Monte72Carlo Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Hi, just wondering what wires to use to wire up my car? I'm totaly new to wiring and have no Idea on size, gauges, resistanes and all that cool stuff? Did you guys just go and buy a roll of wire for stuff or does pretty much everything come with there own wires? Thanks Garrett. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monte70car Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 are you doing a stock rebuild or you coming custom build? if a stock rebuild you can get a replacement harness. if its a custom build with alot of elec. like elec. water pump, elec fans, fuel pump, power windows, you might want to look into a painless harness or a american autowire harness. the aaw harness is nice but the fuse panel is to big to keep in the stock location. the aaw is a nice harness and the colors match stock gm wire colors. the painless harness is kind of a pain in the butt as the written on the wire is small. as long as you take your time and run each run and hook it up what every the wire goes to you should be good. it took us a little over a week to put the aaw harness in but the hold up was the plug for the dash cluster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte72Carlo Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 alright, thanks. It is going to be mostly electric aftermarket stuff but I think ill go with the aaw harness as you prefer it. anyone else have and experience with the aaw harness? Garrett. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Stick with the stock wiring harness. There is nothign wrong them.. they worked for the first 30 years, they'll work for another 30. Just wire up the other stuff as you need. As for wire gauge, it depends on the accessory... read teh directions, they'll tell you what to use. and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use a fuse! I can get you a really cool accessory fuse block from my electrical supplier if you want. Single commmon feed wire, and holds 6 fuses for 6 circuits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte72Carlo Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 My stock one doesn't look too good It will need replacing. Do the wiring harnesses come with fuse blocks? Garrett. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monte70car Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 yes all wire harness come with a fuse block. a stock replacement harness is going to be about $1,000. where a pain less or aaw is going to be around $450. painless and aaw use the newer style fuses along with relays. this is the fuse panel that aaw puts in one of their kits this pic you can see all the wires wrapped around the master cylinder. the black box with the red wires running into and out of is a 175amp fuse. org. you would have a box on the inside of the car where all these wires are at and then the other half would be in the engine bay on the fire wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I used the Painless GM Muscle Car Harness recently and am happy with the quality... My original harness was a rats nest... Robert, how do you blow a 175 amp fuse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Welding with it? I say we don't find out. Robert, how do you blow a 175 amp fuse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I used a painless kit, there are lots of additional circuits for power accessories, fans, fuel pump, third brake light, fuse block fits in original location, modern fuses and relays, and the wires are labeled about every foot. I could have made one myself, but it is hard to find the quality of wire, different colors and correct gauges locally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monte70car Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 you guys got me but thats what it says. hot wire comes off the alt. to it, one wire goes down to the starter and the other feeds the fuse panel. it says mega 175a on it with studs to run ring tremierals on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 i can get you any color wire you want.. including the 'striped' wires next monday I'm going to order some 12 gauge purple wire for repairing solonoid wires to the starter, I'm not going to get the black stripe on it tho. the wires are all SAE-whatever certified for o.e spec replacement for automobiles :> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 you guys got me but thats what it says. hot wire comes off the alt. to it, one wire goes down to the starter and the other feeds the fuse panel. it says mega 175a on it with studs to run ring tremierals on. Cool... Wonder if that fuse would ever kick in since the highest alternator output I have seen so far is 140 Amps...? My Painless kit also includes a Mega Fuse, but it is only rated 70 Amps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monte70car Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 when the battery is hooked up it has juice along with the rest of the fuse panel. the alt. in use is a one wire 100amp alt. here is a catalog of the harness for a stock set up from aaw http://www.americanautowire.com/catalogs/FACTORYFIT/04_MONTEC-ELCAM-CHEVL.pdf here is the highway series http://www.americanautowire.com/catalogs/AAW_sections/AAW08_HighwaySeries.pdf here is coil of wires along with the mega fuse http://www.americanautowire.com/catalogs/AAW_sections/AAW08_FusePanelsBlocks&Access.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 you can easily pull 175 thru a 4ga battery cable.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike 57 Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I can get all the colors gauges that are used but it really is not cost effective compared to purchasing the harness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc8oye Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 mike.. depends... to build a harness from the ground up by hand no.. it wouldn't be. but to make repairs to an existing harness.. sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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