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New Painless Performance Wiring Harness for Project Nova - Getting Wired Up!Replace your worn, frayed wiring with a new wiring harness from Painless Performance From the August, 2012 issue of Popular Hot Rodding By Johnny Hunkins Photography by Author
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Looks can be deceiving. Take our flawlessly restored ’68 Nova for example. Even after Outlaw Motorsports in Riverside, California, spent six months of slaving over the sheetmetal, making things smooth, and coating it with a perfect layer of Eastwood’s Malibu Sunset Metallic, Project Nova still hid an ugly secret: frayed, 40-year-old fire-hazard wiring. In past projects, we were able to overlook the old wiring because it wasn’t that bad—but here we were faced with a real rat’s nest. It had to be dealt with head-on, and soon. The age of our Nova notwithstanding,... The age of our Nova notwithstanding, the wiring in our ’68 had been the subject of several teenage hack jobs over the years. We discovered the enormity of the carnage once we blew the car apart for restoration. Wiring an old car is one of those jobs that at first blush seems diabolically simple. What could possibly be that hard? Just pull out the old wiring and run new wires. The truth is, completely rewiring a car has a difficulty level of the highest order—on par with an engine buildup or a body and paint restoration. What brings the job within the ability of mortal hot rodders are kits from companies like Painless Performance. We want to make something perfectly clear from the hit: just because the company name has the word painless in it does not mean this job is a piece of cake. It merely brings the difficulty level down from “design a manned orbital spacecraft and deliver it safely back to earth” to “finish the New York Times crossword puzzle in a week.” It’s still ornery, frustrating work. Ron Aschtgen at Outlaw Motorsports has been installing Painless Performance kits in muscle cars for years. Presently, he’s one of the most experienced installers in Southern California, and he insists on using Painless kits for all of Outlaw’s restoration projects. We admit to being a bit naïve going in: We figured this for a one-day project, a weekend tops. This is no “grab a case of beer and a buddy” weekend project. Even with 20 years experience, it took Aschtgen nearly a week to do our ’68 Nova using Painless Performance’s Universal 12-circuit Muscle Car kit (PN 20103, $449.95 street). Painless Performance’s 12-circuit... Painless Performance’s 12-circuit Muscle Car Harness (PN 20103, $449.95 street price) to the rescue. Plan on banking a few hundred dollars on top of the kit price for stuff like bulbs, connectors, extra zip ties, tools, sockets, switches, and other stuff. If you’ve got a ’69-74 GM, you’ll be glad to know Painless makes a more expensive kit with many of the extras—like pre-terminated plug ends—included. The difficulty level of our Nova was compounded by the fact that we had to use a universal kit. We’ve run into this before with other suppliers—the ’68 Nova is an oddball year, having traits of earlier cars (for instance the dash-mounted ignition key), but having much of the wiring of the later ’69-72 Novas. This meant our kit came without pre-terminated plugs for the ignition switch, dimmer switch, headlight switch, blower motor, wiper motor, or turn signals. That said, our experience would be representative of what any oddball car—say a ’69 AMC Ambassador—would be like. To be manageable, the wiring job should be split into four smaller jobs of about a day for each: laying out the harness and attaching the bulkhead connector, wiring the engine bay, wiring the rear of the car, and wiring the cockpit/instrument panel. To get ready for the job, you’ll need to remove all of your old wiring, but don’t throw it in the trash heap just yet. You’ll need to systematically remove all the unique plugs and terminals—stuff that plugs into the wiper motor, high beam switch, ignition switch, dimmer switch, marker lights, turn signals, blower motor, and dozens of others. The old bulkhead connector... The old bulkhead connector illustrates how OE wiring can become frayed and burned over the years. The pen points to the ignition power lead, which has had too many add-on circuits piggybacked onto it over the years, and has burned up. Count on lots of trial and error if this is your first at-home wiring job. A circuit tester and a jump-start booster box (for testing circuits) are indispensable. You’ll want a soldering iron, solder, an extra box of butt connectors, heat-shrink tubing, electrical tape, wire loom, flush-cut dikes, a crimping tool, wire ties, and a heat gun. Also, plan on replacing a lot of burned-out 40-year-old instrument panel bulbs and bulb sockets (found at most auto parts stores). If you want to replace your ignition or headlight switches with new ones, order them ahead of time. Before you dive in, put Painless Performance’s tech number (800-423-9696) on speed dial, and be sure to save the Painless Performance tech forum ( www.PainlessPerformance.com/forum/index) as a favorite on your web browser. Now you are armed for success! If it sounds a little too difficult for your skill level, Outlaw can also do the job for you. In fact, while we were there, Aschtgen was rewiring a ’67 Chevelle that had a botched rewiring job from a less experienced shop. Aschtgen says they typically charge about $1,800 for putting in a new Painless kit, but the cost can vary depending on stuff like aftermarket gauges, aftermarket A/C, keyless entry, or high-powered stereos. To see how our progress went, go to the PHR YouTube channel (YouTube.com/PopularHotRodding) and check out the videos.  Comparing the Painless Performance...  Comparing the Painless Performance fuse block (left) to the OEM unit shows the huge strides in electrical design over the decades. Modern fuses and relays, plus more total circuits, mean our Nova will be safe and reliable well into the 21st century.  One of the best things about...  One of the best things about any Painless Performance wiring kit is that each wire is clearly labeled for its intended purpose (“dome light power” for instance) as well as the general routing the wire needs to take (“tail section”). This alone saves untold hours of verifying circuit continuity.  Painless provides one box...  Painless provides one box of terminals, butt connectors, spades, and other wiring doodads, but we ordered a second one because we needed it for terminating the factory connectors. We also got an assortment of heat-shrink tubing (left), which is indispensable for keeping the harness free of moisture.  Before diving in, you’ll want...  Before diving in, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the major harness branches. In the engine bay, Ron Aschtgen looks over the bulkhead connector and engine bay harness to figure out the routing options. The idea is to separate wires going to similar locations, then tie them off with zip ties.  Inside the cockpit, the fuse...  Inside the cockpit, the fuse box mates to the corresponding bulkhead terminal in the engine bay in a two-man screwdriver/wrench operation. Some cars will need to modify the size of the firewall opening, but the universal kit fuse box and bulkhead terminal fit the ’68 Nova perfectly.  You’ll need to cut off and...  You’ll need to cut off and save most of the terminal connectors from your original wiring harness. We recommend that you not cut them all off at once; leaving them on the old harness until you need them will help you identify which ones you need.  This headlight assembly plug...  This headlight assembly plug is just one of dozens you’ll need to salvage and reconnect. After cutting off the plug, you need to dig out the old spade connector, strip the corresponding wires on the Painless harness, crimp on new spade connectors, and insert them in the designated slots. In most cases, the wire color on the Painless harness duplicates the OEM, making things easier.  The bulkhead connector on...  The bulkhead connector on the firewall mates to the fuse block in the cockpit via two Phillips head bolts. Access behind the brake booster is limited, and generally requires a partner in the cockpit to help with a wrench.  Aschtgen of Outlaw Motorsports...  Aschtgen of Outlaw Motorsports is an old pro at doing Painless wiring kits, and he’s developed a few tricks over the years. One of them is hiding the engine bay wiring out of sight. Here Aschtgen is segregating wires that go to different areas so he can loom them off. The saying “measure twice, cut once” definitely applies here.  With the harness branches...  With the harness branches separated and the engine bay harness back out of the car, Aschtgen looms the branches using Techflex F6 self-wrapping split-braid sleeving. This stuff looks better than corrugated looming, and comes in 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and 1-inch diameters through WaytekWire.com. A 50-foot box of 1/2-inch sleeving runs about $45.  The ends of the loom can be...  The ends of the loom can be sealed against the elements with 1-inch-wide cold shrink electrical tape, available in 10- or 30-foot rolls, also available from Waytek. This stuff is like magic; cut it off the roll, pull the protective strip off, then start pulling and shaping it around the loom. It tightens and seals almost immediately —just like heat-shrink tubing.  On day two, Aschtgen started...  On day two, Aschtgen started out by fishing the harness branch through the inner fender to hide it. As he gets to key points, he splits off wires in groups, and zip ties them together. It’s an iterative process, sometimes requiring backtracking. You’ll go through a lot of zip ties—make sure you have extra.  This branch of the harness...  This branch of the harness that goes to the front of the car near the battery was loomed in black, then hidden under the radiator support with zip ties to the support.  Aschtgen finished day two...  Aschtgen finished day two of the wiring project by arranging the “tail section” harness branch and zip tying those wires together for routing through the sill plate and into the trunk area. Once again, having each wire clearly labeled for purpose and zone makes the job manageable.  We could write an entire story...  We could write an entire story on just wiring the cockpit and instrument panel—which took the entire fourth day. Your first mission is to remove the instrument panel, and check or replace all burned-out bulbs. Now’s the time to replace the old ignition switch, headlight switch, and the dimmer—which we got from YearOne. All these have independent terminal connectors that must be cut off of the OEM harness, and connected to the Painless harness. You’ll also need to salvage and connect the IP harness connector, steering column connector, heater/blower connector, high beam switch connector, and several others. With the new TCI Fast-Gate shifter, we also had to run wires for the neutral safety switch and reverse lights. Before attaching the IP to the dash, you’ll want to hook up the battery and do a full system check, including firing up the car. If everything works, you’re done!  In 1968, our Nova got power...  In 1968, our Nova got power right off the battery, but we’ve since learned that fusing the whole car at the battery (in this case with a 70-amp fuse) proves to be far safer. With the exception of the starter, all the Nova’s power will go through this battery fuse terminal.  This running light/turn signal...  This running light/turn signal light is a good example of a simple-looking operation that is easy to get wrong. Here, the running light (but not the turn signal) shares the circuit with the side marker light nearby. The socket also carries the wire for the turn signal circuit—separate from the marker light. Note the jump start booster box in the lower right corner. It was used to help verify the wiring. Here, Aschtgen uses heat-shrink tubing and a heat gun to seal the connection from the elements.  The trunk area is a surprisingly...  The trunk area is a surprisingly tough area to wire; there are marker lights, backup lights, brake lights, turn signals, license plate lights, fuel sender, and dome light, some with multiples. At least most of it is easily accessible.
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