[rasilverbird]

I'm trying to decide which wiring kit to get for my car. I'm looking at American Autowire and Painless. Painless tells me it is a universal kit that comes with GM connections. AA looks similar, but the description makes it sound like it has more of the factory style connectors. There's some oddball ones on the car that I'd like to upgrade to something better (like the rear marker lenses...always had problems with those).

The car is a '68 GTO. AA Kit is $900. Painless is $550. For the price difference I would think the AA would be more car-specific, but I don't know.

Anybody used either one and have input on the ease of installation?

I'm not looking for exactly OEM stuff...I want aftermarket that works better.

[HoovDaddy]

I installed a Painless kit in a '73 Z28 2 years ago. It was vehicle specific for 2nd gen. It all worked fine, most connectors were already assembled, plug and play, sending units and steering column were not assembled. It was all factory style Packard connectors like original. However some of the lengths were way too long, requiring me to purchase additional connectors and cutting the wires to fit. Some connectors has to be taken apart and rewired for different years and options, kind of a pain. This kit has new style fuses but old style relays and flashers. Installation of this kit was like installing aftermarket repop kits from a design standpoint, but much better quality.

Last summer I rewired our Firebird and chose American Autowire Classic Update kit specifically for the '69 Firebird. I went with this kit due to aftermarket gauges and contains wires for other customizable features. I went with an electronic speedo, and the wiring is already connected to the fuse box and dash harness. I also did console gauges and the wiring is long enough. This kit is all OEM Packard style but upgraded with new style fuses, flashers and relays. This kit requires every connector to be assembled by hand which I liked. It also allows additional wires to be attached at the bulkhead or wires removed that are not needed. The wire feeds are extra long so you can route them any way you want, just cut the wires and assemble the connectors, custom fit. The AAW kit includes extra grounds everywhere which is a plus. Includes plenty of feeds for interior lighting also. Includes wiring for 3 different ignition systems including points. Also includes wiring for OEM instrument cluster or as said aftermarket gauges. You choose which wires to use for ignition and cluster. Does not include OEM style air conditioning harness, but does have heater wiring. Convertible top harness is available. AAW also has an OEM style directional signal switch that is plug and play, no adapter. New headlight switch, and dimmer switches are included. Heavy duty starter wiring and master fuse for the entire system is also included.

For my application on this car, the AAW kit was much better.

[Scarebird]

AAW here.

[JSchmitz]

I installed an AAW Classic Update kit in my '64 GTO. Very happy with it. Quality construction and excellent instructions/schematics. Gotta spring for the, not so cheap, pair of crimpers though. Worth every penny!

[rasilverbird]

Thanks All, after this, and talking with both companies, I went with AA. It seems to be a better overall fit and has more options despite being more car-specific.

[Gator67]

I used M&H for two factory appearing restorations--high quality stuff and IIRC every wire was terminated. For my pro-touring 70 Firebird, I went with the AAW classic update kit. More work involved, but a lot of flexibility. Also, there's a fair level of integration with aftermarket components...as an example, I used an Ididit steering column and the ignition switch wiring and relays all came from AAW and plugged right in.

[ZeGermanHam]

Good to see that OP went with American Autowire. I was very pleased with the AAW classic update kit I installed in my '66. The instructions are great, and it is so nice having the function printed on every single wire so there is no guesswork. I've only ever used American Autowire and M&H, and both are great. From what I've seen online, it seems most people regard Painless as the 3rd or 4th choice when considering wiring kits.

[Entropy11]

I say AAW as the choice between the two. The only kit we ever had from painless definitely felt more universal.

We did use M&H on the car we’re finishing up now as well as already have the complete wiring set from them on hand for the next car we’re about to start. Great reproduction harnesses.

[nashcar]

AAW was plug and play for me.

[hobbygto65]

You might consider Kwik Wire too. They make a nice kit.

[HWYSTR455]

Did an AAW update kit on my 70/71 GTO project, and was disappointed with a couple things, but overall was happy with it since I was able to tailor the entire harness for my specific installation. Not an easy task.

One thing that bugged me was the turn indicator sockets. Yes, they were like the originals, but had no seals included with them. On the fronts, I used seals from another connector type and it worked fine. For the tail lights, I purchased OE type replacements, not too expensive, but was an added cost.

The AAW instructions were vague at best. Some pages forwarded you to a different page, and figuring out what you actually had required having an OE harness diagram. (and even the OE diagram is somewhat vague, and believe it was wrong on a couple things).

Use the instructions to make notes on as you go, and take pics, both for future reference. Cross out any unused sections/wires. I removed unused wire from the harness and saved them, in case I need them for future items.

I have a lot of aftermarket stuff on that car, and I was able to use the AAW harness as a starting point. That saved a ton of time, and added a blade type fuse box. (Go ahead and try to source a blade type fuse box only, think the smallest amount you can buy is 1000).

Having the wires labels on the insulation of the wire is nice, but the markings don't always match up to their' purpose. You can release and move some, and put into a diff connector to solve some of that, but not all.

Both the AAW and the Painless don't include any loom, and just say 'NO' to zip ties and electrical tape. (not getting into that here). You can use zip ties and/or electrical tape to 'stage' sections of the harness, trim to length, then remove when you are ready to install the loom.

Don't forget to leave slack in areas that require it to remove & service certain items, like the gauge cluster.

You can use the original harness as a guide for layout of the new harness, but like in many other projects, measure & mock up several times before you cut or wrap.

My engine side harness was narrowed down to only the items I needed, wiper/washer, key on, oil & water temp senders, and interior power.

I did my EFI harness too, using a universal harness as a starting point. Merging to harnesses gets tricky.

If your OE harnesses are not too chopped up, crusty and not save-able/sell-able, cut of all the OE ends and save them. Leave a short piece of wire on them so you know what the original color was (for reference when comparing to OE diagram).

The column connector is a little tricky, I had to check all the wires for what they did and compared to both the OE diagram and the AAW sheets.

They do not include the under-carpet wire protector for the fuse box to trunk run, and the one they off is junk. It's best to clean up and reuse the OE one, or source a new OE one.

Remove the dash to do the dash harness. (trust me on this one). Use the OE harness to rough in the distance from the driver's lower corner of dash to the firewall. Use the same or slightly longer on the AAW one.

Use the correct crimpers, and be mindful that some terminals have anti-pull-thru tabs. Don't crimp that part.

Don't suffer in silence, if you get stuck, ask.

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[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

Did an AAW update kit on my 70/71 GTO project, and was disappointed with a couple things, but overall was happy with it since I was able to tailor the entire harness for my specific installation. Not an easy task.

One thing that bugged me was the turn indicator sockets. Yes, they were like the originals, but had no seals included with them. On the fronts, I used seals from another connector type and it worked fine. For the tail lights, I purchased OE type replacements, not too expensive, but was an added cost...

Agree - I reused my OEM tail light harness.

But overall a very nice bit of kit. And the phone support was superb.

[ZeGermanHam]

I didn't find the instructions in my AAW Classic Update kit vague at all. Very clear and straightforward for me as a first-timer. Was rather pleased with myself a week ago when I connected the battery for the first time and all the gauges and dash lights turned on for the first time.

[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by ZeGermanHam

I didn't find the instructions in my AAW Classic Update kit vague at all. Very clear and straightforward for me as a first-timer. Was rather pleased with myself a week ago when I connected the battery for the first time and all the gauges and dash lights turned on for the first time.

Maybe yours is different than the kit I got? Some of the areas that weren't clear for me were:

* The ignition switch wire colors didn't match the OE colors, the one connector you had to populate based on the year/series of the car being updated. I had to reference the OE diagram, and even the OE diagram had different colors that what I had (which was the original to car harness). Also, the column flat connector hung over the connector from the harness connector.

* The front light harness, for the marker & turn lights, had two or three separate sheets of instructions depending if you had cornering lights or not. The wire colorings didn't match OE, and as stated before, there were no connector seals on the ends.

There's more, but I would have to go back and look at my notes, everything is in boxes right now, I'm moving. Need a few more weeks, can remind me if I forget...


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