my chest from the roll bar from leaning on it trying to reach all the stuff in there...Wish I was younger and skinnier...I did get some quotes to have someone else do this, and I was almost shocked. So like most things, that's about all I needed to get my [censored] in gear to give this a try....

Can get a couple grand in a simple deal quick, or more, depending on what parts and pieces you use, how much stuff is in the car and how much stuff needs to be made.

And you can buy some crap at Autozone and make it run. At least for awhile. Just depends.

i have been leaning into the trunk of my charger, cleaning up the floor crust and applying raptor bed lining, followed by a cinnamon color rustoleum that closely matches the color of the car, and i can relate to the bruising and discomfort you describe ! ["gettin' old ain't for sissies ! ...... or the most often used other descriptive word. ]
i sprayed the cinnamon color over the raptor lining before it set up, and it appears that my method worked, because after about a week, it is pretty tough to get a mark in the color, unless i try to really hard.
my offer still stands if you need some of those screw junction blocks for your new wiring.

Might have bit off a little too much on this one....

fun...Thinning it down...But still have not got to the main switch panel.

The best stuff to use for amperage is the newer Metripack connectors. Metripack 150 is the most common for lower amp stuff but you can step up to the Metripack 250 for higher amps. WeatherPack gets really bulky for the bigger connectors.

You like those better the the Deutsch connectors?

Honestly, I have never used the Deutsch connectors. Call it lack of experience. I am not liking the style I have that much. I think they are called Weather Pack...They are junky...

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-900404

those are quite bulky, and i believe you are correct, weather pack.
i have robbed newer style connectors from late model mopar wiring harnesses, then bought new terminal ends [the deutsch style] and used those connectors on several wiring harnesses i have assembled over the years.
just make sure to use a quality crimping tool, and not one of those parts store specials that come with a 10,000 piece terminal kit for $9.99..........

Duetsch connectors are much cleaner smaller and many bulkhead fittings for firewall pass throughs. I use Milspec connectors for the bulkhead stuff. I also prefer a "floating ground", no chassis grounds on the car. Everything gets power and ground directly to the battery.

Weather Pack are good for certain things such as 2, 3 or 4 wire connectors that are exposed to the weather. They are most often used for trailer connectors. They are easy to put together and easy to take apart and easy to repair. They get really bulky once you get over 3 or 4 wires.

EFI vendors have all switched over to MetriPack which is a very common connector style used by newer GM vehicles.

Deutsch stuff is great. The tooling is not cheap though so it's a bit of an investment if you want to go that route. I didn't go for the Mil-Spec connector. The black firewall plate is from Maven.

My Duster will be running Holley EFI so 85% of my wiring is a mixture of Deutsch and Metripack connectors. All the wire is TXL.

I was going to invest in Deutsch a while back, but many of the numbers were unavailable. I don't want to get stuck not being able to get what I need. Probably a better situation now. But I've stuck with the weatherpack stuff. I already have a bunch of that on hand. Plus it's cheaper. I wouldn't care but some of these guys think a big roll of red wire, an assortment of connectors from down at the auto parts and a half a day is all you need.

I use a couple of points in the car to place/weld bolts to provide an attachment point for battery and heavy grounds. But I also don't rely on the body for grounds. I use wire or cable to connect everything in the car with copper to the battery(s). The only exception would be an OE type light or similar item.

Is there a real benefit to not having any ground point attached to sheet metal when a copper ground circuit or loop is used throughout the car? Or are you just ensuring everything is connected to the battery with copper?

Everything goes back to the battery, but done through bulk head connectors that are connected directly to the battery. Nothing is grounded through the chassis. Other than I still run a ground from the frame to the battery. Dont need it but my head tells me to We don't ground the battery in any of the dragsters.

We used all Deutsch connectors on my car and did my best to hide most of the wiring.

Well, I got the rest of the wiring almost completely out from under the dash now, and damn if that switch panel wasn't the last item to come out...It was in there a little too good. But now I think I found my main issue with the cooling system. So, I think I had the water pump on, when I kicked the car over with the starter....I think that is what killed the cooling system switches on the ARC Panel....The fuse wasn't blown, but melted to the posts, and so was the wiring. The switch has a high and low, and the low is burned right out. This car had been rewired more than a few times, and nothing was isolated from each other.

Hoping the new Leash board takes care of issues like this.....I am going to change how I have some things activated as well..I had an epiphany while thinking about this today.

The new plan, use the new switch panel to activate just the ignition, water pump, driver fan, and EFI. The water pump will be actived when I flip the ignition switch on, but have its own relay and fuse...The head lights and running lights I will put back on the OEM switch, high beams will be on the OEM floor switch, and the radiator fans will be tripped by the Holley efi instead of manually...Too many times I have forgot to turn on the fan or water pump or both. Fog lamps, not sure yet. Maybe put those on the switch panel too. The Leash board has like 8- 70amp circuits, so I think I can do some trickery here.

Are you guys able to fire the car up with the fans and water pump on?

Also, I am going to deleted the big 5" tach and put a digital shift light in, and just try an make things nicer.

I am having zero fun trying to fit ANY of the switch panels I have back into the OEM dash. Its awful. The damn hole is so big, nothing fits. I ordered some carbon fiber plates. Going to use one to mount one of the switch panels in there. What a huge pain in the butt....

wiring can be so much "fun" at times..............

You are not kidding. Its like car yoga with wiring included.....Where is a good place to get 2ga wire from for the starter, and what do you guys like for car batteries now a days?

not related to wiring , but more to comfort when doing these types of jobs. Get yourself some old towels and lay on them instead fo the metal floor of the car. IT will make the job a little better

Looking at these batteries....Looks like they kick a BB over really well....2000ca and only 11.5lbs
https://www.fullspectrumpower.com/collections/p-motive-auto-batteries/products/p-motive2k

I have run Red tops for years, and they are over rated. Switched to an XS D3400 AGM 1150cca in my race car, and its heavy at 49lbs....And I have killed it twice in the lanes. I had it in the Cuda for a while, didn't have any issues with it in there, just a tad heavy.

I can't believe the price of that battery
My airplane battery was way cheaper than that and probably had similar cranking amps and cranking reserve at 1/8 the price

batteries have gotten outrageous in pricing these days.
lately, i have been using scrapyard batteries that i can get for $20.00, that are only a year or two old.
using the small size from late model foreign cars [not sure of the group size], they seem to kick my 10.5 compression 383 in my charger over with ease.
i know it's not a 15:1 compression engine, but those $20.00 batteries work great for me.
just my personal life experience with the batteries i have used.
your mileage will vary.

The cost of batteries, tires/slicks, motor parts, pit spots, gaskets, fuel, and basic repairs etc just went crazy this year.

The money is the main reason I took this year off. Between that and all my support folks retired and got out. Very difficult to do all this solo like I used to. So I will fix what I can this year, and try and have somthing ready for next year. Been wanting a reliable street/strip car I could try Drag Week with, but this is not the year.

A little progress.....

Battery Cables USA for your cable, they have anything you need as far as size cable with a couple of covering options, terminals, shrink wrap and great service, I got 2 different orders from them and both within 3 days, check them out.