Guest JAMIE T Posted August 6, 2001 Share Posted August 6, 2001 Never been a fan of cobbled electrical systems. I have a burned wire from my fuse panel way up into the harness. Its the one that is black(or is now) that plugs by itself into the fuse panel. It is not the white and red wire though. Also, my heater/blower does not work. The black wire coming from the blower speed conrol knob is also burned and I can't find where it goes. So anyhow, Who has done the Painless harness? I helped a friend of mine install the 12 circut one in his T roadster pick-up. It was pretty straight forward since EVERYTHING was new. How did your installs go? Do you think I can do it in a weekend? I have better things to do than search for burned wires in a harness that is questionable, especially since I am going to have high current amplifiers and other things(headlights, fog lights, nitrous solenoids, power windows, locks, etc...). You get the idea. I'm also considering installing a steering column from a fox mustang. Has anyone ever installed a non Datsun column in their cars? Thanks guys. Jamie Deathstar Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 6, 2001 Share Posted August 6, 2001 I have to ask - why a FOX Mustang column? I've seen some pretty nice VEGA tilt columns before and it would allow you to use the Painless harness amade for GM columns. Not sure it would have all of the wiper switches and whatnot but it's worth checking into. I too am interested in rewiring but thankfully have a pretty good harness right now. I think Mikelly has done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimzdat Posted August 6, 2001 Share Posted August 6, 2001 Jamie--I haven't done this (yet), but I am planning on doing it in the future; I have actually been looking at GM steering columns from camaros, firebirds, even S-10's with floor shift. The advantage to a GM column is that the painless kit is available with the plugs to connect to it--makes wiring the ignition and turnsignal assy a little easier. The only thing I haven't figured out yet is what the heck to do for a headlite switch--not too many cars have it on the column. Please do keep us posted, regardless--my project isn't anywhere near completion, but always dredging for ideas. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted August 6, 2001 Share Posted August 6, 2001 I did a Painless 18 circuit on my 55 F100. Took about 6 hours - wasn't in a hurry. Went pretty well. That includes the time it took to make and install a mount for the panel. I just put an American Auto wire kit in the Travelall. I definately DO NOT recommend that one. It was about $80 more than the Painless and seemed, from the literature, to be a better kit. Wrong. The quality was okay, but the inkjet on the wires was spaced way too far apart and there were <b>several</b> errors. That one took an <b>entire</b> weekend. As to column mods, have you checked out Owen's page on fitting the switches/etc from the 87 Maxima? Here's the link: http://v8zcar.topcities.com/s30z/turnsigassy.htm . I plan on duplicating this in my car as soon as I have a spare weekend. There's no "out of the box" connection to the wiring kit, but it only took me a few minutes to map out the wiring in the Travelall column. I'll be posting wire colors when I do this mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peternell Posted August 6, 2001 Share Posted August 6, 2001 I did the Painless 18 circut in my Chevelle and it was pretty much painless. Work well enough that I'm gonna put a Painless kit in my Z too. Time involved, well that's up to you. I planned it out in my head and laid it out on the living room floor (bachelor days) before I even got it to the garage. It took me more time to decide on where to route the wires than to do the work (task included, complete new in dash gauges, hiden line loc switch, fuel gauge in the old console ashtray, etc) Actual work once I got going was about 6-8 hours (got real unproductive near the end-it was a beer thing) Painless kit $300+ Misc connectors $25+ Wire loom $15+ Not having to screw with the electrical system again, PRICELESS. Later, Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted August 6, 2001 Share Posted August 6, 2001 I did the Painless 18-circuit in my '73 Z. It was really easy, the only thing that I really used my brain on was where to mount the fuse box (put it on the drivers side wall next to the clutch dead pedal). Everything else was smooth. Oh, I didn't use the GM column thingy. And there is one point in the harness, for the hi and low beams, that is joined in the middle by one of those plastic connectors. The terminals inside are kinda loose and the connector body isn't made too well either. That's it. Gotta get some hi-po relays now... Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JAMIE T Posted August 6, 2001 Share Posted August 6, 2001 Thats great news guys. The column we used in my buddies T was out of a Ford Tempo, It had tilt and a turn signal lever and flashers, that was it. We used the non GM harness and it was not hard to figure out. I figured I would use the Mustang column since I already have one. Its nice and would make connecting to the power rack(future) easy. Jamie Deathstar Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedRacer Posted August 7, 2001 Share Posted August 7, 2001 I used the 18 circuit in my '71 240 and it was no problem. I did the same as Owen and mounted the fuse block above the dead pedal on the drivers side and ran the wires from there. I bought new connectors for one side of the Datsun steering column so it looks like a factory installation. Because my car is a GTO kit I removed the "Stalk" and installed switches on the console for my lights, wiper, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 7, 2001 Share Posted August 7, 2001 If anyone does this upgrade in th enear future I'd appreciate a tech article on it. Finally gettign my car running I'm, a little hesitant to tear it apart again but getting an upgrade to blade fuses sure would be nice. Perhaps this Winter or next Spring I'll do it after I've got a few miles under my belt. The more info on doing it the better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted August 7, 2001 Share Posted August 7, 2001 I would actually do it as soon as possible. One of the stupidest mistakes I did was to shop around for gauges and stuff AFTER getting the harness and partially installing it. So now, its really messy where the gauges splice into the Painless harness. I had to go thru "now wheres that +12V wire..now wheres that ACC wire" after having slid the flexible tubing over the harness. Don't tape it up in the very beginning unless you're sure you won't touch it again. If it weren't for the colors and wire lables, I would have gone crazy! Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 7, 2001 Share Posted August 7, 2001 Well, all of my gauges are wired together for the most part. Only a couple of wires takes car of all of them After getting this far tearing it apart again would just kill me. A/C is becoming a must though - geez it's hot here this week! 103+ with a TON of humidity. Glad the daily commuter is healthy and has A/C! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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