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Wiring harness

I'm kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place.... I just can't get over the price of these darned things! A fuse block and a hand full of wire....$500.00. I would understand if I was buying it from NASA, but I'm not. Most of what I've seen doesn't even have the connectors on them. Truthfully, I'm tempted to clean up the harness and just rebuild the under hood harness with better connectors and wire.

Wiring harness

Reply #1 –
its all in the color coding and the length grooming with all the turns built in, without that, you will be the only one who knows what goes where, you'd have to number tag all your conductors if hand made.

if you have the peg board jig and all the proper color wires, you's see how much time it takes and value in the predone harness.

Wiring harness

Reply #2 –
jcassity,
          Thanks for the information and links! I wonder if your 1987 schematic is the same as a 1986 schematic? Look like "vinnietbird" had about the same reaction as I did: "Holy  !!! Out of my budget".  One of my hobbies is re-wiring old tube amplifiers with oxygen free, silver plated wire. My amplifiers have white wire under the hood, that's it. I like the way my friends react when they see it! I'm sure I would give any purest a heart attack. I feel the same way about my cars, old look, new technology and performance. I have made a harness for my old 48 Studebaker, but it's quite simple. I really can't see pulling the whole harness on my Cougar. Most of it is in a protected environment and just needs cleaning and it goes to what, heater, a/c, lights, clock? The wire under the hood is in a destructive environment and it is the "heart" of the harness. Also, I have no plan on selling my car. When I pull my engine and transmission out, all I should have to do is follow the harness from the firewall (fuse block) forward. One other thing I like to do is by-passing connectors where they are not needed. Why use good wire if all your connectors are all made of tin. I realize when it comes to this, my thinking can be a bit eccentric. I kinda look at wiring as like arteries to the heart. How many of us would use the original plug wires on a hot rod if your looking for performance? Any of you who solder know how far the industry has come with such as wire, and teflon coating. Color coding is easy and most of the wire would be covered with shrink sleeve or harness tape. I'm just thinking out loud.... The more I think about it, the more I have a feeling I'm going to have to do it. I think what really bothers me is ever time I open the hood, all I see is . I know...that's just me. Custom wiring.... I like that.

Wiring harness

Reply #3 –
One thing: when dealing with Ford's '80s-'90s wiring, I'd go by  a schematic with circuits (name AND number) before I ever based anything on wire color. I've a burned up dash harness and cluster in my Sport because shiznit didn't match colors from the SAME year.

Thankfully I was fast enough to pull the batt cable off before I saw flames.

Look on ebay for an '86 Tbird/Cougar EVTM, and read the heck out of it before and during your arterial surgery ;)
'98 Explorer 5.0
'20 Malibu (I know, Chevy, but, 35MPG. Let's go brandon, eh)

Wiring harness

Reply #4 –
TBS302,
          It's easy to label wire with a labeling set. Fingernail polish should keep the labels in place on the ends of your wire. I just build it one wire at a time (point "A" to "B"). What you said, is why I have a hard time believing in universal harnesses. If the colors don't match then you are stuck with designing your own harness, that to me is half the job and mostly what I would pay for. Continuity, is mostly what I would go by. To me the hard part is drafting your product before you start. If you know where you want to go, materials needed, colors for interior decorating and mounts used and where, that's half the battle. Depending on what you start with, you can build and test piece meal. Example: head lights- wire, label, and test...move on. I would like the wiring out of harms way, away from heat when possible and use heat resistant materials where needed. Right now my harness has cheap plastic covering the wire and it sits right on the engine. Like I say...!

Wiring harness

Reply #5 –
Trinom uploaded an 86evtm under Misc tech, i cant get to a few of the pages but maybe you can.
thread called Diy stuff
 

Wiring harness

Reply #6 –
I was lucky. I had a fuse block fry in the Sport, and it is a 1988 5.0 car. I found an '86 V-6 Bird at the boney yard, I cut the fuse block from the harness under the dash, and every single wire matched up to the Sport, and all has been great since I grafted it into the Sport.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Wiring harness

Reply #7 –
vinniebird,
              Good for you! I really do understand that most people don't solder much or just don't like electrical tasks, but really how much money did you save yourself and was it that hard? Yes, it takes a little time, but if you do it right you can have twice the quality for less than 1/10th the cost. Not to mention the pleasure of knowing you customized your engine compartment. I'm not saying that everybody should even try this, but for those of you who solder and enjoy being creative, I bet this has got you thinking or you've already done it. I would also be willing to bet that if you took all your connectors, you could replace the tin pins with gold pins for almost nothing and you don't have to buy new connectors (continuity goes up, corrosion goes down). I think it would be pretty cool to relocate the battery to the trunk and hide what wiring you can, camouflage with colors what you can't, so that when you open the hood it looks clean. Makes me wonder how many guys are doing this for car shows? I bet if you were to pay someone else to do it, you would have to take out a second mortgage to pay them. Like I said, I'm just thinking out loud.

Wiring harness

Reply #9 –
I now have the schematics. Thanks for your support!

Wiring harness

Reply #10 –
now im seeing your 86 pages Trinom,,  u r da man! x 10  : )

Wiring harness

Reply #11 –
Wiring is something you have to know. Either for tucking or modifying??? Now where did i leave my GYP SHEETS????

I spend money I don't have, To build  cars I don't need, To impress people I don't know

HAVE YOU DRIVEN A FORD LATELY!!

Wiring harness

Reply #12 –
I totally agree! This is not a job to be taken lightly. Even just under the hood there is a lot to do. Also, if anyone takes on a job like this, you better have lots of time on your hands. Getting in a hurry might be your down fall. I want my car to be running when I attempt this, so that I can test as I go along. One-two wires then test. I think the worst part of a job like this is a cold solder. It could be working fine until you take that hard turn or hit that pot hole then "poof" no electricity. That's when you get to spend half a day trying to find the culprit, and visually you may never see it. With a job like this it's the journey, not the destination. Take small steps with sure footing or you may never get to where your going. Some call it a challenge, others call it crazy.