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Repo Wire harness vs Original?

Posted By: 340dart4spd

Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 02:14 AM

how are the repop's vs the original.. options please..
Posted By: sawdust

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 02:52 AM

Do not know about options, but have an opinion.
The harnesses sold by Year one seem to be pretty close to original, M&H is the supplier from what I recollect.
Bought a hemi engine harness and it is close to the NOS one I have.
My 1.625¢ (adjusted for deflation)
Posted By: fastmark

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 03:07 AM

Old wire is just that old wire. If all the connectors are good and clean, that is half the battle. Most harnesses have a few toasted wires that need repair. If they are not too bad, they can be fixed. I have repaired many. If the bulkhead and fuse blocks are perfect, then you should be ok with a repair job of the melted wires and really clean the terminal ends. If you are not comfortable with that job, then order the new YO and check to make sure all the wires are correct. I check the wire form continuity and make sure they are in the correct places. I checked my buds new superbird harness and it had a wire in the wrong spot. The wipers would not have worked. The only think I do not like about the 70 B body harness is that they only make one for the 70 Charger with the electric headlight motors. The bird did not use that part of the harness so I removed it and change a wire or two to match the original. If your are buying one for your 70 R/T, It will be the same way.
Posted By: 340dart4spd

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 03:11 AM

Quote:

Old wire is just that old wire. If all the connectors are good and clean, that is half the battle. Most harnesses have a few toasted wires that need repair. If they are not too bad, they can be fixed. I have repaired many. If the bulkhead and fuse blocks are perfect, then you should be ok with a repair job of the melted wires and really clean the terminal ends. If you are not comfortable with that job, then order the new YO and check to make sure all the wires are correct. I check the wire form continuity and make sure they are in the correct places. I checked my buds new superbird harness and it had a wire in the wrong spot. The wipers would not have worked. The only think I do not like about the 70 B body harness is that they only make one for the 70 Charger with the electric headlight motors. The bird did not use that part of the harness so I removed it and change a wire or two to match the original. If your are buying one for your 70 R/T, It will be the same way.




I have 1/2 doz used ones.. I will prob go the recon route..was just thinking how much cleaner it would look with new repo wires... thanks and yes it's for a 70 Coronet B-body
Posted By: Dougsmopars

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 03:17 AM

Hardens has the correct harness for a 70. Even has a version prewired for mopar electronic ignition. Got one for my 68 looks super fit nice and evey thing worked with no mods needed.
Posted By: fastmark

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 03:20 AM

Quote:

Hardens has the correct harness for a 70. Even has a version prewired for mopar electronic ignition. Got one for my 68 looks super fit nice and evey thing worked with no mods needed.



Is this the company that sells to YO? I heard they are the best.
Posted By: Dougsmopars

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 03:28 AM

http://www.hardensmcw.com/
Posted By: ScottSmith_Harms

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 04:01 AM

If you have an NOS harness and it's been stored clean and dry it should be just fine, I've never seen a bad one yet and I've been though many of them. M&H is the best harness reproduction wire source there is but they are usually just close, I haven't seen "Perfect" yet and probably never will due to different materials, connectors, wire color, or just added or lacking connections due them typically being patterned from prints rather than modeled from an actual original example.

If the choice were between used original and new M&H I'd go with new, used 40 year old harnesses are time bombs.

Posted By: 340dart4spd

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 04:09 AM

Quote:

If you have an NOS harness and it's been stored clean and dry it should be just fine, I've never seen a bad one yet and I've been though many of them. M&H is the best harness reproduction wire source there is but they are usually just close, I haven't seen "Perfect" yet and probably never will due to different materials, connectors, wire color, or just added or lacking connections due them typically being patterned from prints rather than modeled from an actual original example.

If the choice were between used original and new M&H I'd go with new, used 40 year old harnesses are time bombs.






does this apply to chassis wire harness too..
Posted By: ScottSmith_Harms

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 04:58 AM

Chassis? Not sure what you are describing?
Posted By: 340dart4spd

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 05:03 AM

Quote:

Chassis? Not sure what you are describing?




harness running to tail lights...headlights..any body harness other then engine or dash harness
Posted By: ScottSmith_Harms

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 05:07 AM

Sure, same opinion applies regardless
Posted By: HPMike

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 05:42 AM

It's one of the few, and I mean few, reproduction parts that fits and functions very well. I have installed countless number of these in all sorts of cars and never a single issue. Even the dash harnesses are great. I have "restored" several sets of original harnesses as well. Lacquer thinner works great to restore the color of the wiring and have the proper harness wrap and most original connectors. With patience, one can get a a nice finished product. But unless you are looking for the ultimate in correctness it's still better, from a functionality standpoint, to have the new stuff. You would be shocked(pun intended) at how much resistance an old set of wires carry.

MB
Posted By: DPelletier

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 05:02 PM

I'm with Mike and Scott (yeah, I know; no big surprise! )

I just installed a new M&H dash harness last weekend in my '70 Coronet and was pretty happy with it. My original harness was GARBAGE and what wasn't painted, melted or spliced was brittle as heck....there was no way I'd want to use the original harness on a full blown resto unless it was just about perfect.

My only complaint was my harness was tagged for a Coronet with rallye dash but it had the extra wires for the Charger headlight doors and faced with taping them off or hacking them off, I chose the latter....which was hard to do on a $600.00 harness....



Dave
Posted By: yellow sixpack

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 07:15 PM

My waring harness were all shot. I purchased all new wiring harnesses from M&H. Very happy. If you spend alot of money on your car you dont want it to go up in smoke with an electrical problem because of a 40 year old wiring harness.
Posted By: az426john

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 07:17 PM

I bought a new wiring harness from YO for my 67 GTX Hemi car and the oil pressure switch wire was in the wrong location and the tach wire was the wrong color.

I called M&H and they said to just send them my old harness and the new harness and they would make the new one match the old one.

Research revealed that it appears the factory blueprint for the 67 Hemi "B" body Plymouth is incorrect and possibly someone tried to integrate later wiring for an in-dash tach into the 67 Hemi harness.

They were great folks to deal with and they asked if I would pay shiping both ways. This was a small price to pay for the service provided.
Posted By: ScottSmith_Harms

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 07:23 PM

Quote:

I bought a new wiring harness from YO for my 67 GTX Hemi car and the oil pressure switch wire was in the wrong location and the tach wire was the wrong color.




Right, those are the types of things that they get wrong on occasion,the last 67 harness I ordered had the same issues and also had the wrong color (and shape) fusable link wire and molded tab. How does this happen? Simple, the prints callout a blue wire, but the print doesn't say "with a molded yellow fusable link tab" so they made the entire wire and tab blue, the shape of the tab is square vs round as it molds around the wire (as originals were, once again, print doesn't call that out, nor does it call out what shade of blue the wire is, originals were darker than reproductions,etc. As you said, if you offer an original harness to copy they are willing to help which is huge.

Posted By: fastmark

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/05/10 11:35 PM

I guess I should clarify my statement some. I was referring to dash or instrument wiring. Sometimes you can save it. Engine harness is completely different. I always buy new. Rear tail light it the same as a dash harness. Sometimes it is ok.
Posted By: sawdust

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/06/10 01:26 AM

Quote:

I guess I should clarify my statement some. I was referring to dash or instrument wiring. Sometimes you can save it. Engine harness is completely different. I always buy new. Rear tail light it the same as a dash harness. Sometimes it is ok.



I can understand your concern, of all the harnesses the most costly is the under dash. One thing that can make a difference in whether to replace is where the car came from a shore are,ie NJ, and/or if it was previously melted or modified. Even if not we have worked on cars (our own at times and for customers too) and they had hard start problems, burned up turn signal switches, etc.
Turned out the main harness had resistance and corrosion in the wires. Even if you clean the terminals there can be oxidation in the wires that creates resistance and causes heat, burned fuses, and melted wires. For the $500-$600 cost of the main harness it is not worth losing your car to fire. Or, having the car die on a trip due to an old harness.
Just for fun you can strip back one of the wires and see if it is green, if it is chances are the whole harness is a disaster waiting to happen.
Posted By: ScottSmith_Harms

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/06/10 02:03 AM

Quote:

I can understand your concern, of all the harnesses the most costly is the under dash. One thing that can make a difference in whether to replace is where the car came from a shore are,ie NJ, and/or if it was previously melted or modified. Even if not we have worked on cars (our own at times and for customers too) and they had hard start problems, burned up turn signal switches, etc.
Turned out the main harness had resistance and corrosion in the wires. Even if you clean the terminals there can be oxidation in the wires that creates resistance and causes heat, burned fuses, and melted wires. For the $500-$600 cost of the main harness it is not worth losing your car to fire. Or, having the car die on a trip due to an old harness.
Just for fun you can strip back one of the wires and see if it is green, if it is chances are the whole harness is a disaster waiting to happen.




Yep!

To add to that the ammeter wires and bulkhead connectors tend to be the biggest problem areas. As far as corrosion, I agree, upon a quick inspection peeling wire covers back at the ends of a harnesses, condition can be spot checked for corrosion, usually turning dark or green as opposed to a nice bright & healthy copper color. But don't stop there, corrosion often starts further up the wire from the ends and remain hidden until it gets hot from resistance and self destructs.
Posted By: anlauto

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/06/10 01:32 PM

I tell my customer's it's like buying insurance...
I highly recommend replacing ALL the wiring if it's available. Cost is about $1200 for everything compared to the cost of losing your car to a fire
Posted By: pacifica

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/06/10 02:47 PM

Looks like I'm in the minority as I have no problem going through a harness just like any other part of the car and verifying/fixing it on a as needed basis.



Attached picture 5786024-wireharnessseatrdefogradio010(Small).jpg
Posted By: 69superbee383

Re: Repo Wire harness vs Original? - 02/06/10 04:51 PM

When I got my 70 Coronet I replaced the engine and forward light harnesses with the M and H from Year One. For the price it was not worth making something myself or bothering to repair the originals.

I did save the originals though. I seem to save everything. But looking at the condition of some of the wires I am glad I did the new install.
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