gutting the wiring and interior..Regal

[hp3445]

I am in the process of pulling all the old wiring from the front to rear on my 86 Regal.. What wiring system have people used ? Painless? Other?

I am going to use a 454 bbc based block with a 8-71 on top.. any suggestions? I don't need all that computer crapola...

talking about alota wiring!!! OMG.. I wanna keep it simple...

Autometer gauges...Roll down windows.. No air...

 

[Blake442]

I used the factory harness, and carefully removed every wire that went to and from the computer, and then put it back together.

 

[hp3445]

I thought about that too.. Apparently there was a wiring problem some years back that the old owner(s) had some hack try and fix... the last owner told me that a fuse or two always blew.. The car had been sitting for sometime and some small visitors chewed their way into some wires behind the dash.. WTF?!!? I tried to start it when I picked it up and you could smell that electrical system was burning somewhere.. I found a nest or two in the interior..Newpapers/paperbags/sticks.. if you could imagine...


This is my issue with the wiring..

The whole interior is out so this is the time to rewire everything plus some for extras...

 

[hp3445]

Well it took me a while.. but I yanked the wiring out of the car.. except for the steering column.. I kept the connectors and noticed all kinds of chew marks and nests. Inside the air/heater box too (yanked that box out).. Pulled the fuse box, computer, I left the light connectors, they need to be replaced though. it's coming along slowly.. Gashed my finger open as usual. . . when removing the air box... 22 year old stuff crumbles when you try to pull it out..

I'll try to get some pics soon...

 

[pokertramp]

You could spend the $378 for the painless kit which is pretty much idiot proof or if you have the time and patience, buy spools of different gauge/color wire and replace one by one......Personally I would go with the painless kit if the car is going to be restored. If you plan on just keeping it a fast beater or strip car then splice the old wires.


I spent most of the day on my friends car soldering old wires with new ones that where like you described, all brittle and chew marks. It was only the engine compartment and took 3 hours to get it right. If it was a painless kit and the car was gutted, you could probably do it in less time.

 

[dan2286]

You could spend the $378 for the painless kit which is pretty much idiot proof or if you have the time and patience, buy spools of different gauge/color wire and replace one by one......Personally I would go with the painless kit if the car is going to be restored. If you plan on just keeping it a fast beater or strip car then splice the old wires.


I spent most of the day on my friends car soldering old wires with new ones that where like you described, all brittle and chew marks. It was only the engine compartment and took 3 hours to get it right. If it was a painless kit and the car was gutted, you could probably do it in less time.

The painless kit is not idiot proof, I put one in my car. They dont have a factory style harness for a g body, so it makes it kind of a pain to install. The kit only comes with the power side of all of the circuits, no grounds, so you have to add all of that. You have to decipher all of the switches and connectors to make sure they get wired right, the column wiring is fun to figure out also. It also requires you to do tons of soldering, unless you can get all of the terminals that go into the connectors which would cost a lot of money. I did get it done for the most part, but it took a lot of time to get everything right. If I could do it again, I would have gotten another factory harness to re-wire the car. One good thing about me using this kit is that I am now very good at figuring out electrical systems and diagnosing them :wink:

 

[hp3445]

Locally, Everyone I spoke with in regards to my Regal stated that painless was the way to go. I just really did not want to trace wiring that had been fixed prior to me owning the car. I found a lot of duct tape (yea.. duct tape) and seems to me that was not right.. I figure I would try the quick and easy fix.. but it took about an hour to pull the old wiring out.. some of it was in decent shape... some WOW!!

Remember, no factory heat, no a/c, no p/w, no p/l, just the real basics.
Call me crazy, but I do have a plan... BBC, 8-71, electric fuel pump, electric fan, Autometer gauges, and all the lighting. Oh.. Full interior also, front buckets and back seat, center console, door panels.. Even thinking about a radio.

 

[pokertramp]

I would definitely look into the Painless kits then. There is no telling what is what if someone hacked it up. For under $400 it is worth the investment and will also probably be better for the car. The last thing you need is an old wire shorting out that you missed like what almost happened to my friends Nova.

If your just going with the basics, they have different set-ups just for what you are looking for. This way you do not have unwanted circuits and the ones you do need will be wired properly, instead of running a radio, interior lights, radiator fan and god knows what else all of the same circuit like I have seen people do before and catch their car on fire.

 

[hp3445]

I would definitely look into the Painless kits then. There is no telling what is what if someone hacked it up. For under $400 it is worth the investment and will also probably be better for the car. The last thing you need is an old wire shorting out that you missed like what almost happened to my friends Nova.

If your just going with the basics, they have different set-ups just for what you are looking for. This way you do not have unwanted circuits and the ones you do need will be wired properly, instead of running a radio, interior lights, radiator fan and god knows what else all of the same circuit like I have seen people do before and catch their car on fire.

You Know it!!
Just don't want problems later down the road... If this thing catches fire because I cheaped out on quality new wiring.and trying to fix the unknown.... then it nobody fault but mine and be kickin myself...